A man with glasses, a beard, and a gray cap holding a large camera, standing in front of a stone wall with a sign reading 'Studio Vertov Art Doc Fest'.

director of photography

Nikita Pavlov

I'm a documentary cinematographer and camera operator based in Berlin, working with international media companies, broadcasters, and brands. My work centres on interviews, investigative documentary, and human-driven stories.

  • 2022 NAVALNY (episode cinematographer), director Daniel Roher, 98 minutes (OSCAR and BAFTA 2023 for Best Documentary, Sundance 2022 U.S. Documentary Audience Award and the Festival Favorite Award)

    2021 IIIAZD (DoP), director Stanislav Dorochenkov, 90 minutes (FIDMarseille 2021)

    2021 In Search of My Sister (episode cinematographer), director Jawad Mir, 80 min

    2019 I, Pastafari: A Flying Spaghetti Monster Story (episode cinematographer), director Michael Arthur, 56 min (Nashville Film Festival)

    2016 It’s Getting Dark (DoP), director Olga Kravets, documentary, 52 min (IDFA 2016, DocuTIFF 2017 Best Debut Film)

    2012 Anton’s Right Here (episode cinematographer), director Lyubov Arkus, 110 min (Silver Mouse Award of internet critics at Venice IFF 2012)

    2012 When New Year Comes on Shabbat (director and DoP), 83 min (Ji.hlava IDFF, ArtDocFest 2012)

  • 2023 Shadow Men: Inside Russia’s Secret War Company (The Wall Street Journal Documentary), 40 min

    2023 TikTok Addicton Machine (Bloomberg Investigates), 24 min

    2023 How to make poor areas richer (The Economist), 19 min

    2021 The Double Life of Wirecard’s Fugitive Executive (Bloomberg), 13 min

    2021 The Stock Market Scheme That Almost Killed a Soccer Team (Bloomberg), 12 min

    2021 AI Relationships: How we could fall in Love with Machines, director Ross Bolidai, documentary series, 19 min.

    2020 eSport revolution, documentary series

    2017 College Of Wizardry (60 Second Docs), 1 min

    2013 Young and Gay in Putin’s Russia (Vice), 31 min

  • 2020 Shipwreck Secrets (episode cinematographer), documentary series (Yesterday, Discovery Science)

    2019 Apollo: Back to the Moon (episode cinematographer), director François Pomès, documentary series (National Geographic)

    2019 Europe’s New Wild (episode cinematographer), documentary series (National Geographic, WWF, France 5, Redbull/Servus TV and SVT)

    2018 Signed or Released (episode cinematographer), documentary series (RedBull)

    2017 The Banker of The Third Reich (episode cinematographer), director François Pomès, 52 min (RMC Découverte and Paris Première).

    2016 The Future of Finland (episode cinematographer), director Nina Pulkkis, documentary series (Winner Life Sciences Film Festival 2016, MTV3)

    2014 The Moomin Boom (episode cinematographer), director Nina Pulkkis (TV4 Play, MTV3)

  • 2019 I Don’t Want, artist Mascha Naumova, 16 min, 3 channel installation

    2018 I Want, artist Mascha Naumova, 26 min

    2017 The Meat on the Picture, artist Mascha Naumova, 9 min

    2016 Tomorrow Will Be The Same, director Petr Laden, 66 min

    2016 Çiçek, director Petr Laden, 153 min

    2014 Brit Milah, director Nikita Pavlov, 7 min

    2014 Return of a Curonian Pilot, director Petr Laden

    2013 Farewell to Fireplace, director Petr Laden, 19 min

    2012 Goodbye, Tegel, director Sergio Rufini Mastropasqua, 8 min

    2011 U, director Petr Laden, 15 min

    2010 Stories for my daughter, director Nikita Pavlov, idea by Petr Laden. 17 min

Four award medallions from the 95th Academy Awards and Sundance Film Festival, indicating awards for Best Documentary Feature, Best U.S. Documentary 2022, Festival Favorite 2022, and Silver Award 2017, with laurel wreath designs.
  • Poster for the film Navalny featuring a blue and white illustration of a castle with spires, a silhouette of a man at the bottom, and the text 'Poison Always Leaves a Trail'.
  • An astronaut in a spacesuit stands on the moon's surface near an American flag with Earth visible in the background. The text at the top reads 'APOLLO: Back to the Moon' with a yellow rectangle symbol below.
  • Film poster for 'It's Getting Dark,' a documentary by Olga Kravets. Features a young boy in a plaid shirt looking at a small object with text overlay about Russian political prisoners, with handwritten script background. Includes award info from IDFA 2016.
  • Film poster for 'When New Year Comes on Shabbat' showing three people walking outside at night with a building in the background.
  • Movie poster for "In Search of My Sister" featuring a silhouette of a woman looking at a cityscape projected on a wall, with the film's title and credits at the bottom.
  • Poster of 'Shipwreck Secrets'
  • Poster of a film Anton's Right Here
  • Poster of a film Iliazd
  • Poster of a film I, PASTAFARI with text 'A Flying Spaghetti Monster Story' at the bottom.