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Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS’s credits span a wide array of genres, showcasing his extensive creativity and ability to adapt to any style of film. He is widely regarded today as one of the best in the business.
Over the past three decades, Libatique has built an impressive career defined by creative risk-taking and enduring collaborations. In recognition of his contributions to the art of cinematography, he received the prestigious Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal from the American Film Institute (AFI) in April 2024.
Libatique reteams with legendary director Spike Lee after contributing his cinematic vision to numerous projects, including Inside Man, Chi-Raq, Miracle at St. Anna, She Hate Me and more. Their latest project together is Highest 2 Lowest, an upcoming crime thriller from Apple and A24. A reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and will be in theaters on August 15, 2025.
Up next, Libatique reunites with longtime collaborator Darren Aronofsky for Caught Stealing, a gritty crime thriller based on Charlie Huston’s novel of the same name. Starring Austin Butler, Matt Smith, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Vincent D’Onofrio, Liev Schreiber, and Bad Bunny, the film is produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Protozoa Pictures and is slated for release by Sony Pictures on August 29, 2025.
He also served as DP on Aronofsky’s The Whale, a critically lauded character study that continued their decades-long creative partnership. Their earlier collaborations include Pi; Requiem for a Dream, which earned Libatique the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography; The Fountain; Black Swan, which won the Independent Spirit Award and earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations for Best Cinematography; Noah; and mother!.
In 2023, Libatique lensed Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, following their acclaimed collaboration on A Star is Born. Both films earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography and American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) nominations, along with additional honors including a BAFTA nomination for Black Swan and the Hollywood Film Awards Cinematographer of the Year for A Star Is Born.
Continuing their creative partnership, Libatique shot Cooper’s upcoming feature, Is This Thing On?, a comedy for Searchlight Pictures inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop. The film stars Will Arnett and Laura Dern, with Cooper in a supporting role.
In 2021, Libatique captured the unsettling beauty of Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, set against the vibrant, mid-century desert palette of Palm Springs. It marked their second project together after the short film Wake Up, which premiered at Sundance in 2020.
Additional credits include Ryan Murphy’s star-studded musical The Prom, Rashid Johnson’s Native Son (Sundance premiere), the Oscar-nominated Straight Outta Compton and the anti-hero blockbuster Venom.
He also shares a longstanding collaboration with Jon Favreau, working together on projects such as Cowboys & Aliens and the original Iron Man films. Their creative partnership on Iron Man and Iron Man 2 which helped in establishing the visual identity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and marked the beginning of a new era in superhero filmmaking.
He is represented by UTA in the United States and is an active member of the American Society of Cinematographers.