The British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) has the privilege of announcing that its 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award honouree will be Dick Pope BSC.
The Board of the BSC, in discussions with Dick’s family, have decided that for the first time the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be bestowed posthumously. This unique decision reflects the love and respect our Society has for Dick and the tragic and sudden loss that has been felt by so many in our industry at his passing.
Dick’s journey within our industry began at the age of 16 with a three-year apprenticeship at Pathé Film Laboratory, this allowed him to progress to becoming a clapper loader on low-end British films. By 1974 he was a documentary cinematographer travelling the world to remote and inaccessible areas and war-zones shooting for current affairs programmes such as Disappearing World (1974), World in Action (1976-78) and The South Bank Show.
In 1984 he was approached to shoot Coming Up Roses (1986) which started Dick’s journey into feature films and began his long-term collaboration with Mike Leigh. They worked together on 19 projects, films as richly diverse as Naked (1993), Secrets and Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), Vera Drake (2004), Mr. Turner (2014) and most recently Hard Truths (2024).
Over the course of Dick’s career, he would earn two Academy Award nominations – for The illusionist (2006) and Mr. Turner (2014), with the latter, Mr. Turner (2014), earning the BSC’s highest honour – Best Cinematography In A Feature Film as well as BAFTA and ASC Nominations for Best Cinematography.
Dick was also one of the most awarded cinematographers in the history of the Camerimage Film Festival. He won their coveted Golden Frog twice, for Secrets & Lies (1996) and Vera Drake (2004), one of only two cinematographers to do so in the festival’s 32 years. Combine that with the Silver Frog for The Illusionist (2006) and the 2018 FIPRESCI Prize for Peterloo (2018) and we see just how influential Dick’s work was. The fruitful collaboration with Mike Leigh was also celebrated in it’s own right at the Festival in 1999 with the Duo-Award.
Christopher Ross BSC, President of the BSC “Dick Pope BSC is one of the most influential British cinematographers in the history of cinema. His work subtly captivates cinema audiences, transcending the visual conventions of our craft and elevating cinematography to a rarely seen emotional landscape. The Board were in unanimous agreement to present this year’s Award to Dick, in remembrance of a great friend and a uniquely gifted artist.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented on the 1st of February 2025 at the 69th BSC Awards Night.
