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Janusz Kamiński
Janusz Kamiński
	Kamiński in 2014
Born	Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński; June 27, 1959 (age 65); Ziębice, Lower Silesia, Poland
Nationality	Polish
Alma mater	Columbia College Chicago (B.A., 1987); AFI Conservatory (M.F.A., 1987)
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]

Early life and education

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’.

Career

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]

Personal life

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

Filmography

Director

Short film

Making a Scene (2013)

Feature film

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

Television

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

Cinematographer

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

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1986	Lady America	Nick Gaitatjis
1989	Grim Prairie Tales	Wayne Coe
1990	The Rain Killer	Ken Stein
1990	The Terror Within II	Andrew Stevens
1991	Cool as Ice	David Kellogg
1991	Killer Instinct	David Tausik	Credited as Jennifer Stoltz
1992	Pyrates	Noah Stern
	All the Love in the World	Daniel Curran
	Mad Dog Coll	Greydon Clark Ken Stein
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
1995	How to Make an American Quilt	Jocelyn Moorhouse
1996	Jerry Maguire	Cameron Crowe
1997	The Lost World: Jurassic Park	Steven Spielberg
1997	Amistad
1998	Saving Private Ryan
2001	A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2002	Minority Report
2002	Catch Me If You Can
2004	The Terminal
2005	War of the Worlds
2005	Munich
2007	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly	Julian Schnabel
2007	Hania	Himself
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
2011	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	Steven Spielberg
2024	IF	John Krasinski

TV movies

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

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Notes
2006	Wonder Pets!	Josh Selig	Episode "Save the Crane"
2014	The Divide	Tony Goldwyn	Episode "The Ways Men Divide"
2024	The Savant	Matthew Heineman	6 episodes