---
name: "Lisa Rinzler"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/lisa-rinzler"
fi1m_id: "lisa-rinzler"
imdb_id: "nm0727789"
tmdb_id: 5271
wikidata_id: "Q5976933"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "30 November 1955"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 79
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T17:47:35.610301+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."
---

# Lisa Rinzler

## Identity

Lisa Rinzler

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/lisa-rinzler
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** lisa-rinzler
- **IMDb ID:** nm0727789
- **TMDB ID:** 5271
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5976933
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Rinzler, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5976933, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0727789/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5271

Cinematographer. Born 30 November 1955 in New Jersey.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 30 November 1955, New Jersey
- **Active:** 1993–1999
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Rinzler, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5976933, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0727789/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5271

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*Menace II Society*](https://film.one/film/menace-ii-society.md) (82)
- **HBO Max:** [*Buena Vista Social Club*](https://film.one/film/buena-vista-social-club.md) (76)

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

## Biography

Lisa Rinzler is an American cinematographer who has worked on feature films and documentaries. She was born on 30 November 1955 in New Jersey and studied painting at the Pratt Institute before earning a B.F.A. in cinematography from New York University in 1978.

Rinzler shot *Menace II Society* (1993) for the Hughes brothers, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award for best cinematography. She has collaborated repeatedly with the Hughes brothers (*Dead Presidents*, 1995) and with Wim Wenders (*Lisbon Story*, 1994; *Buena Vista Social Club*, 1999). Other credits include *Trees Lounge* (1996), *Three Seasons* (1999), for which she won a second Independent Spirit Award and the Sundance Cinematography Award, and *Pollock* (2000). She has also directed short films and received a Primetime Emmy Award.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, theasc.com, variety.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Buena Vista Social Club* (1999), Fi1m 76, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/buena-vista-social-club.md)
- *Menace II Society* (1993), Fi1m 82, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/menace-ii-society.md)

## Complete filmography (53)

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

- *Dear Shop Girl* (2025), Cinematography
- *Move Ya Body: The Birth of House* (2025), Director of Photography
- *Rare Objects* (2023), Director of Photography
- *With This Light* (2023), Director of Photography
- *The Fire That Took Her* (2022), Director of Photography
- *Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)* (2020), Director of Photography
- *The Infiltrators* (2019), Director of Photography
- *Cabaret Maxime* (2018), Director of Photography
- *Pope Francis: A Man of His Word* (2018), Director of Photography
- *After Auschwitz* (2017), Camera Operator
- *City of Joy* (2016), Director of Photography
- *The Lennon Report* (2016), Director of Photography
- *Don't Blink - Robert Frank* (2015), Director of Photography
- *Hitchcock/Truffaut* (2015), Director of Photography
- *The Supreme Price* (2014), Cinematography
- *Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God* (2012), Director of Photography
- *30 Beats* (2012), Director of Photography
- *Drunkboat* (2012), Director of Photography
- *George Harrison: Living in the Material World* (2011), series, Director of Photography
- *Flor de Muertos* (2011), Cinematography
- *American Passages* (2011), Director of Photography
- *Public Speaking* (2011), Additional Photography
- *An Invisible Sign* (2010), Director of Photography
- *Sleep Dealer* (2008), Director of Photography
- *The Year of Getting to Know Us* (2008), Director of Photography
- *Gardener of Eden* (2007), Director of Photography, Cinematography
- *Best of Chris Isaak* (2006), Director of Photography
- *The Night Listener* (2006), Director of Photography
- *Drum* (2004), Director of Photography
- *The Blues* (2003), series, Director of Photography
- *Rick* (2003), Director of Photography
- *The Soul of a Man* (2003), Director of Photography
- *Love Liza* (2002), Director of Photography
- *Welcome to Collinwood* (2002), Director of Photography
- *Pollock* (2000), Director of Photography
- *Buena Vista Social Club* (1999), Director of Photography — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/buena-vista-social-club.md)
- *Three Seasons* (1999), Director of Photography
- *Black Kites* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Trees Lounge* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Dead Presidents* (1995), Director of Photography
- *Lisbon Story* (1994), Director of Photography
- *Hookers, Hustlers, Pimps and Their Johns* (1993), Director of Photography
- *Menace II Society* (1993), Director of Photography — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/menace-ii-society.md)
- *Guncrazy* (1992), Director of Photography
- *Death By Unnatural Causes* (1991), Director, Director of Photography
- *Teach 109* (1990), Director of Photography
- *True Love* (1989), Director of Photography
- *Forever, Lulu* (1986), Director of Photography
- *I Was a Teenage TV Terrorist* (1985), Cinematography
- *Lady* (1984), Director of Photography, Producer
- *Reverse Angle: New York, March 1982* (1982), Director of Photography
- *Girls Nite Out* (1982), First Assistant Camera
- *Fist of Fear, Touch of Death* (1980), Assistant Camera

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 2004: Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program (won), for *The Blues*

*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/lisa-rinzler