Janusz Kamiński, one of the most influential cinematographers in contemporary cinema, will receive the THR Visionary in Cinematography Award during the 34th edition of the ToruńCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival, taking place from 7 to 14 November 2026. Presented by The Hollywood Reporter, the award recognizes Kamiński’s exceptional contribution to the art of cinematography and his visionary approach to shaping the visual language of modern filmmaking.
Janusz Kamiński, one of the most influential cinematographers in contemporary cinema, will receive the THR Visionary in Cinematography Award during the 34th edition of the ToruńCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival, taking place from 7 to 14 November 2026. Presented by The Hollywood Reporter, the award recognizes Kamiński’s exceptional contribution to the art of cinematography and his visionary approach to shaping the visual language of modern filmmaking.
Few partnerships in modern cinema have shaped the look of the movies as profoundly as that of Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kamiński. This year’s THR Visionary in Cinematography Award winner has, over more than 30 years and 20 films with the director, from Schindler’s List (1993) to Disclosure Day (2026), rewritten the visual grammar of Hollywood.
The stark black-and-white of Schindler’s List revived monochrome, bringing a gritty, painterly realism to an industry long wedded to classic Hollywood gloss. The battle scenes of Saving Private Ryan (1998), all desaturated, handheld chaos, changed how war movies looked forever. Both films won Kamiński the Oscar® for Best Cinematography, and both were included in the American Society of Cinematographers’ list of the best-photographed films of the 20th century.
Every Kamiński film is beautiful, but not one of them looks the same. Every lens and every color choice matches the story being told. The tech-dystopian Washington of Minority Report (2002) is bleached in cold blues and metallic noir shadows. Munich (2005) evokes the aesthetics of 1970s thrillers and news footage. In one of his non-Spielberg collaborations, Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), Kamiński evokes the lead character’s locked-in syndrome with a radically restricted point of view and minute shifts in focus.
Kamiński’s life reads like a Hollywood movie. A political refugee from Poland, he trained at the American Film Institute and rose through the ranks, working as a gaffer on no-budget Roger Corman productions and on TV movies. It was his lensing of Diane Keaton’s TV movie Wildflower (1991) that convinced Spielberg to offer him Schindler’s List. He went on to become a seven-time Oscar® nominee. ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ is honored to present one of the great image-makers of modern cinema with this year’s THR Visionary in Cinematography Award.
The recognition of Janusz Kamiński by The Hollywood Reporter is a celebration of a cinematographer whose work has helped redefine the possibilities of cinematic storytelling. His distinctive visual style, remarkable versatility and long-standing creative partnership with Steven Spielberg have left an indelible mark on the history of cinema. The award presentation at ToruńCAMERIMAGE 2026 will be a special occasion to celebrate his outstanding achievements and the enduring power of cinematography to shape the way we experience films.