Barry Ackroyd (born 12 May 1954) is an English cinematographer and former president of the British Society of Cinematographers.
He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Kathryn Bigelow's war film The Hurt Locker.
Life and career Ackroyd was born in Oldham, England. He received a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography for The Lost Prince. His latest credits are on Ken Loach's award-winning feature, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Paul Greengrass's take on the 9-11 disaster, United 93, and the Kathryn Bigelow-directed Iraq War film, The Hurt Locker.
Film reviewer Jack Matthews of the New York Daily News remarked about the filmmaking behind The Wind That Shakes The Barley: "Beautifully shot, both in darkened homes and on the misty green Irish landscape by Loach's frequent cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, "Wind" has a you-are-there intensity and intimacy about it that make it nearly overwhelming."New York Daily News, Jack Matthews "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" review quote.
Filmography Television TV movies Year Title Director 1987 Big George Is Dead Henry Martin 1996 Hillsborough Charles McDougall 1997 Bumping the Odds Rob Rohrer 2002 Sunday Dominic Savage2003 The Lost Prince Stephen Poliakoff Eroica Simon Cellan Jones2005 Friends and CrocodilesStephen Poliakoff Gideon's Daughter 2010 The Special Relationship Richard Loncraine 2011 The Miraculous Year Kathryn Bigelow 2013 The Missionary Baltasar Kormákur
TV series Year Title Director Notes1993 Spender Ian Knox Episode "Retreat" ScreenPlay Les Blair Episode "The Merrihill Millionaires" 1995–1996 Screen Two Tim FywellMichael Whyte Episodes "Life After Life" and "Flowers of the Forest" 2012 The Newsroom Greg Mottola Episode "We Just Decided To" 2024 The Sympathizer Fernando Meirelles Episode "Give Us Some Good Lines"
Feature film Year Title Director Notes 1991 Riff-RaffKen Loach 1993 Raining Stones 1994 Ladybird, Ladybird 1995 Land and Freedom1996 Carla's Song Stella Does Tricks Coky Giedroyc 1997 Under the Skin Carine Adler 1998 My Name Is Joe Ken Loach1999 The Lost Son Chris Menges Beautiful People Jasmin Dizdar Michel Blanc 2000 Bread and Roses Ken Loach2001 Very Annie Mary Sara Sugarman Dust Milcho Manchevski The NavigatorsKen Loach With Mike Eley 2002 Sweet Sixteen 2003 António-Pedro Vasconcelos 2004 Ae Fond Kiss... Ken Loach 2005 Love + Hate Dominic Savage2006 The Wind That Shakes the Barley Ken Loach United 93 Paul Greengrass 2007 Battle in Seattle Stuart Townsend2009 The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow Looking for Eric Ken Loach 2010 Green Zone Paul Greengrass 2011 Coriolanus Ralph Fiennes 2012 Contraband Baltasar Kormákur2013 Captain Phillips Paul Greengrass Parkland Peter Landesman2015 Dark Places Gilles Paquet-Brenner The Big Short Adam McKay2016 Jason Bourne Paul Greengrass The Last Face Sean Penn 2017 Detroit Kathryn Bigelow 2018 Outlaw King David Mackenzie 2019 Bombshell Jay Roach 2020 The Old Guard Gina Prince-Bythewood With Tami Reiker 2021 Sweet Girl Brian Andrew Mendoza 2022 Whitney Houston:I Wanna Dance with Somebody Kasi Lemmons2025 The Old Guard 2 Victoria Mahoney A House of Dynamite Kathryn Bigelow
Documentary works Film Year Title Director 1990 Hunters and Bombers Hugh BrodyNigel Markham 1991 The Leader, His Driver, and the Driver's WifeNick Broomfield 1992 Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer 1995 Anne Frank Remembered Jon Blair
TV series Year Title Director Notes 1988 40 Minutes Sam Organ Episode "Diary of a Frontliner"1989 Dispatches Shari Robertson Episode "Return to Year Zero?" Split Screen Ken Loach Episode "Time to Go" 1988–1989 Byline Marjorie WallaceDavid Collison Episodes "Whose Mind Is It Anyway?" and "Johnny and Alf Go Home" 1993 Nova Dave Duncan Episode "The Real Jurassic Park" 1996 Modern Times Ken Loach Episode "The Flickering Flame" 2003 The Blues Mike Figgis Episode "Red, White and Blues"
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result 2009 Academy Awards Best Cinematography The Hurt Locker 2006BAFTA AwardsBest Cinematography United 93 2009 The Hurt Locker 2013 Captain Phillips 2009American Society of CinematographersOutstanding Cinematography The Hurt Locker 2013 Captain Phillips
Other awards Year Title Award/Nomination2009The Hurt LockerBoston Society of Film Critics Award for Best CinematographyChicago Film Critics Association Award for Best CinematographyHouston Film Critics Society Award for Best CinematographyNominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best CinematographyNominated – Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Award for Best CinematographyNominated – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best CinematographyNominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best CinematographyNominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best CinematographyNominated – St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography
References
External links National Film and Television School "Barry Ackroyd BSC"
"Ken Loach" by Mike Robbins New York Daily News, Jack Matthews "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" review quote May 21, 2008 Picks & Pans - Movies "Battle in Seattle" - Seattle Weekly United 93