---
name: "Joan Churchill"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joan-churchill"
fi1m_id: "joan-churchill"
imdb_id: "nm0161443"
tmdb_id: 116791
wikidata_id: "Q79453295"
roles: ["Cinematographer","Director"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-26T18:10:57.616347+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Joan Churchill

## Identity

Joan Churchill

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joan-churchill
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joan-churchill
- **IMDb ID:** nm0161443
- **TMDB ID:** 116791
- **Wikidata ID:** Q79453295
- **Same entity:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79453295, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0161443/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/116791

Cinematographer and director.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer, Director
- **Active:** 1970–2003
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 directing, 1 crew
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 78 (1), 2000s 72 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79453295, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0161443/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/116791

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer*](https://film.one/film/aileen-life-and-death-of-a-serial-killer.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Joan Churchill is an American cinematographer and filmmaker. She began her career in the late 1960s and early 1970s shooting vérité documentaries and music films such as *Gimme Shelter* (1970) and *Punishment Park* (1971). She attended UCLA, where she took a summer filmmaking class that led her into the industry.

Churchill has collaborated extensively with director Nick Broomfield, her former husband, on films including *Soldier Girls* (1981), which she co-directed and shot, *Lily Tomlin* (1986) and *Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer* (2003), on which she served as both cinematographer and co-director. Other credits include *Kurt & Courtney* (1998), *Biggie & Tupac* (2002) and *Last Days in Vietnam* (2014).

In 2005 she became the first pure documentary cinematographer inducted into the American Society of Cinematographers. Her work has earned a BAFTA award, among other honours.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, joanchurchill.com, theasc.com, documentary.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Directed (1)

- *Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer* (2003), Fi1m 72, Director of Photography, Director, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/aileen-life-and-death-of-a-serial-killer.md)

### Crew (1) — the average rests on these

- *Gimme Shelter* (1970), Fi1m 78, Camera Operator — [page](https://film.one/film/gimme-shelter.md)

## Complete filmography (40)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Who Tells the Story?* (2023), Director
- *Shoot from the Heart* (2021), Director
- *Medicating Normal* (2020), Director of Photography
- *Bedlam* (2019), Director of Photography
- *Last Days in Vietnam* (2014), Director of Photography
- *Sarah Palin: You Betcha!* (2011), Director, Cinematography
- *Miller's Tale* (2011), Additional Camera
- *Battle for Haditha* (2007), Additional Camera
- *His Big White Self* (2006), Cinematography
- *Who Needs Sleep?* (2006), Director of Photography
- *Home of the Brave* (2004), Director of Photography
- *Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer* (2003), Director, Director of Photography — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/aileen-life-and-death-of-a-serial-killer.md)
- *Jimi Plays Berkeley* (2003), Camera Operator
- *Concert for George* (2003), Camera Operator
- *Biggie & Tupac* (2002), Director of Photography
- *Down from the Mountain* (2001), Director of Photography
- *Twilight: Los Angeles* (2000), Director of Photography
- *Tripping* (1999), Director of Photography
- *Kurt & Courtney* (1998), Director of Photography
- *Asylum* (1992), Director
- *Juvenile Liaison 2* (1990), Director
- *Stella Adler: Awake and Dream!* (1989), Director of Photography
- *Comic Book Confidential* (1989), Director of Photography
- *Under the Sun* (1989), series, Director, Director of Photography
- *Lily Tomlin* (1987), Director, Cinematography
- *Anarchism in America* (1983), Cinematography
- *Soldier Girls* (1981), Director, Camera Operator, Cinematography
- *Rush* (1980), Director of Photography
- *80 Blocks from Tiffany's* (1980), Director of Photography
- *Tattooed Tears* (1979), Director
- *Evening Land* (1977), Director of Photography
- *Pumping Iron* (1977), Camera Operator
- *Marriage Guidance* (1977), Director
- *Juvenile Liaison* (1976), Director, Producer, Editor, Director of Photography, Cinematography
- *A Poem Is a Naked Person* (1974), Additional Photography
- *An American Family* (1973), series, Cinematography
- *Celebration at Big Sur* (1971), Camera Operator, Sound Editor
- *Punishment Park* (1971), Director of Photography
- *Gimme Shelter* (1970), Camera Operator — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/gimme-shelter.md)
- *Sylvia, Fran and Joy*, Director

## Awards

### Other awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- European Film Award for Best Documentary 2004: European Film Award for Best Documentary (nominated), for *Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joan-churchill