Lula Carvalho, is a Brazilian cinematographer.
His body of work includes Brazilian productions like Elite Squad (2007) and its sequel (2010), as well as American productions like RoboCop (2014) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014).
As of 2022, Carvalho is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.
Career Carvalho grew up on film sets, working with his father, the acclaimed cinematographer Walter Carvalho. He learned how to load film magazines for the camera department at age of 10, started working as a second camera assistant upon finishing high school and became a professional first photographer assistant at age of 20.
Carvalho pulled focus on over nineteen acclaimed Brazilian features, including Fernando Meirelles' City of God, Walter Salles' Behind the Sun, and Héctor Babenco's Carandiru.
During this time, Carvalho also worked at second units as a cinematographer and as a camera operator on features. He also completed cinematography and still photography classes at New York University and the School of Visual Arts in New York.
In 2005, Carvalho shot his first feature as a cinematographer, Incuráveis, directed by Gustavo Accioli. He went on to shoot Elite Squad, directed by José Padilha which won the Golden Bear at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival.
In 2008, Carvalho was awarded the Best Cinematography Prize by both the Brazilian Cinema Academy and the International Press Correspondents Association in Brazil (ACIE) for Elite Squad, which also led him to a nomination in the 2008 Camerimage Festival, in Poland. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, the follow-up to Elite Squad, and Carvalho was once again awarded the Best Cinematography Prize by both the Brazilian Cinema Academy and the International Press Correspondents Association in Brazil (ACIE), in 2011. In 2008 Carvalho shot the Argentinian Production Felicitas and was finalist for the Condor Award 2010 for that.
In 2012, Carvalho shot the science fiction RoboCop, his first American feature. In 2013, he shot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as its sequel in 2016. And in 2014, he shot the Netflix series Narcos, in Colombia.
In 2013, Carvalho won the ABC (Association of the Brazilian Cinematographers) Award for the movie A Wolf at the Door, and again won the ABC Award for Bingo: The King of the Mornings in 2015.
In 2017, Carvalho shot episodes of the Netflix's Narcos Mexico, The Mechanism and the Brazilian documentary Police Killing which won the first prize of It Is All True Film Festival, participated in the IDFA festival and was short listed for the Academy’s best documentary.
In 2019 shot the non-fictional Amazon Series All Or Nothing following the Brazilian national soccer team throughout its participation at the South American Cup.
He is now based in Brooklyn, New York.
Filmography Short film Year Title Director Notes2004 Bruno Safadi A Última Fábrica Felipe Nepomuceno 2007 Trópico das Cabras Fernando Coimbra 2014 Useless Landscape José Padilha Segment of Rio, I Love You 2015 BlumeFelipe Nepomuceno 2019 Estrondo 2020 Cidade Inerte Vellas 2026 Buyback Jared Goodman
Feature film Year Title Director 2005 Incuráveis Gustavo Acioli2007 Elite Squad José Padilha Bruno Safadi2008 The Dead Girl's Feast Matheus Nachtergaele December Selton Mello2009 Walter Carvalho Felicitas María Teresa Costantini 2010 Elite Squad: The Enemy Within José Padilha2011 Juras Eternas 2 Luiz Henrique RiosRosane Svartman Toni Venturi Vinicius Coimbra2012 Artificial Paradises Marcos Prado À Beira do Caminho Breno Silveira2013 Bruno Safadi A Wolf at the Door Fernando Coimbra2014 RoboCop José Padilha Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Jonathan Liebesman 2016 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Dave Green 2017 Bingo: The King of the Mornings Daniel Rezende2018 Entebbe José Padilha José Alvarenga Jr. 2025 Ary André Weller 2026 Iconoclast Gabriel Basso
Documentary film Year Title Director Notes2006 Moacir Arte Bruta Walter Carvalho Fabricando Tom Zé Décio Matos Júnior 2009 Domingos Maria Ribeiro With Manuel Águas 2010 Secrets of the Tribe José Padilha With Reynaldo Zangrandi 2011 Carta Para o Futuro Renato Martins Also producer 2012 Walter CarvalhoLeonardo Gudel 2017 Um Filme de Cinema Walter Carvalho With Bacco Andrade, Pablo Baião,Jacques Cheuiche and Pedro von Krüger2018 HimselfNatasha Neri Eduardo Galeano Vagamundo Felipe Nepomuceno With Breno Cunha, Guga Millet and Pedro von Krüger
Documentary short Year Title Director Notes 2001 Atrocidades Maravilhosas HimselfRenato MartinsPedro Peregrino 2006 Brasil Felipe Nepomuceno 2013 O Sonho de Ser Camisa 10 Pedro von Krüger With Jacques Cheuiche 2014 Caetana Felipe NepomucenoPedro von Krüger
Television Year Title Director Notes 2006 Estúdio 66 2011 Força-Tarefa José Alvarenga Jr.Rogério Gomes 2 episodes Falcón Pete Travis Episode "The Blind Man of Seville" 2015 Narcos José PadilhaGuillermo NavarroAndrés BaizFernando Coimbra 8 episodes 2018 The Mechanism José Padilha Episode "Lava Jato"2020 Narcos: Mexico Andrés Baiz Episode "Salva El Tigre" 26 Poemas Hoje 2023 The Gilded Age Michael EnglerCrystle Roberson 4 episodes 2025-2026 The Night Agent Guy FerlandAna Lily AmirpourMillicent SheltonParis BarclayBilly Gierhart 12 episodes
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