Profiles: Juan Sarmiento | Proimágenes Colombia

A Bogotá-born cinematographer based in Berlin, Juan Sarmiento graduated from the Konrad Wolf Film and Television University in Potsdam-Babelsberg. In 2017, he co-founded the production company Ocúltimo with director Simón Mesa Soto, where he has also worked as director and producer on a range of projects.

As part of his training, he participated in Buenos Aires Talents (2010) and Berlinale Talents (2011). His first steps in audiovisual work included the short Inside You (2008) by German director Pola Beck, and Mea Culpa (2008), where he made his directorial debut. In the same role, he directed the short Home Stories (2010) and the feature-length documentary La tierra se quedó (The Land Left Behind, 2010), which screened at more than 30 festivals worldwide and won awards for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography at the Panama Film Festival.

As a cinematographer, Sarmiento has worked on feature films such as Am himmel der tag (2012) and Breaking Horizons (2012) by Pola Beck, the latter earning him the Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino at Hofer Filmtage and Best Cinematography at the Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival (2013); Edificio Royal (Royal Building, 2012) by Iván Wild; Absolution (2015) by Werner Schumann; Something Like That (2017) by Esmir Filho and Mariana Bastos; Als Paul über das Meer kam (2017) by Jakob Preuss; and Central Airport THF (2018), which earned him the Fénix Award for Documentary Cinematography and nominations for the IMAGO International Award for Cinematography and the German Cinematography Award in 2019. His credits also include We Are the Birds of the Coming Storm by Karim Aïnouz; Defenders of the Faith (2019) by Christoph Röhl; Tantas almas (Valley of Souls, 2020) by Nicolás Rincón Gille, which won the 30th German Cinematography Award, a prize open to professionals based in German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and one of the few times it has been awarded to a foreign cinematographer; and Madame Luna (2023) by Daniel Espinosa.

With Un poeta (A Poet, 2025), directed by Simón Mesa Soto, Sarmiento won the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography at the 29th Lima Film Festival (PUCP), held August 7–16 in Peru. The film was released in Colombian theaters on August 28, 2025. He also served as producer and cinematographer on Amparo, Mesa Soto’s debut feature, which premiered at Critics’ Week during the 60th Cannes Film Festival (2021), where it won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for Best Actress. The film also screened at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival (2021), where it received the Silver Hugo.

He is also the cinematographer of upcoming features including The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania (2025), Islands by Jan-Ole Gerster (2025), You Shall Not Make an Image by Kaouther Ben Hania (in pre-production), and Objeta by Ann Oren (in post-production).

Sarmiento has also worked on shorts including Mañana es el mismo día (Tomorrow Is the Same Day, 2015) by Oscar Villareal; Kleptomami by Pola Beck; and the award-winning films Leidi (2014) and Madre (Mother, 2016), both directed by Simón Mesa Soto. Leidi won the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes 2014 and the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival, while Madre was nominated for the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes 2016 and went on to win the Gold Hugo for Best Short Film in Chicago.

In documentary, he has contributed to Fully Fashioned (2014) by Faruk Hosseini, as well as television productions such as Humor und Muslime (2016) by F. Eggers and F. Hosseini, the TV movie Tatort – Wer jetzt allein ist (2018) by Theresa von Eltz, two episodes of the series Der Kriminalist (2016) and three episodes of its 2017 season, also directed by von Eltz, six episodes of Druck (2018) by Pola Beck, and the performance works Parts and Labour (2011) by Song Ming Ang and Biji Diva (2011) by Ming Wong.