Feature film, 100 minutes, Germany 2026. Directed by Aron Lehmann. Produced by Tobis Film. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Kai Giegerich. Colorist: Claudia Gittel.
Historical drama series set in 1928, from the producers of “Babylon Berlin”, with cinematography inspired by the photographs of Saul Leiter and early 20th century colour photography.
Drama series, 6 episodes, 270 minutes, Germany 2022. Directed by Sherry Hormann. Produced by X-Filme Creative Pool for RTL+ / distributed by Beta Film. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Mathias Beier. Colorist: Ana Izquierdo. Cast: Naemi Florez, Ludwig Simon, Alexander Scheer, Nina Kunzendorf, Amy Benkenstein, Samuel Finzi . More info here.
Drama series, 6 episodes, 270 minutes, Germany/Belgium 2024. Directed by Alain Gsponer. Produced by Constantin Television for ARD/ARTE/WDR. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Bruno Verstraete. Cast: Sarah Mahita, Stefanie Reinsperger, Morgane Ferru, Merlin Rose, Götz Schubert, Juliane Köhler.
Drama / miniseries, 10 episodes, 300 minutes, Germany 2023. Directed by Maria von Heland. Produced by Tindra Film. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol, with additional cinematography by Sten Mende. Cast: Laetitia Adrian, Barry Atsma, Stephanie Eidt, Juliane Köhler, Stefan Kurt, Nina Petri, Tyron Ricketts, Jana Julia Roth, Tim Seyfi. More info here.
Drama / miniseries, season one, 6 episodes, 270 minutes, Austria/Germany 2021. Directed by Umut Dag. Produced by Monafilm for zdfneo and ORF. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Herbert Kohlhammer. Cast: Murathan Muslu, Julia Koschitz, Johanna Wokalek, Antje Traue, Lea-Zoe Voss, Jonas Holdenrieder. Available to stream here.
A fast-paced drama about crystal meth addiction, employing expressive hand-held camerawork and a lighting style inspired by contemporary East-Asian photography and the German New Wave cinema of the early 1980s.
TV feature, Germany, 2020. Directed by Damian John Harper. Produced by Gaumont for Pro 7. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Klaus Bieling. Colorist: Petra Lisson. Cast: Jannik Schümann, Peri Baumeister, Heike Makatsch.
A social drama disguised as a dark comedy, the film is based on a popular novel by Czech author Jaroslav Rudis. The story follows Vandam, a disenfranchised working-class protagonist prone to solving problems through fighting. The film went to No. 1 during its first week of release in Czech cinemas.
Feature film, Czech/German co-production, 2019. Directed by Stepan Altrichter. Produced by Negativ Film and 42Film, ZDF, ARTE. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Pavel Skála. Cast: Hynek Cermák, Jan Cina, Katerina Janecková, Václav Neuzil, Jiri Langmajer. Theatrically released in September 2019 in Czech cinemas.
The story of an unfortunate man sent to repair an old windmill at the German-Czech border. A film that mixes comedy with mystery and the absurd, shot in the foggy landscapes of the Ore Mountains.
The film has been awarded the prize for Best Cinematography 2015 by the Czech Association of Cinematographers.
Feature film, 2014. Directed by Stepan Altrichter & produced by Radim Prochazka, Credo:film & HFF. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Johannes Obermaier. Cast: Peter Kurth, Petr Vrsek, Helena Dvorakova, Johann Jürgens. Released theatrically August 2015 in Czech Republic and September 2015 in Germany.
An adventure film/tragicomedy, THE LAST PIG follows a small-time pig farmer on an accidental mission to defeat the meat industry.
Feature film, 2016. Directed by Aron Lehmann. Produced by a little film production, ZDF, ARTE, Pantaleon Films. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Till Girke. Cast: Golo Euler, Rosalie Thomass, Thorsten Merten, Christoph Maria Herbst. Theatrically released in Germany in September 2016.
A serial-killer story, this film paints the city of Frankfurt, Germany, in an unusual light of warm tones inspired by 1980s-era thrillers. All flashback visual effects were done in-camera using various practical techniques.
TV film, 2018. Directed by Maria von Heland. Produced by Andreas Bareiss, TV60 for SAT 1. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Michael Schäfer. Cast: Sandra Borgmann, Torben Liebrecht, Jeanne Goursaud. Broadcast December 2018.
