In the United States from 1981, Polish-born Janusz Kaminski graduated from Columbia College, and thereafter recieved a BA in Film from the AFI. His debut as a cinematographer occurred with 1988's Lisa, which won him the Line Eagel Award at the Illinois Film Festival. Kaminski's Hollywood career was largely confined to programmers like Terror Within II until the early 1990s. In 1993, Janusz Kaminski won the Academy Award for his eloquent black-and-white photography for Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), filmed in Kaminski's native Poland. He has since continued working with Spielberg on The Lost World: Jurrasic Park II (1997), Amistad, which garnered Kaminski an Oscar nomination, and most notably, Saving Private Ryan.
Janusz Kaminski
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Biography by AllMovie
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- Emigrated to the United States when he was 21.
- Often recruits interns from his alma mater, Columbia College Chicago.
- Longtime collaboration as Steven Spielberg's camera man started with Schindler's List (1993).
- Served as a jury member at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2006.
- Became the first cinematographer to present an Academy Award at the 2009 ceremonies.