Peter Biziou<\/strong> was born on August 8th<\/sup>, 1944 in Bangor, Caernarvonshire county, Wales. His family had been evacuated therein during the Second World War. Since childhood, he was surrounded by the world of cinema thanks to his father, Leon Bijou<\/strong>, cinematographer, special effects & animation, and assistant director who worked with Richard Thorpe<\/strong> on Ivanhoe<\/em> <\/span>(1952) and cinematographer with Adrian Lyne <\/strong>on Foxes<\/em> <\/span>(1980).<\/p>\n Following his return to post-war London, Peter Biziou<\/strong> spent his course of study at Paddington Secondary Technical School (renamed Quintin Kynaston School in 1969). \u00a0There, young Peter became proficient in engineering, machining, and technical drawing, which proved very useful in the subsequent years of his budding career as a cinematographer. Being raised by a single father, he accompanied his parent to the production studios where he could observe and learn about the complicated process of film creation in person. Peter also lent a hand to his dad in his modest workshop, helping him piece together short stop-motion animations and gradually kindling his love of cinema.<\/p>\n Peter Biziou<\/em> Having completed his education, Peter Biziou<\/strong> began to stand on his own two feet career-wise. Looking to find his way into the film industry, he had persistently written to a particular company in Soho\u2019s Wardour Street, specializing in animation. Although the company did not have a position for him at that time, they kindly invited Peter Biziou<\/strong> to walk around and see a few of their departments. When they walked through the machine shop that was not being used, the studio\u2019s manager was impressed by Biziou’s<\/strong> knowledge about all the metal and wood lathes gathered there and offered him a job anyway. There, he produced a broad spectrum of animation rigs and scaled models, and learnt the ropes of the animation film work by assisting company cameramen with the lighting, lenses, and cameras. In that way, he climbed his way up to shoot his own animation sequences.<\/p>\n Despite that promotion, in mid-sixties Peter Biziou<\/strong> decided to start working as an independent artist, primarily lighting film sets of commissioned commercials and shorts. That enabled him to work alongside renowned photographers who were taking their first steps in the film industry and gladly allowed young, fledgling cinematographers to help them turn their photographic visions into moving picture reality. Time spent on commercial sets greatly influenced his cinematographic style by fostering his innate intuition and his courage to implement innovation. That in turn made him successfully complement Directors\u2019 ideas on set. He worked with the likes of Robert Freeman, Len Fulford<\/strong>, Bob Brooks, Terence Donovan<\/strong>, John Swannell<\/strong>, Frank Budgen<\/strong>, and many others.<\/p>\n The burgeoning collaboration with eminent fashion photographer, Robert Freeman<\/strong>, brought in an invitation for Peter Biziou<\/strong> to be in charge of the visuals in his fiction film debut, Secret World<\/em>, starring Jacquline Bisset<\/strong>. Given that his debut as a cinematographer had been well-received, Peter Biziou<\/strong> got commissioned for commercials, shorts, videoclips, and documentaries. As it enabled him to cultivate his modern approach to lighting film sets, he got more and more challenging and exciting job offers.<\/p>\n Mississippi Burning<\/em>, Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe \u00a0<\/strong>Peter Biziou\u2019s<\/strong> outstanding work at the set of Another Country<\/em><\/span> (1984) directed by Marek Kanievska<\/strong> brought him critical acclaim and the award for Best Artistic Contribution at Cannes Film Festival. However, it was his collaboration with Alan Parker<\/strong> (director and long-time associate) that ushered in several joint productions and brought him international recognition. Together, they produced short forms, like Our Cissy<\/em> <\/span>(1974) and Footsteps<\/em><\/span> (1974), and famous feature films: Bugsy Malone<\/em><\/span> (1976, joint cinematographic work with Michael Seresin<\/strong>), Pink Floyd: The Wall <\/em><\/span>(1982), The Road to Wellville<\/em> <\/span>(1994), and most importantly Mississippi Burning<\/em><\/span> (1988) that got Peter Biziou<\/strong> the \u00a0Oscar\u00ae for Best Cinematography. That film also earned a mention in \u2018ASC List of 100 Milestone Films in Cinematography of the 20th<\/sup> Century\u2019, which includes productions that forward the development of the craft and inspire future generations of cinematographers.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.camerimage.pl\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Biziou-portret.jpg\")
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\n(photo by Jill Furmanovski \/ Peter Biziou\u2019s private archive)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n(photo by David Appleby \/ Peter Biziou\u2019s private archive)<\/em><\/p>\n