Independent Media’s Phedon Papamichael Takes His Oscar-Nominated Cinematography to the Director's Chair
May 13, 2026
Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC is perhaps best known as a cinematographer, underscored by a pair of Oscar nominations–one in 2014 for his lensing of Nebraska for director Alexander Payne; the other in 2021 for The Trial of the Chicago 7 from writer-director Aaron Sorkin. Papamichael also is a two-time BAFTA Film Award nominee for his shooting of Nebraska and director James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari.
Still, in the midst of his ongoing, lauded cinematography–which includes an ASC Award nomination last year for Mangold’s A Complete Unknown–Papamichael not only has a track record as a director but is growing a bit deeper into that role, notably with work in commercials via IndependentMedia, the longstanding shop headed by executive producer Susanne Preissler.
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