Matthias Grunsky

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Matthias Grunsky
Grunsky in 2022
Born (1971-08-15) August 15, 1971 (age 54)
Vienna, Austria
OccupationCinematographer
OrganizationsGerman Society of Cinematographers
Websitehttp://www.matthias-grunsky.com


Matthias Grunsky (born August 15, 1971) is an Austrian cinematographer. Known for his intimate, unshowy lensing and Chiaroscuro lighting reminiscent Rembrandt and Georges de La Tour,[1][2] Grunsky first gained recognition for his contributions to US independent cinema through his acclaimed collaborations with Andrew Bujalski.

Life and work

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Grunsky began his career as a camera assistant in Austria and Germany, where he learnt from cinematographers such as Lee Daniel on Before Sunrise (1995).[3]

His first feature-length movie as cinematographer was Funny Ha Ha (2002) for director Andrew Bujalski, with whom he continued to work on his following films. Grunsky used black and white video cameras with video camera tubes for the comedy drama film Computer Chess (2013), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.[4]

In 2019, Grunsky won Best Cinematography at the Midwest Independent Film Festival for the musical film Saints Rest (2019).[5] That same year, he also won Best Cinematography at the History Film Fest for the television film Defiance. Three Women and the Vote.[6] For the romantic comedy film There There (2022), which was shot remotely under Covid restrictions, Grunsky used iPhone cameras.[7] 2024 he has collaborated with German director Edgar Reitz on "Leibniz- Chronicle of a lost Painting" (2025).[8]

Selected Filmography

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Year Film Director Other notes
2002 Funny Ha Ha Andrew Bujalski
2005 Mutual Appreciation Andrew Bujalski
2007 American Zombie Grace Lee
2008 Nights and Weekends Joe Swanberg & Greta Gerwig
2009 Sorry, Thanks Dia Sokol Savage
Beeswax Andrew Bujalski
2013 Man without a Head Johnny Roc
Computer Chess Andrew Bujalski Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
A Livre Ouvert Stéphanie Chuat & Véronique Reymond TV series (season 1) - RTS/ France 2
2015 Results Andrew Bujalski
2016 Infinity Baby Bob Byington
Saints Rest Noga Ashkenazi Best Cinematography – Midwest Independent Film Festival 2019
2017 The Honor Farm Karen Skloss
2018 Support the Girls Andrew Bujalski
2019 Defiance. Three Women and the Vote Beate Thalberg Best Cinematography –

History Film Fest 2019

2020 Marlene Andreas Resch
2021 Tales of Franz Johannes Schmid
2022 Bad Things in the Middle of Nowhere Garry Walsh
2022 New Tales of Franz Johannes Schmid
2022 There There Andrew Bujalski
2025 Leibniz - Chronicle of a Lost Painting Edgar Reitz

References

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  1. ^ "Beeswax". variety.com. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  2. ^ "Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting". dmovies.org. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  3. ^ "Matthias Grunsky". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  4. ^ Independent Spirit Awards 2014
  5. ^ "Winners at the Best of the Midwest Awards Gala | Midwest Independent Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  6. ^ "FOTO Završen 3. History Film Festival - Pobjednik 'Love is Potatos' kroz osobnu priču govori o represivnom teroru". 15 September 2019.
  7. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (2022-11-18). "In 'There There,' the Actors in the Room Are Far Far From Each Other". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  8. ^ September 2025|website=berlinale.de |
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