Biography
Born in Guatemala and raised in Quebec, Yann-Manuel Hernandez is a Montreal-based independent cinematographer/director/producer known for Desert's Cry (2016), The Evaporated (2019), Jungle (2022) and several music videos for artists such as Plants and Animals, SUUNS, Carla Blanc and others. He studied the work of director Philippe Grandrieux during his master's degree at the University of Montreal and directed his first feature film, Desert's Cry, through Telefilm Canada's Talents to Watch program. Desert's Cry was selected as the opening film of the New Alchemists section of the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. Since then, Yann has written and directed various short fiction and contemporary dance projects (Louise Bédard, Catherine Gaudet, Mélanie Demers...) that have toured international festivals (Dresden Filmfest, FIFA, Golden Horse, Fantasia, Trouville...). As a director of photography, he has collaborated on the flagship video work for the Leonard Cohen exhibition at the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal by South African artist Candice Breitz, as well as on several award-winning documentaries and music videos (Metafilms, Secret City, Opak Médias, Moment Factory...). In 2023, he will sign the visuals of the new Elisapie show shot in Nunavik. Over the years, his work has won awards from the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, Panavision and Kodak. In 2016, he founded his film production company Les mains sales films with filmmaker Charles-André Coderre to support projects that cross genres and experiment with forms, media (digital/film) and storytelling.