A crime thriller with several temporal layers set in the Croatian community of present-day Germany.
TV feature, 2020. Directed by Josef Rusnak. Produced by Network Movie for ARTE. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Pepi Rieck. Cast: Nadja Bobyleva, Max Riemelt, Stipe Erceg, Emil Belton, Luise von Finckh.
Director Aron Lehmann and I shot this tragicomedy employing two distinct cinematographic styles: a restless handheld camera documenting in an improvised manner the life and quarrels behind the scenes of a movie shooting and, on the other end of the spectrum, a classic, carefully composed and lit visual style for the historical part of the film. The two styles, documentary and fiction, begin to merge together as the story progresses. The film was shot on a tight budget in the South of Germany at the end of summer 2011.
Feature film, 2012. Directed by Aron Lehmann. Produced by Kaminski-Stiehm-Film, Bayrischer Rundfunk, HFF. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Berta Valín Escofet. Cast: Robert Gwisdek, Jan Messutat, Thorsten Merten, Rosalie Thomass, Heiko Pinkowski, Michael Fuith. Threatrically released in Germany in 2013.
This thriller’s story is set in two different timelines, the past in which a gruesome series of murders took place, and the present day during which the investigations of those murders is held. To make these storytelling layers visually distinct, we employed different colour pallettes in lighting, aided by in-camera filtering.
TV film, 2017. Directed by Claudia Garde. Produced by Wiedemann & Berg for SAT 1. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Till Girke, Linus Liermann. Cast: Felicitas Woll, Lucas Prisor, Jasmin Schwiers. Broadcast November 2017.
At the end of 2014 I had the chance to be on the set of Julian Rosefeldt’s highly successful film installation “Manifesto” and document its realisation. The resulting film is constructed around a conversation with the artist, and provides an in-depth look at the project’s inception and many candid behind-the-scenes sequences.
Documentary, 2018. Directed by Cristian Pirjol. Produced by Julian Rosefeldt. Cinematography and editing by Cristian Pirjol. Cast: Julian Rosefeldt, Cate Blanchett.
A quasi-Nordic-noir drama set in Northern Germany and Sweden.
TV feature, 2020. Directed by Maria von Heland. Produced by Network Movie, ZDF. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Torsten Lemke. Cast: Anna Maria Mühe, Jan Krauter, Anastasios Soulis, Rainer Bock.
TV film, 2016. Directed by Sylke Enders. Produced by Hager-Moss-Film for ZDF. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Till Girke. Cast: Andrea Sawatzki, Franz Hartwig, Sandra von Ruffin.
A black comedy/roadmovie shot with a crew of only five people over the course of 13 days. Director Marjane Satrapi (“Persepolis”) plays the role of the mysterious woman. Although the script was improvised on location, the cinematographic style is very much classic, taking visual inspiration from Western films and American photojournalism of the 1960s.
Feature film, 2012. Directed by Marjane Satrapi. Produced by Taj Films France. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Cast: Marjane Satrapi, Stéphane Roche, Mathias Ripa, Ali Mafakheri, Maria de Meideiros. Threatrically released in France in 2013.
A set of eight inter-connected music videos for the Deluxe Edition of the album Everything at Once by the band Travis. An out-of-the-blue job offer from Travis singer Fran Healy, this was the first time I have ever worked on music videos. They were shot on a tight budget in the winter of 2015 in Berlin, and with very little time—five of them shot over the course of only two days.
8 music videos, 2016. Directed by Francis Healy. Cinematography by Cristian Pirjol. Gaffer: Mirko Fricke, Till Girke. Cast: Josephine Oniyama, Daniel Brühl
A lighthearted documentary essay about the making of a French film, shot and edited by myself. Armed with a small camera and a microphone, and inspired by French cinéma verité, I documented the shooting of CHICKEN WITH PLUMS over the course of 3 months in the summer of 2010. My film does not contain any ordinary interviews or footage from the actual movie, instead it relies solely on fly-on-the-wall observation and chanced-upon conversations among cast and crew. The entire film is available online for free.
Documentary, 2011. Director, cinematographer, editor: Cristian Pirjol. Interviews by Marjane Satrapi and Patricia Doukhan. Appearances by Isabella Rossellini, Mathieu Amalric, Maria de Medeiros, Jamel Debbouze.
