Janusz Kaminski

Janusz Kaminski

Bio

A native of Poland, Janusz Kaminski arrived in the United States in 1981, where he studied cinematography at Chicago’s Columbia College, receiving his BA in 1987. After moving to Los Angeles, Kaminski entered the AFI Conservatory as a Cinematography Fellow. His first feature credits included second unit work on films produced by Roger Corman, who promoted Kaminski to Director of Photography for The Terror Within II. During the following two years, Kaminski worked on the films Cool as Ice and Pirates, as well as on the acclaimed cable movie Wildflower, directed by Diane Keaton. His career took off while working for producer Steven Spielberg on the Civil War TV pilot Class of ‘61 (1993).

Kaminski won the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for his gorgeous black-and-white cinematography for Schindler’s List, as well as honors from the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics. The film cemented Kaminski’s long association with Spielberg, with Kaminski going on to win an Academy Award for his work on Saving Private Ryan, as well as an Oscar® nomination for Amistad. Other collaborations with Spielberg include: The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal.

Kaminski’s other credits as cinematographer include: Jerry Maguire, How to Make an American Quilt, Trouble Bound, Tall tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill and The Adventures of Huck Finn. He made his directorial debut with the supernatural thriller Lost Souls, starring Winona Ryder and Ben Chaplin. Produced by Nina R. Sadowski and Meg Ryan and inspired by realistic horror films such as Rosemary’s Baby and Repulsion, Lost Souls centers on the themes of belief, faith and love.

More recently, Kaminski and Spielberg joined forces on The Terminal, about a Balkan immigrant, played by Tom Hanks, visiting the United States, who is forced to make an airport international transit lounge his permanent home after he learns that the borders of his war torn country have been blurred, voiding his passport and leaving him without a country.

For Scaphander et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) Kaminski won the Golden Frog at 2007 Camerimage, the Technical Grand Prize at 2007 Cannes Film Festival and 2008 Independent Spirit Award.

In 2012 won Critics’ Choice Movie Award and nominated for the 84th Academy Awards for War Horse.

Filmography

2022 Ukrainians in Exile (Director)
2015 Bridge of Spies by Steven Spielberg
2014 The Judge by David Dobkin
Making a Scene by Janusz Kaminski
2013 Broken Night by Guillermo Arriaga
2012 Lincoln by Steven Spielberg
2011 War Horse by Steven Spielberg
The Adventures of Tintin by Steven Spielberg
2010 How Do You Know by James L. Brooks
2009 Funny People by Judd Apatow
2008 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by Steven Spielberg
2007 Hania – director & cinematographer
Scaphander et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) by Julian Schnabel
2005 Munich by Steven Spielberg
2005 War of the Worlds by Steven Spielberg
2004 The Terminal by Steven Spielberg
2002 Catch Me if You Can by Steven Spielberg
Minority Report by Steven Spielberg
2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence by Steven Spielberg
2000 Lost Souls – director
1998 Saving Private Ryan by Steven Spielberg
1997 Amistad by Steven Spielberg
The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg
1996 Jerry Maguire by Cameron Crowe
1995 How to Make an American Quilt by Jocelyn Moorhouse
Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill by Jeremiah S. Chechik
1994 Little Giants by Duwayne Dunham
1993 Schindler’s List by Steven Spielberg
Class of ’61 by Gregory Hoblit
The Adventures of Huck Finn by Stephen Sommers
1992 Mad Dog Call by Gregory Hoblit
Trouble Bound by Jeffrey Reiner
1991 Mad Dog Coll by Greydon Clark and Ken Stein
Pirates by Noah Stern
Wildflower (TV) by Diane Keaton
Cool as Ice by David Kellogg
1990 Grim Prairie Tales: Hit the Trail… to Terror by Wayne Coe
The Terror within II by Andrew Stevens
The Rain Killer by Ken Stein