James Friend
James Friend, ASC, BSC, is a highly acclaimed British cinematographer known for his visually impactful work in both film and television. His most notable achievement is his collaboration with director Edward Berger on the 2022 film All Quiet on the Western Front, for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography. Friend was born in Kent in 1985 and attended Sutton Valence School, later studying at the London Film School and the National Film and Television School short course program. His television credits include the BAFTA-winning series Patrick Melrose and Rillington Place, as well as Your Honor (on which he also collaborated with Edward Berger) and the 2024 Disney+ series The Acolyte. Most recently, he served as the Cinematographer for Berger's 2025 psychological thriller, Ballad of a Small Player, where critics noted his "visually perfect" and "highly stylized" approach to capturing the neon-soaked world of Macau. He is a member of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) and the Guild of British Camera Technicians, and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society in 2024.
