‘Oppenheimer’ Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema Directs Hauntingly Intimate Volvo Ad — Watch

Acclaimed cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema is now a viral short film director.

The “Oppenheimer” Oscar winner, who is known for his Christopher Nolan collaborations with additional features “Interstellar,” “Tenet,” and “Dunkirk,” has directed a Volvo commercial for the brand. Van Hoytema has also previously collaborated with Spike Jonze, James Gray, and Jordan Peele.

In the ad titled “Meet the new Volvo EX90,” the Dutch-Swedish cinematographer captures a woman whose life flashes before her eyes as she’s crossing the street and a Volvo driver narrowly misses running her over.

The tagline reads, “Sometimes the moments that never happen matter the most.”

Van Hoytema previously told IndieWire that he constantly is trying to reinvigorate the language of cinema.

“To a certain extent, I am always trying to come up with something new in my own eyes, but work methods are like tics,” Van Hoytema said. “One gravitates towards what feels safe, so I have to constantly keep kicking my own ass and question my motives and reassure that I am not choosing the path of least resistance in my photography choices. I do believe that this film has a whole range of original concepts that deserve their very own reference of judgement.”

Van Hoytema’s breakthrough feature “Let the Right One In” debuted in 2008. He collaborated with director Tomas Alfredson on the horror film, which was shot in Super 35mm. Van Hoytema later reunited with Alfredson for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” His first American feature, David O. Russell’s “The Fighter,” premiered in 2010.

Nolan has collaborated the most with Van Hoytema, telling ICG Magazine that “the director/DP relationship is at least as important as the one I establish with a lead actor.”

While promoting “Tenet,” Nolan added, “This is the third feature I’ve done with Hoyte, after working with Wally Pfister for a lot of years. Hoyte and I have developed a very productive dialog creatively — sometimes spoken, sometimes instinctual, like musicians harmonizing together. Hoyte’s degree of artistic sensitivity, along with a brain that lets me see him as both engineer and artist, combines the purely creative with the ruthlessly pragmatic. The greatest DP’s help you find a storytelling balance between creative exploration and practical execution.”