Taylor Swift already had Rodrigo Prieto on her list of dream collaborators. Now the Mexican cinematographer who helped bring six of her music videos to life has company from a fellow countryman: Emmanuel "El Chivo" Lubezki is behind the camera for her newest song and just premiered video 'Patient Zero.'
Swift directed the new video, which stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell and premiered this Sunday, September 27, at the MTV Video Music Awards. Lubezki arrives with three Oscars and another film opening just days later: Digger, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's new movie starring Tom Cruise.
The 13-second 'Patient Zero' teaser gave away little. The full video was something else. Swift and Johnson are magnetic and fans are wondering how come they haven't been in a film together. The camera eats them alive and, behind the lenses is Lubezki is the man who photographed the vastness of Gravity, the restless backstage corridors of Birdman and the unforgiving wilderness of The Revenant.
The 13-second 'Patient Zero' teaser gave away little. The full video was something else, and it started to garner praise online the moment it ended. Swift, Farrell, and Johnson are magnetic, and fans are wondering how come they haven't been in a film together. The camera eats them alive, and behind the lenses is Lubezki, the man who photographed the vastness of Gravity, the restless backstage corridors of Birdman, and the unforgiving wilderness of The Revenant.
The images make clear why she chose him. Lubezki has the uncanny ability to make cold colors feel vivid, and warm tones feel like a caress. The story demanded drama, and his camera delivered it without feeling anything but organic. The story Swift tells in the video could be at the center of a wildly successful telenovela, and who better than a Mexican artist worldly recognized to be her partner in delivering it?
Those films earned him three consecutive Academy Awards for cinematography. For viewers unfamiliar with the job, the cinematographer works with the director to shape what the camera captures, from lighting and framing to movement. In Swift's videos, those choices help turn a song into a place the audience can enter.
Swift knows what a great cinematographer can bring to a song. When she prepared to direct "The Man" in 2020, Prieto's work was already the example she was showing her team.
"Rodrigo was at the top of a dream list of DPs I had put together for this video," she told American Cinematographer. "I never dreamed he would be available or interested."
He was. Prieto photographed Swift under prosthetics as her smug male alter ego in "The Man," then returned for "Cardigan," "Willow," "Fortnight," "The Fate of Ophelia" and "Opalite." The list moves from fairy-tale woods to the severe black-and-white imagery of "Fortnight" and the playful 1990s world of "Opalite." His work on "The Fate of Ophelia" won an American Society of Cinematographers award this year.
Swift has been vocal about her admiration. Introducing "Fortnight," she called Prieto "unfathomably brilliant." She thanked him in particular for winning best video on the 2026 VMAs for "The Fate of Ophelia."
They can also laugh at each other. In footage from the "Opalite" set, Swift experimented with a camera angle involving a fanny pack, caught Prieto's expression and joked, "He is so sick of my shit." Prieto offered his own assessment of their years together: "I just love the way our working relationship has developed."
Lubezki and Prieto know each other, too. Discussing the close community of cinematographers in a 2015 Tribeca interview, Lubezki said, "My friend Rodrigo Prieto is always someone I call for advice." When Iñárritu asked Lubezki to shoot Birdman after years of working with Prieto, Lubezki said he wanted to make sure his friend was comfortable with the decision.
Swift has also appeared in front of Lubezki's camera before. He photographed Amsterdam, the 2022 film in which she played Liz Meekins. "Patient Zero" is their first confirmed music video collaboration, with Swift directing and Lubezki photographing. He has not publicly explained how they approached its look, so the teaser is all audiences have to go on for now.
His next release offers an entirely different canvas. Digger was shot in VistaVision, a large film format, and follows Cruise as a powerful man racing to contain a catastrophe he unleashed. Iñárritu directed and co-wrote the movie with a team that includes Mexican writer Sabina Berman. It opens in North America on October 2.
Swift's affection for Mexican filmmaking extends beyond her cinematographers. She has described watching Guillermo del Toro's movies during the pandemic and finding herself immersed in "folk tales and forests." Del Toro later said they met to discuss myths and fairy tales, and that he gave her books, including one that had helped him develop Pan's Labyrinth.
Then Mexico returned some of that affection at full stadium volume. Swift played four Eras Tour concerts at Mexico City's Foro Sol in August 2023, with fans chanting, "Taylor, hermana, ya eres mexicana." She later called the shows unforgettable and signed her thank-you message "TE AMO."
The "Patient Zero" premiere brings these threads together without requiring a theory about what the video will show. Swift dreamed of working with Prieto and made six videos with him. For her latest, she chose his friend El Chivo, whose work will also fill movie theaters next week. The Mexican talent in Swift's visual world is right there in the credits.
