Vittorio Storaro, Dune Cinematographer

Known as "The Master of Light" by film aficionados, three-time Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro lends his talents to Frank Herbert's Dune as cinematographer. The Rome, Italy, native received Academy Awards for Apocalypse Now, Reds and The Last Emperor, and was Oscar nominated for Dick Tracy. More recently, Storaro filmed Mirka, Tango, Bulworth, Taxi and Goya in Bordeaux.

Storaro launched his cinematographic career in 1969 with the Italian film Giovinezza, giovinezza. Since then, his credits have spanned more than three dozen films, including The Sheltering Sky, Last Tango in Paris, New York Stories (the "Life Without Zoe" segment), Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Ladyhawke, Luna, 1900, Scandal and The Conformist.

The documentary The Sheltering Sky, which Storaro filmed, was based on the nomadic Tuareg tribe of northern Africa--quite likely the tribe which inspired Frank Herbert's Fremen characters. Storaro was honored with the Best Cinematographer award by both the New York Film Critics Circle and the British Academy, and he earned a Silver Ribbon award from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.

Storaro, a long-time lover of Frank Herbert's novel Dune, had been approached in the early '70s to film a version of the book, but got sidetracked. His friend, Francis Ford Coppola, asked him to travel to the Philippines to shoot a project entitled Apocalypse Now.

"I feel very fortunate to be given a second chance to be a part of Dune since I missed my first chance," says Storaro. "I have such a great affection for the book."

Said Dune writer-director John Harrison of working with Storaro: "It's been a phenomenal experience because he has been able to take what I created on paper, and what I discussed intellectually, and turn it into a visual feast. The reason I wanted to work with Vittorio was because I have always loved the application of light and color that he uses in all of his films as story elements."