# Peter Suschitzky

Peter Suschitzky, A.S.C. (born 25 July 1941) is a British cinematographer and photographer.
Among his most known works as director of photography are The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Empire Strikes Back, and Mars Attacks! and many of David Cronenberg's films.
Suschitzky has been the recipient of four Genie Awards for Best Achievement in Cinematography, and a David di Donatello Award for Best Cinematography. He is featured in the book Conversations with Cinematographers, published by Scarecrow Press.
In 2015 he was selected to be a member of the jury for the Critics' Week section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

## Life and career

Suschitzky was born in London, England, the son of BAFTA Award-nominated cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky. His father was an Austrian of Jewish descent. Although music was his passion, he chose to pursue a career in cinematography while studying at Institut des hautes études cinématographiques in Paris, France. He became a clapper boy at age 19 and a camera operator at age 22.
Among his first films as DP was It Happened Here, a mockumentary-style World War II film about life in the United Kingdom, following a hypothetical Axis victory in World War II. The film was shot on handheld, 16mm film in order to give it a gritty, realistic look inspired by wartime newsreels. Due to the film's independent nature and unusual subject matter, its production lasted a total of eight years.
In 1975, Suschitzky shot The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a comedy musical film that, while initially unsuccessful, has since become a massive cult film, with regular midnight screenings attended by dedicated, cosplaying fans. He shot the 1977 biopic Valentino for director Ken Russell, for which he received a nomination for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Cinematography. Three years later, he would lens the second entry in the long-running Star Wars film series, The Empire Strikes Back, considered to be the best in the series.
Suschitzky replaced Mark Irwin as David Cronenberg's regular director of photography after Irwin left Dead Ringers during pre-production. Their collaboration lasted until 2014, with Maps to the Stars, and Douglas Koch then became Cronenberg's regular since 2022.

## Filmography
### Feature film

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1964 | It Happened Here | Kevin Brownlow Andrew Mollo | With Kevin Brownlow |
| 1966 | The Christmas Tree | Jim Clark | |
| 1967 | Privilege | Peter Watkins | |
| 1967 | Charlie Bubbles | Albert Finney | |
| 1968 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Peter Hall | |
| 1969 | Lock Up Your Daughters! | Peter Coe | |
| 1969 | Gladiators | Peter Watkins | |
| 1969 | A Touch of Love | Waris Hussein | |
| 1970 | Figures in a Landscape | Joseph Losey | With Henri Alekan and Guy Tabary |
| 1970 | Leo the Last | John Boorman | |
| 1971 | Melody aka SWALK | Waris Hussein | |
| 1972 | Henry VIII and his Six Wives | Waris Hussein | |
| 1972 | The Pied Piper | Jacques Demy | |
| 1973 | That'll Be the Day | Claude Whatham | |
| 1975 | The Rocky Horror Picture Show | Jim Sharman | |
| 1975 | Lisztomania | Ken Russell | |
| 1977 | Valentino | Ken Russell | |
| 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back | Irvin Kershner | |
| 1983 | Krull | Peter Yates | |
| 1984 | Falling in Love | Ulu Grosbard | |
| 1988 | In Extremis | Olivier Lorsac | |
| 1988 | Dead Ringers | David Cronenberg | 1st collaboration with Cronenberg |
| 1990 | Where the Heart Is | John Boorman | |
| 1991 | Un homme et deux femmes | Valérie Stroh | |
| 1991 | Naked Lunch | David Cronenberg | |
| 1992 | The Public Eye | Howard Franklin | |
| 1993 | The Vanishing | George Sluizer | |
| 1993 | M. Butterfly | David Croenenberg | |
| 1994 | Immortal Beloved | Bernard Rose | |
| 1996 | Mars Attacks! | Tim Burton | |
| 1996 | Crash | David Cronenberg | |
| 1998 | The Man in the Iron Mask | Randall Wallace | |
| 1999 | eXistenZ | David Cronenberg | |
| 2000 | Red Planet | Antony Hoffman | |
| 2002 | Spider | David Cronenberg | |
| 2005 | A History of Violence | David Cronenberg | |
| 2005 | Shopgirl | Anand Tucker | |
| 2006 | The Stone Council | Guillaume Nicloux | |
| 2007 | Eastern Promises | David Cronenberg | |
| 2011 | A Dangerous Method | David Cronenberg | |
| 2012 | Cosmopolis | David Cronenberg | |
| 2013 | After Earth | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| 2014 | Maps to the Stars | David Cronenberg | |
| 2015 | Tale of Tales | Matteo Garrone | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1961 | Mächte des Glaubens | Peter von Zahn | Episode "Das Judentum" |
| 1993 | Fallen Angels | Tom Hanks Tom Cruise | Episodes "I'll Be Waiting" and "The Frightening Frammis" |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1966 | The War Game | Peter Watkins | Uncredited |
| 1966 | Francis Bacon Fragments of a Portrait | Michael Gill | Documentary film |
| 1975 | All Creatures Great and Small | Claude Whatham | |

## Awards and nominations

BAFTA Awards
| Year | Title | Category | Result |
| 1977 | Valentino | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
Canadian Screen Awards
| Year | Title | Category | Result |
| 1988 | Dead Ringers | Best Cinematography | Won |
| 1991 | Naked Lunch | Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2006 | Crash | Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2007 | Eastern Promises | Best Cinematography | Won |
Accademia del Cinema Italiano
| Year | Title | Category | Result |
| 2015 | Tale of Tales | Best Cinematography | Won |