Boris Kaufman

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Boris Abramovich Kaufman (Russian: Борис Абрамович Кауфман; August 24, 1897 – June 24, 1980) was an Oscar-winning (1954) cinematographer. He was the younger brother of famous filmmakers Dziga Vertov (Denis Kaufman) and Mikhail Kaufman.

Kaufman was born into a family of Jewish intellectuals living in Białystok at the time when the Congress Poland was a part of the Russian Empire.

After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Poland regained its independence, and Boris moved there with his parents. Mikhail and Denis stayed in the Soviet Union and became notable Soviet filmmakers producing avant-garde and agitprop films. The three brothers never met again and stayed in touch only by way of letters.

After graduating from Sorbonne University, Boris turned to cinematography. He collaborated with Jean Vigo and later Dimitri Kirsanoff.

During World War II, he served in the French Army against the Nazis and when France lost he managed to escape to Canada. After working briefly with John Grierson, for the National Film Board of Canada, Kaufman moved to the United States in 1942.

He supported himself shooting short subjects and documentaries until Elia Kazan chose him to shoot his first American feature film, On the Waterfront (1954), for which Kaufman won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Golden Globe Award (1955). For the film Baby Doll (1956), Kaufman received a second Oscar nomination.

He was the director of photography on Sidney Lumet's first film, 12 Angry Men (1957), and The Pawnbroker (1964), among other notable films.

Boris Kaufman retired in 1970 and died in New York City in 1980.

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