Vasco Lucas Nunes
Recycle

The Cinematographer

Vasco Lucas Nunes was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal. He began working in the film and television industry during the early 1990s in the electrical department of SIC television. His interest in film led him to Madrid and later to the United States, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in film production at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Nunes worked at a camera rental house before beginning his career as an assistant cameraman. He was an associate producer-cinematographer for the feature length documentary Jary shot on the Amazon River, in Brazil. He followed that experience by shooting a string of promos for CNN International. Nunes returned to Europe as a junior manager at Dedo Weigert Film GmbH and later was a high-speed camera operator for Photosonics. Nunes also worked in sales and design for Dedolight. He returned to the United States, joined Local 600 as an assistant cameraman and subsequently earned a master’s degree at the American Film Institute specializing in cinematography.

Nunes worked with legendary cinematographer Conrad W. Hall, ASC on Road to Perdition. In 2001, he began collaborating with director Ondi Timoner filming music videos performances by The Vines, David Lee Roth, Vanessa Carlton and Van Hunt. Nunes joined Timoner as a cinematographer and co-producer on the last years of her seven-year documentary DIG! – which earned the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and has been requested for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NY (MoMA).

“I have seen the quality of the cinematography featured in the Showcase in previous years, and I’m very humbled to be included in this group,” says Nunes.

The Film

Recycle is a portrait of a day in the life of Miguel Diaz, a homeless poet who lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles. He is recovering from substance abuse through his philosophy of recycling life. Diaz uses all the thrown away items he collects to make a community garden in the median of his street, while offering his insights on survival and nature.

Nunes co-directed the film with Timoner in addition to rendering images on 35 mm film for the six-minute documentary during three days of shooting.

“It was challenging working with our subject, who was easily distracted by both what he found and other people on the street, and by the simple fact that he was living his life, but I believe that this is what gives his close-ups authenticity and frankness,” says Nunes. “From the beginning, I wanted it to be a cinematographic piece with enough graphic weight to be complementary with Miguel’s life and philosophy––natural, observational and with large contrasts.”