JUDY PHU
director of photography

Judy Phu works as a cinematographer. Her family's nomadic lifestyles, refugee stories, and journeys as war survivors spark her curiosity and imagination. She appreciates nuanced, bold ideas and their creators. She has an MFA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and TV. While working in radio and chasing Bay Area curiosities with The Daily Californian at UC Berkeley, Judy studied narratives in their Rhetoric department and experimental film+video in the Art Practice department.  

She recently collaborated on the HBO series based on Lawrence Wright's acclaimed book, GOD SAVE TEXAS, episode La Frontera by director Iliana Sosa. A tender, historical depiction of life along the Texas-Mexico border, the episode exposes limited definitions of Americanism and asks viewers to embrace the concept of in-betweenness. The show premiered at Sundance and is on HBO MAX.  

Judy shares a Best Cinematography award from the 2024 Vancouver GEMFest for THE TUBA THIEVES, an experimental film exploring the nature of sound and listening by Alison 0'Daniel, with additional cinematographers Derek Howard and Meena Singh. The film was nominated for the NEXT Innovator Award at Sundance Film Festival, theatrically released in select cities, and is on PBS INDEPENDENT LENS.

In the indie film RAISE YOUR HAND, Judy captured the hazy, bold hues of a 90s best friend journey of high school girls aching to escape their generational curses. It won multiple awards including Best Narrative Feature and Best Director nominations for writer/director Jessica Rae at the American Black Film Festival.

Judy served as the additional cinematographer with the wonderful cinematographer Bruce Thierry Cheung on THIS CLOSE, a series about smart, funny, deaf best friends tackling LA life created and performed by Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman, the first deaf TV showrunners. Killer Films produced while Andrew Ahn directed Season 1 which premiered at Sundance in the Episodic Showcase. Season 2 was nominated for a Peabody Award. Both seasons are NYT Critic's picks and are available on AMC+ and SUNDANCE TV. 

International Cinematographers Guild, IATSE LOCAL 600.