Vilmos Zsigmond

Legendary Cinematographer - Oscar Winner and Multiple Oscar Nominations!
First cinematographer to use the Panaflex camera on a movie -- "The Sugarland Express."

From Cinequest.org - "...Son of a celebrated soccer player and coach, Zsigmond developed an interest in photography while in high school. After his graduation from the State University of Motion Picture and Theater Arts in Budapest (with friend Laszlo Kovacs), the Hungarian Revolution hit. [Along with Laszlo Kovacs, he filmed footage of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, supposedly with a camera concealed in a shopping bag.] His escape from the country and pilgrimage to the United States were underway.

Eventually making connections with U.S. filmmakers, Zsigmond had the chance to develop his new style of lighting-a combination of the "old" classical style and the "new" flexible soft lighting. Zsigmond's evocative look and "altering eye" found outlets in such masterpieces as John Boorman's Deliverance (1972), Mark Rydell's The Rose (1979), Richard Donner's Maverick (1994), Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard (1994) and Steven Hopkins' The Ghost and the Darkness (1996).

His long-overdue Academy Award came in 1977, with his powerful achievements on Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The following year found Zsigmond's dark and disturbing work on Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978) receiving an Oscar nomination, and another nomination appeared for the daring and powerful look he brought to Mark Rydell's The River (1983)."

Source: The Hungary Page