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Ellen Kuras
Kuras in 2008
Born	(1959-07-10)July 10, 1959 (age 65) Cedar Grove, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Brown University
Occupation	Cinematographer
Years active	1987–present

Ellen Kuras (born July 10, 1959) is an Americancinematographer whose work includesnarrative anddocumentaryfilms,music videos andcommercials in both the studio and independent worlds. One of few female members of theAmerican Society of Cinematographers, she is a pioneer best known for her work inEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). She has collaborated with directors such asMichel Gondry,Spike Lee,Sam Mendes,Jim Jarmusch,Rebecca Miller,Martin Scorsese and more. She is the three-time winner of the Award for Excellence in Dramatic Cinematography at theSundance Film Festival, for her filmsPersonal Velocity: Three Portraits,Angela andSwoon, which was her first dramatic feature after getting her start in political documentaries.

In 2008, she released her directorial debut,The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), which she co-directed, co-wrote, co-produced and shot. It was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2009. In 2010, she won aPrimetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction Filmmaking for the film.

Kuras grew up inCedar Grove, New Jersey.^[1] Kuras had a fever as an infant, leaving her almost deaf in one ear and with about 20% hearing in the other.^[2]

She attendedCedar Grove High School, where she served as president of the school's chapter of the National Honor Society.^[3] After earning a double degree inanthropology andsemiotics atBrown University, she studied photography atRISD and 8mm filmmaking in New York, with the plan to become a documentary filmmaker. In the early 1980s, Kuras planned to study on a Fulbright grant at a film school inPoland but was unable to go due to the introduction ofmartial law.^[4] She is of Polish descent on her father's side and the family surname was originallyKuraś.^[5]

Kuras began her film career in 1987, shooting Ellen Bruno'sSamsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia, the first US movie filmed in Cambodia after the Vietnam War. In 1990 she won the Eastman Kodak Best Cinematography Focus Award for her work onSamsara.^{[citation needed]} The film got notice from theStudent Academy Awards^{[citation needed]} and the Sundance Film Festival where it received Special Jury Recognition.^{[citation needed]}

That same year, she was asked by producerChristine Vachon to shoot her first dramatic film (Swoon) for directorTom Kalin. The film won her the Sundance Award for Excellence in Cinematography in 1992.^{[citation needed]} This was the start of work withKiller Films, which includesPostcards From America andI Shot Andy Warhol.^{[citation needed]}

She worked for political documentaries, and, later, other genre of film and TV, such as big-budget movies (Blow,Analyze That), independent films (Angela,Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), documentaries (Unzipped,4 Little Girls), concert films (Lou Reed'sBerlin,Shine a Light), successful TV movies (If These Walls Could Talk), commercials and music videos for musicians likeBjørk,The White Stripes.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999,^[6] she was invited to join theAmerican Society of Cinematographers, the fifth female member to join more than 400 male peers.^{[citation needed]}

She has received accolades, including theWomen in Film Kodak Vision Award in 1999 and was honored at the 2006Gotham Award for her entire body of work.^{[citation needed]} In 2003 she was the first film technician to receive theNY Women In Film and TV Muse Award, traditionally is given to actresses.^{[citation needed]} In 2009 she was a special Honoree at theSanta Fe Film Festival for her work in the field of cinematography.^{[citation needed]}

She has served on the juries of several film festivals. In 1997 she was invited to be on the jury of theSundance Film Festival. In 2013, she was a member of the jury at the63rd Berlin International Film Festival.^[7] In 2015 she was on the Jury of theBelgrade Film Festival and theCamerimage. She has guest-lectured at film schools and festival panels, includingSVA,NYU,BUUniversity of Texas at Austin,Walker Art Center,Hamptons International Film Festival,Camerimage,Berlinale andWoodstock Film Festival.^{[citation needed]}

Short film

Feature film

Television

Concert film

Miniseries

TV movies

Documentary film

Feature film

TV series

Miniseries

TV movie

• Play is Your Superpower (2023)

Academy Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

Sundance Film Festival

Independent Spirit Awards

Online Film Critics Society

• Ellen Kuras atIMDb

• 1959 births
• American cinematographers
• American women film directors
• Cedar Grove High School (New Jersey) alumni
• People from Cedar Grove, New Jersey
• Living people
• American women cinematographers
• Sundance Film Festival award winners
• Film directors from New Jersey
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• American people of Polish descent
• Brown University alumni
• Rhode Island School of Design alumni
• 21st-century American women

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