# Sean Bobbitt

Sean Francis Bobbitt, B.S.C. (born 29 November 1958) is an American-born British cinematographer. He is known for his collaborations with director Steve McQueen working on his films Hunger (2008), Shame (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2013), and Widows (2018). He earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

## Early life

Sean Bobbitt was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on 29 November 1958. After his family moved to the UK, he went to school at St George’s College, Weybridge.

## Career

Bobbitt started his career as a news and documentary cameraman, a role which took him to the most conflicted spots of the globe.
In 2008, Bobbitt worked with artist-turned-director Steve McQueen on British film Hunger, a hard-hitting film about the Northern Irish hunger striker, Bobby Sands. With this film Bobbitt, McQueen, editor Joe Walker and actor Michael Fassbender formed a collaborative award-winning team that have gone on to make a further two films, Shame and 12 Years a Slave. Bobbitt won a BIFA in 2008 for his work on Hunger. He was again nominated in 2011 for Shame, starring Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan alongside Fassbender. In 2012, Bobbitt won the Carlo Di Palma European Cinematographer of the Year Award at the European Film Awards for his work on Shame.
In 2011, Bobbitt worked on the pilot of HBO's acclaimed series Game of Thrones. The following year, Bobbitt completed filming on The Place Beyond the Pines, which stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Ray Liotta, a Neil Jordan film starring Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton and Jonny Lee Miller called Byzantium, and he concluded five years of working on Michael Winterbottom drama-film Everyday. In early 2013, he completed work on Oldboy, the Spike Lee-directed American remake of the 2003 South Korean film of the same name. The end of 2013 saw the release of 12 Years a Slave, for which he received multiple cinematography award nominations, and which ultimately won the coveted Best Picture Award at the 2014 Oscars.
Over the next few years, he worked on Kill the Messenger with Jeremy Renner, Rock the Kasbah with Bill Murray, Queen of Katwe with David Oyelowo, On Chesil Beach with Saoirse Ronan, Stronger with Jake Gyllenhaal. In 2018, he collaborated with McQueen again on heist movie Widows.
In 2019, he shot Judas and the Black Messiah for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The film was released on HBO Max in 2021, having been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Bobbitt filmed The Marvels, directed by Nia DiCosta, and in 2024 he completed filming on 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple, also with DiCosta.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1999 | Wonderland | Michael Winterbottom | |
| 2001 | Lawless Heart | Tom Hunsinger Neil Hunter | |
| 2002 | Summer Things | Michel Blanc | |
| 2006 | Cargo | Clive Gordon | |
| 2006 | The Situation | Philip Haas | |
| 2007 | The Baker | Gareth Lewis | |
| 2007 | Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution | Bille Eltringham | |
| 2008 | Hunger | Steve McQueen | |
| 2010 | Africa United | Debs Gardner-Paterson | |
| 2011 | Shame | Steve McQueen | |
| 2011 | Hysteria | Tanya Wexler | |
| 2012 | Everyday | Michael Winterbottom | Shared credit with Annenarie Lean-Vercoe, James Clark, Simon Tindall and Marcel Zyskind |
| 2012 | The Place Beyond the Pines | Derek Cianfrance | |
| 2012 | Byzantium | Neil Jordan | |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | Steve McQueen | |
| 2013 | Oldboy | Spike Lee | |
| 2014 | Kill the Messenger | Michael Cuesta | |
| 2015 | Rock the Kasbah | Barry Levinson | |
| 2016 | Queen of Katwe | Mira Nair | |
| 2017 | On Chesil Beach | Dominic Cooke | |
| 2017 | Stronger | David Gordon Green | |
| 2018 | Widows | Steve McQueen | |
| 2020 | The Courier | Dominic Cooke | |
| 2020 | The Rhythm Section | Reed Morano | |
| 2021 | Judas and the Black Messiah | Shaka King | |
| 2023 | The Marvels | Nia DaCosta | |
| 2026 | 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | Nia DaCosta | Filming |
| TBA | Hedda | Nia DaCosta | Post-production |

### Television

Mini-series
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2003 | Canterbury Tales | Marc Munden Julian Jarrold | Episodes "The Knight's Tale" and "The Man of Law's Tale" |
| 2004 | The Long Firm | Bille Eltringham | |
| 2008 | Sense and Sensibility | John Alexander | |
| 2009 | Unforgiven | David Evans | |
| 2016 | Codes of Conduct | Steve McQueen | |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director |
| 2001 | The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | Stephen Whittaker |
| 2001 | Sweet Revenge | David Morrissey |
| 2002 | Jeffrey Archer: The Truth | Guy Jenkin |
| 2003 | Second Generation | Jon Sen |
TV series
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2002 | Spooks | Rob Bailey | Episodes "One Last Dance" and "Traitor's Gate" |

### Short films

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2000 | Maisie's Catch | Dan Weldon | |
| 2001 | Dog | Andrea Arnold | |
| 2001 | Ladies Night | Caroline Hicks | |
| 2004 | Charlotte | Steve McQueen | |
| 2006 | Normal for Norfolk | Gareth Lewis | |
| 2007 | Weddings and Beheadings | Amir Jamal | |
| 2007 | Gravesend | Steve McQueen | |
| 2009 | The Death of Pentheus | Philip Haas | |
| 2009 | Static | Steve McQueen | |
| 2009 | Giardini | Steve McQueen | |
| 2016 | Mr. Burberry | Steve McQueen | |
| 2022 | Avengers: Quantum Encounter | Danny Handke Chris Waitt | Shared credit with David Stump and Sam Renton |

### Documentary works

Film
| Year | Title | Director |
| 2010 | Crack House USA | Anthony Wonke |
| 2012 | Trashed | Candida Brady |
Miniseries
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1994 | Watergate | Mick Gold |
| 1998 | Ancient Inventions | Daniel Percival Phil Grabsky |
Short films
| Year | Title | Director |
| 2002 | Western Deep | Steve McQueen |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Title | Awards/Nominations |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography |
| 2021 | Judas and the Black Messiah | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Black Reel Award for Outstanding Cinematography |