Christos Voudouris

Christos Voudouris
Χρήστος Βουδούρης
Born
Paris, France
EducationStavrakos Film School, Athens
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1992–present

Christos Voudouris (Greek: Χρήστος Βουδούρης) is a French-Greek cinematographer based in Athens. He is known for his work with a range of international auteur filmmakers, including Yorgos Lanthimos on Alps (2011), Richard Linklater on Before Midnight (2013), Ira Sachs on Love Is Strange (2014), and Tamara Jenkins on Private Life (2018), the last of which was named among The Guardian's 100 best films of the 21st century.[1][2][3] He shot Stéphanie Di Giusto's Rosalie, selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival,[1] and Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis's A Whole Person Almost (2026), which won the Proxima Best Director Award at the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[4][5] He is a member of the Greek Society of Cinematographers (GSC).[4]

Early life and education

Voudouris was born in Paris to Greek parents and moved to Greece in 1977.[6] After earning his French baccalauréat and participating in photography clubs in France, he studied chemical engineering at Athens Polytechnic School and worked at a still photographer's studio in Athens before turning to film. He studied film photography at the Athens Stavrakos School of Cinematography, from which he graduated in 1986. He began his career as a camera assistant on feature films and commercials, working alongside the director and cinematographer Giorgos Panousopoulos.[6]

Career

Commercials and early features

From 1991, Voudouris worked as a director of photography on more than 700 commercials shot in more than 40 countries, earning festival awards in Cannes, New York, London, San Sebastián and elsewhere.[6][1] He made his feature debut as a cinematographer in 1992 with The Charioteer, directed by Alexis Damianos, which won the Greek State Film Award.[6][1]

Greek New Wave and international breakthrough

Voudouris shot Yorgos Lanthimos's Alps (2011), which premiered in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, where the film's screenplay won the Osella Award; it was subsequently selected at Toronto, the Sydney Film Festival (which it won), and by AFI and the BFI London Film Festival, and received the FIPRESCI Award in 2012.[7][1] His cinematography was described by writers on the film as marked by close, intimate framing and desaturated colour, contributing to what critics identified as the film's cold and formally distinctive style.[8][9]

The following year, he shot Richard Linklater's Before Midnight (2013), the third instalment of the Before trilogy, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay.[2] Critical writers on the film consistently singled out Voudouris's handling of the Peloponnese locations: Newcity Film described the film as capturing "the beautiful, crisp Greek daylight,"[10] and Behind the Lens Online wrote that the film was "beautifully lensed by Christos Voudouris" and that "the light, the location are celebratory and metaphoric with a timeless classic beauty."[11]

American independent cinema

Voudouris shot Ira Sachs's Love Is Strange (2014), starring John Lithgow and Alfred Molina, which premiered out of competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.[3] Reviewing the film, The Moveable Fest wrote that Voudouris made New York "feel as loosely comfortable as he made Greece appear in Before Midnight," identifying the elegance of the film's visual approach as a signature of his work across settings.[12] He subsequently shot Joshua Marston's Complete Unknown (2016), starring Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon,[1] and Tamara Jenkins's Private Life (2018), produced by Netflix and starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn. Private Life received three Independent Spirit Awards nominations, was selected for both Sundance and the New York Film Festival, and was later named by The Guardian among the 100 best films of the 21st century.[1]

Recent work

Voudouris was the cinematographer of Leonora Lonsdale's television series Dangerous Liaisons (2022), produced by Playground Entertainment.[1] He shot Stéphanie Di Giusto's Rosalie (2023), starring Nadia Tereszkiewicz, which was selected for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and won the Valois de la musique (for Hania Rani's score) and the Valois de l'actrice at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival.[1] In 2026, he shot Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis's debut feature A Whole Person Almost (Ένας ολόκληρος άνθρωπος σχεδόν), a Greek-Bulgarian-German-Cypriot-Romanian co-production which world-premiered in the Proxima Competition of the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where Kosemund-Sanidis won the Proxima Best Director Award.[4][5][13] He is also the cinematographer of Bells, the first Greek-set feature of Adam Christian Clark.[14]

Selected filmography

Feature films

Television

  • Dangerous Liaisons (2022)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Christos Voudouris — Cinematographer". Kinou Cinematographer Agency. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Anderson, John (January 21, 2013). "'Before Midnight': Sundance Review". Variety.
  3. 1 2 Dargis, Manohla (August 21, 2014). "'Love Is Strange,' Directed by Ira Sachs". The New York Times.
  4. 1 2 3 "FNE at KVIFF 2026: Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis' A Whole Person Almost Heads for Proxima Competition World Premiere". FilmNewEurope. June 14, 2026. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Karlovy Vary Film Festival Awards Given Out". Awards Radar. July 11, 2026. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Before Midnight — Christos Voudouris biography". Sony Pictures Classics. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  7. ↑ Chang, Justin (September 3, 2011). "Alps". Variety.
  8. ↑ "Alps — 2011 Yorgos Lanthimos". Film Grab. May 27, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  9. ↑ "ALPS (Yorgos Lanthimos 2011)". FilmLeaf — Journal of Cinema. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  10. ↑ Fagerholm, Matt (May 24, 2013). "Looking Forward to Right Now: The Immediate Future of "Before Midnight"". Newcity Film. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Before Midnight". Behind the Lens Online. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Review: "Love is Strange" a Marriage of Simplicity & Strength". The Moveable Fest. August 25, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  13. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Trailer for Karlovy Vary entry A Whole Person Almost". Cineuropa. June 22, 2026. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  14. ↑ Athanasatos, Christodoulos (February 25, 2026). "Greek-American Director Adam Christian Clark about His First Film in Greece". The National Herald. Retrieved July 15, 2026.
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