Peter Suschitzky

Suschitzky was born in London, England,^[2] the son of the BAFTA-nominated cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky,^[3][4] an Austrian of Jewish descent.^[5]

Although music was Peter's 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.^[6]

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^[7] attended by dedicated, cosplaying fans.^[8] He shot the 1977 biopic Valentino for director Ken Russell, for which he received a nomination for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Cinematography.^[9] 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.^[10]

Suschitzky replaced Mark Irwin as David Cronenberg's regular director of photography after Irwin left Dead Ringers during pre-production.^[11] Their collaboration lasted until 2014, with Maps to the Stars, with Douglas Koch replacing Suschitzky as Cronenberg's regular in 2022.

BAFTA Awards

Canadian Screen Awards

Accademia del Cinema Italiano

Suschitzky is also 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.^[12]