Biography

His love for filmmaking led Igor to leave his hometown of Zagreb, Croatia to study film & photography at the University of Westminster, UK. One of Igor's early still images was the shot of Alfred Hitchcock posing for his camera. He received his BA Honors in Film and Television Production 1977. He was elected as Student of the Year for his thesis film, Point of View. After graduation Igor moved to New York where he exhibited his stills at the Soho Photo Gallery.

Although he loved photography, he soon became involved in the New York independent film scene such as: Misplaced 1990 - at Deauville won the 1st Prize; The Keeper - screened at the Sundance 1996. Duane Byrge of the Hollywood Reporter wrote: "The technical contributions are well realized, particularly cinematographer Igor Sunara's fittingly harsh hues"; On the Run - Open Palm Gotham 2000 Award Nominee. Lisa Nelson of Variety wrote: "Shot entirely on location with an intelligent low budget eye, this semi-gritty picture has the unrestrained feel of Manhattan as a place where anything can happen and lots of things do"; Somewhere in the City (1998) - HBO; and Peroxide Passion - Silver medal at the Houston 2001 FF.

Igor also shot main stream movies such as Tripwire 1989, and Cop Land, 1989 (IInd Unit.

Following the violent political changes in former Yugoslavia 1991-95, Igor shot Mercy of the Sea 2002, about the refugees in Croatia's War of Independence, and Cetverored (1999) - Post IIWW Croatian film.

While in Europe he shot Il Giardino Armonico, a feature length 17th century baroque music film (PBS). "This is, visually and musically, a special treat for lovers of baroque music. Photography director Igor Sunara gets surrealistic visual effects with minimal resources". --Joe McLellan (Amazon.com).

Igor taught Cinematography at the NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, Grad dept. 94/95. Igor is also teaching different classes (including Thesis Advising), at the School of Visual Arts, 1984 until the present time.

Igor is a member of the Croatian Association of Cinematographers, (HFS).

Igor's feature film debut as director, Finding Julia (Ha Phuong Tran, Richard Chamberlain, and Andrew McCarthy), is in the process of distribution. Please visit: findingjulia.net where you can find the production details, various publicity articles, and the link to the book with the same title, Finding Julia.

- IMDb mini biography by: Igor Sunara