Eduardo Serra

Eduardo Martins Serra GOIH (2 October 1943 – 19 August 2025) was a Portuguese cinematographer who spent most of his career working in European film productions, mostly in French, Portuguese and British films, with frequent collaborations with directors Patrice Leconte and Claude Chabrol.

Serra is also known for his work on the M. Night Shyamalan film Unbreakable and the final two Harry Potter films, The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2.

From 1960 to 1963, Serra studied engineering at Lisbon's Instituto Superior Técnico, but he had to leave the country after his involvement in students' protests against Salazar's dictatorship. He settled in France, where he was accepted to Vaugirard film school in Paris; he graduated in 1966. In 1970 he got his second degree from the Paris-Sorbonne University, in Art History and Archeology.

Serra was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. His first nomination was for his work on The Wings of the Dove (1997), for which he also won a BAFTA. He received his second Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for Girl with a Pearl Earring.

In 2004, Serra was made Commander of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator, a civilian award presented for services to Portuguese culture, by President Jorge Sampaio. In 2017, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promoted him to the senior rank of Grand Officer of the same Order.

Serra died on 19 August 2025, at the age of 81.

Short film

Feature film

Documentary film

Television

Academy Awards

American Society of Cinematographers

Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts

BAFTA Awards

British Society of Cinematographers

Camerimage

César Awards

Satellite Awards

National orders

• Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator (27 March 2017)
• Commander of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator (5 March 2004)