Janusz Kamiński

Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (Polish: [ˌjanuʂ kaˈmiɲskʲi]; born June 27, 1959) is a Polish[1] cinematographer and director of film and television. He has established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer on his films since 1993.[4] He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Spielberg's holocaust drama Schindler's List and World War II epic Saving Private Ryan (1998). He has also received Academy Award nominations for Amistad (1997), The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (2007), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), and West Side Story (2021). He has also received nominations for five BAFTA Awards, and six American Society of Cinematographers Awards.

In this Slavic name, the surname is Kamiński, sometimes transliterated as Kaminski.
Janusz Kamiński
Kamiński in 2014
Born
Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński

(1959-06-27) June 27, 1959
Ziębice, Lower Silesia, Poland
NationalityPolish[1]
Alma materColumbia College Chicago (B.A., 1987)[2]
AFI Conservatory (M.F.A., 1987)[3]
Occupation(s)Cinematographer, film director, television director
Years active1986–present
OrganizationAmerican Film Institute
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1995; div. 2001)​
    Rebecca Rankin
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2004; div. 2010)​
    AwardsSee full awards

    In addition to his collaborations with Spielberg, he has also worked with Cameron Crowe, James L. Brooks, and Julian Schnabel. Kamiński has also moved into the field of directing, first with the horror film Lost Souls (2000), and the NBC series The Event (2011) and WE TV series The Divide (2014). In 2019, the American Society of Cinematographers included Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, both shot by Kamiński, on the list of the best-photographed films of the 20th century.[5]

    Life and career

    Kamiński was born in Ziębice, Poland, the son of mother, Jadwiga Celner, and father, Marian Kaminski.[6] In 1981, he emigrated to the United States at the age of 21 after Prime Minister Jaruzelski imposed martial law.

    He attended Columbia College in Chicago from 1982 to 1987, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree,[2] taking up filmmaking as a profession before attending to the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree. He worked under cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, first as a gaffer, and eventually as second unit director of photography. He shot numerous B-movies for directors Roger Corman and Katt Shea, as well as the romantic musical comedy Cool as Ice, starring Vanilla Ice.

    Kamiński was first discovered by Steven Spielberg in 1991. After seeing the television film Wildflower, Spielberg hired Kamiński to shoot Class of '61, a television film in which Spielberg served as producer.[7]

    He twice won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in the 1990s, for Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. He has been nominated five additional times for Amistad, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, War Horse, Lincoln, and West Side Story. In 2010, he was awarded the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal by the AFI Conservatory.[8]

    Kamiński became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in 1994,[9] but resigned in 2006.[9][10][11]

    Kamiński was married to actress Holly Hunter from 1995 until 2001. In 2004, he married ABC reporter Rebecca Rankin; they divorced in 2010.[12]

    Filmography

    Short film
    Year Title Director
    1989 Drowning Juan Carlos Valdivia
    2004 Jumbo Girl Daniel Curran
    2007 Mission Zero Kathryn Bigelow
    2013 Broken Night Guillermo Arriaga
    Key
    † Denotes films that have not yet been released

    Feature film

    Director of photography

    Year Title Director Notes
    1986 Lady America Nick Gaitatjis
    1989 Grim Prairie Tales Wayne Coe
    1990 The Rain Killer Ken Stein
    The Terror Within II Andrew Stevens
    1991 Killer Instinct David Tausik Credited as Jennifer Stoltz
    Cool as Ice David Kellogg
    1992 Pyrates Noah Stern
    1993 Trouble Bound Jeffrey Reiner
    The Adventures of Huck Finn Stephen Sommers
    Schindler's List Steven Spielberg 1st collaboration with Spielberg
    1994 Little Giants Duwayne Dunham
    1995 Tall Tale Jeremiah S. Chechik
    How to Make an American Quilt Jocelyn Moorhouse
    1996 Jerry Maguire Cameron Crowe
    1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg
    Amistad
    1998 Saving Private Ryan
    2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence
    2002 Minority Report
    Catch Me If You Can
    2004 The Terminal
    2005 War of the Worlds
    Munich
    2007 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Julian Schnabel
    2008 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Steven Spielberg
    2009 Funny People Judd Apatow
    2010 How Do You Know James L. Brooks
    2011 The Adventures of Tintin Steven Spielberg
    War Horse
    2012 Lincoln
    2014 The Judge David Dobkin
    2015 Bridge of Spies Steven Spielberg
    2016 The BFG
    2017 The Post
    2018 Ready Player One
    2020 The Call of the Wild Chris Sanders
    2021 West Side Story Steven Spielberg
    2022 The Fabelmans
    2024 IF John Krasinski Filming

    Second unit photography

    Year Title Director DoP.
    1989 Lords of the Deep Mary Ann Fisher Austin McKinney
    1990 Streets Katt Shea Phedon Papamichael
    Watchers II Thierry Notz Edward J. Pei
    1992 One False Move Carl Franklin James L. Carter

    Additional photography

    Year Title Director DoP.
    1992 Star Time Alexander Cassini Fernando Argüelles
    1993 Love, Cheat & Steal William Curran Kent L. Wakeford
    1998 Armageddon Michael Bay John Schwartzman

    Director

    • Lost Souls (2000)
    • Hania (2007)
    • Making a Scene (2013 short film)
    • American Dream (2021)

    Television

    Director of photography

    Year Title Director Notes
    1991 Wildflower Diane Keaton TV movie
    1993 Class of '61 Gregory Hoblit
    2021 Oslo Bartlett Sher

    Director

    Year Title Episode
    2011 The Event "Face Off"
    2014 The Divide "Never Forget"

    Executive Producer

    Awards and nominations
    Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Janusz Kamiński

    See also

    References
    1. "Can Kaminski clinch Oscar for Lincoln?". Polskie Radio. February 22, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
    2. "Spot On: Mauro Fiore" Archived 2012-09-09 at the Wayback Machine, Demo, January 2010, Columbia College, Chicago
    3. "RECENT AFI ALUMNI AND FELLOW AWARDS & HONORS", AFI Conservatory website
    4. He Makes It Look Picture-perfect, Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2007
    5. "ASC Unveils List of 100 Milestone Films in Cinematography of the 20th Century". Retrieved 2019-01-12.
    6. "Janusz Kaminski (1959–)". Filmreference. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
    7. Mamelstein, David (February 20, 2013). "Spielberg's Eye". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
    8. Sullivan, Michael (June 10, 2010). "AFI awards Kaminski". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
    9. Turnbaugh, Kristi (Fall–Winter 2013). "Shooting Stars: Columbia's award-winning cinematographers light up Hollywood". DEMO. Columbia College Chicago. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 11, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
    10. Ryzik, Melena (January 11, 2012). "Cinematographers Give 'Dragon Tattoo' a Lift but Overlook 'War Horse'". The Carpetbagger. The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
    11. "ASC awards Emmanuel Lubezki and 'The Tree of Life' best cinematography of 2011". Uproxx. February 13, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
    12. "Rebecca Rankin and Janusz Kaminski". Variety. Reed Business Information. February 16, 2004. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.