Janusz Kamiński

Janusz Kamiński
Kamiński in 2014
Born	Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (1959-06-27) June 27, 1959 (age 65) Ziębice, Lower Silesia, Poland
Nationality	Polish[1]
Alma mater	Columbia College Chicago (B.A., 1987)[2] AFI Conservatory (M.F.A., 1987)[3]
Occupation(s)	Cinematographer, film director, television director
Years active	1986–present
Organization	American Film Institute
Spouses	Holly Hunter ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 2001)​ Rebecca Rankin ​ ​ (m. 2004; div. 2010)​
Awards	See full awards

Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (Polish: [ˌjanuʂ kaˈmiɲskʲi]; born June 27, 1959) is a Polish^[1] cinematographer and director.

He has established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer on his films since 1993,^[4] winning the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Spielberg's holocaust drama Schindler's List and the World War II epic Saving Private Ryan (1998). He has also received 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 addition to his collaborations with Spielberg, he has also worked with Cameron Crowe, James L. Brooks, Julian Schnabel and John Krasinski.

Kamiński has also worked in 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]

Kamiński was born in Ziębice, Poland, the son of mother, Jadwiga Celner, and father, Marian Kamiński.^[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 would then take his first opportunity filming and helping direct the music video for Club of Rome’s smash hit ‘Why Can't I Dance With Phil Donahue’.

He worked under cinematographer Phedon Papamichael,^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Kamiński became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in 1994,^[10] but resigned in 2006.^[10][11][12]

In 2018 Kamiński worried that professional cinematographers were digitally losing control of their own images.^[13] In 2010 Kamiński abandoned the Chris Curling female fighter pilot World War II project The Night Witch,^[14] and in 2012 Kamiński discussed directing a Los Angeles-based version of the drama "XXXXXX" but nothing became of it.^[15]

Kamiński was married to actress Holly Hunter from 1995 until 2001. In 2004, he married ABC reporter Rebecca Rankin; they divorced in 2010.^[16]

Short film

• Making a Scene (2013)

Feature film

• Lost Souls (2000)
• Hania (2007)
• American Dream (2021)

Television

Short film

Feature film

TV movies

TV series

• Cinema of Poland
• List of Polish Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of Poles

• Janusz Kamiński at IMDb
• Janusz Kamiński at culture.pl