Miroslav Ondříček Biography

Fast Facts

• Won the American Society of Cinematographers Award for international achievement in 2004
• Graduated from the Film Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and joined the Barrandov Studios training school in the late 1950s
• Began his filmmaking career shooting footage for newsreels and documentaries
• Quote: "I like it when films play with the emotions, when they address the self․ My generation of photographers broke new ground in cinematography, by drawing films out into reality ․․․ We knew that poetry cannot come from something artificially created․"
• Quote: "I never felt I needed to ․․․ change my ways to make films in Hollywood․ A person can have the American feel even if he or she is born in Prague․ It has more to do with the way a person thinks, the way you express freedom in how you approach life․"
• Best known as a cinematographer who worked on "Amadeus," "Ragtime" and "A League of Their Own․"
• Frequently worked with director Milos Forman on films like "Hair," "Fireman's Ball" and "Amadeus․"