Brian Tufano


Brian Richard Tufano was an English cinematographer.
Tufano was admitted to the British Society of Cinematographers and won the 2001 BAFTA Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television.

Life and career

Tufano began his career at the BBC as a projectionist, working his way up to become a cameraman with the BBC film department in 1963. During his time at the BBC, Tufano worked with directors including Stephen Frears and Alan Parker. In 1992 he was assigned to the series Mr. Wroe's Virgins and worked with director Danny Boyle.
Tufano went freelance in the mid-1970s - his first feature was the 1978 film The Sailor's Return with director Jack Gold.
During the 1980s, Tufano spent time working in the United States, including additional cinematography for Jordan Cronenweth on Blade Runner.
Boyle worked with Tufano on his feature debut, Shallow Grave, and continued to work with Tufano on the 1996 films Trainspotting and the 1997 film A Life Less Ordinary. Boyle and Tufano also worked together on the 2008 short film Alien Love Triangle.
Tufano worked with director Menhaj Huda on his first feature film, Jump Boy, in 1999, and they went on to work together on the 2006 feature film Kidulthood. Tufano also shot the 2008 sequel Adulthood, which was directed by Noel Clarke. Huda and Tufano worked together on the 2011 feature, Everywhere and Nowhere.
From 2003 to 2016, Tufano was Head of Cinematography at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. Before his death, he was a Teaching Fellow at the school.
Tufano died on 12 January 2023, at the age of 83.

Filmography

Film

Short film
YearTitleDirectorNotes
2008Alien Love TriangleDanny Boyle

Television

TV movies
YearTitleDirectorNotes
1966A Few Castles in SpainKevin BillingtonDocumentary film
1966Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the WorldKen RussellWith Dick Bush
1975The EvacueesAlan Parker
1975Daft As a BrushStephen Frears
1975Moll FlandersDonald McWhinnie
1975Three Men in a BoatStephen Frears
1982Murder Is EasyClaude Whatham
1982The WallRobert Markowitz
1986Trapped in SilenceMichael Tuchner
1996Element of DoubtChristopher Morahan
2008My Zinc BedAnthony Page

TV series
YearTitleDirectorNotes
1969Out of the UnknownPeter CregeenEpisode "Get Off My Cloud"
1969Take Three GirlsJohn MatthewsEpisode "Avril: Devon Violets"
1970Thirty-Minute TheatreMichael TuchnerEpisode "All My Own Army"
1972The SextetAlan BridgesEpisode "Follow the Yellow Brick Road"
1974Play of the MonthJames MacTaggartEpisode "Robinson Crusoe"
1976BBC2 PlayhouseStephen FrearsEpisode "Play Things"
1977Centre PlayHimselfEpisode "Rehearsal"
1977-1978BBC2 Play of the WeekClive Rees
Clive Donner		Segments "Arnhem: The Story of an Escape" and "She Fell Among Thieves"
1982Five-Minute FilmsMike Leigh5 episodes
1994Common As MuckMetin Hüseyin3 episodes
1996Silent WitnessHarry Hook
Mike Barker
Noella Smith		6 episodes

Miniseries
YearTitleDirectorNotes
1971The Search for the NileFred BurnleyWith John Baker
1973Wessex TalesGavin MillarEpisode "An Imaginative Woman"
1974Dial M for MurderGerald BlakeEpisode "The Vineyard"
1976The Glittering PrizesWaris HusseinEpisode An Early Life
1977SupernaturalAlan CookeEpisode "Mr Nightingale"
1989The Endless GameBryan Forbes
1993Mr. Wroe's VirginsDanny Boyle
1994MiddlemarchAnthony Page
1995The ChoirFerdinand Fairfax

Awards and nominations

For his work on Late Night Shopping, Tufano was nominated for the Technical Achievement Award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards.
Tufano won the Special Jury Prize at the 2002 British Independent Film Awards. Tufano received the BSC ARRI John Alcott Memorial Award in 2015, and went on to receive the British Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
BAFTA Awards
YearTitleCategoryResultRef.
1995MiddlemarchTelevision: Best Photography and Lighting Nomitated
2001Billy ElliotFilm: Best CinematographyNomitated
2001n/aTelevision Craft: Special AwardWon