Mart Taniel

Mart Taniel was born in 1976 in Tallinn. He graduated in cinematography from the University of Tallinn and Prague's FAMU Film School. In 2017, Mart Taniel received the highest international honor given to cinematographers, the ASC Spotlight Award, for "November". That same film won Best Cinematography at the Tribeca IFF for its "particularly audacious [cinematography] and supreme command of its visual language." Mart Taniel is one of the most remarkable Estonian cinematographers. Several award-winning films have his handprint, including the Venice Orizzonti prize-winning "Autumn Ball" (2007, directed by Veiko Õunpuu) and "The Temptation of St. Tony" (2010, directed by Veiko Õunpuu), which premiered internationally at the Sundance IFF International Competition. Taniel is also the cinematographer of Rainer Sarnet's films "The Idiot" (2011) and "November" (2017). He shot "FREE RANGE/ Ballad on Approving of the World" (2013, directed by Veiko Õunpuu), which premiered at the Berlinale Forum and received the award for "most beautiful film" from the Estonian Cultural Endowment. Taniel's other awards include the Black Nights Film Festival and Estonian Cultural Endowment prizes for Best Cinematographer of the Year, the 2morrow IFF/Zavtra Glass Eye Award for cinematography and the Best Cinematography Award from the Transylvania IFF International Competition. "The Man Who Surprised Everyone" is Taniel's second cooperation with directors Natalya Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov. The film premiered in Venice IFF in 2018