{{short description|Polish cinematographer (born 1937)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{BLP sources|date=September 2015}} {{Infobox person | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1937|11|13|df=y}} | birth_place = Kraków, Poland | alma_mater = Łódź Film School | occupation = Cinematographer, film director | website = {{url|https://www.adamholender.com/}} }} '''Adam Holender''', ASC<ref>{{Cite web |title=ASC Presents Midnight Cowboy in NYC April 5 |url=https://theasc.com/news/midnight-cowboy |access-date=2026-02-13 |website=The American Society of Cinematographers |language=en}}</ref> (born 13 November 1937) is a Polish-American cinematographer and film director.<ref name=":0" />
== Early life and education == He was born 13 November 1937 in Kraków, Poland, the son of a judge.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date= |title=Adam Holender |url=http://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/holender.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107071332/http://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/holender.htm |archive-date=7 November 2015 |accessdate=20 September 2015 |publisher=Cinematographers.nl}}</ref> In 1940,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Adam Holender |url=https://culture.pl/en/artist/adam-holender |access-date=2026-02-13 |website=Culture.pl |language=en}}</ref> he and his family were deported to a Siberian labor camp, and not allowed to return to Kraków until 1947.<ref name="cinematographers">{{cite web |title=Adam Holender ASC |url=http://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/holender.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107071332/http://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/holender.htm |archive-date=7 November 2015 |accessdate=15 September 2015 |website=cinematographers}}</ref>
Holender studied architecture before enrolling at Łódź Film School, from where he graduated in 1964.<ref name="cinematographers" />
== Career == Holender worked on short films by Krzysztof Zanussi and Roman Polański, and in the camera department of several Polish films and television series, notably ''Four Tank-Men and a Dog''.
He moved to New York City in the 1960s, working as a truck driver and later finding a job as a grip at a commercial production company, later shooting documentaries for the BBC and CBS.<ref name=":0" />
''Midnight Cowboy'' was Holender's first feature film cinematography assignment: he was recommended to director John Schlesinger by Holender's friend Polanski.<ref>{{cite news |author=Goldstein, Patrick |author-link=Patrick Goldstein |date=February 27, 2005 |title='Midnight Cowboy' and the very dark horse its makers rode in on |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-feb-27-ca-cowboy27-story.html |access-date=August 27, 2009 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Holender later recalled:
<blockquote>Schlesinger turned out to be a great director to work with. (...) He likes the dirt of New York life, I took him on his first subway trip, we wandered around the streets and observed reality. I knew we were making a good film, but that it was going to be an Oscar-winning film, I had no idea.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>
According to Schlesinger, his inspiration to make the movie came from the 1967 Yugoslav film ''When I Am Dead and Gone'' by a Serbian director Živojin Pavlović.<ref>Surfing the Black – Yugoslav Black Wave Cinema and Its Transgressive Moments Author: Gal Kirn, Dubravka Sekulić and Žiga Testen Publisher: Jan van Eyck {{ISBN|978-90-72076-51-9}} </ref>
== Awards and honors == At the 2007 Camerimage Festival in Toruń, Holender received a special award "to the Polish Cinematographer For Immense Contribution To The Art of Film".<ref>{{Cite web |title=ADAM HOLENDER ASC – AWARD TO POLISH CINEMATOGRAPHER – EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024 |url=https://archive.camerimage.pl/en/adam-holender-asc-laureatem-nagrody-dla-polskiego-operatora/ |access-date=2026-02-15 |website=archive.camerimage.pl}}</ref>
== Filmography ==
=== Film === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |- |1969 |''Midnight Cowboy'' |John Schlesinger | |- |1971 |''The Panic in Needle Park'' |Jerry Schatzberg | |- | rowspan="3" |1972 |''Moonwalk One'' |Theo Kamecke | |- |''J. W. Coop'' |Cliff Robertson |Additional photography<ref name=":1" /> |- |''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' |Paul Newman | |- |1974 |''Man on a Swing'' |Frank Perry | |- |1978 |''If I Ever See You Again'' |Joseph Brooks | |- | rowspan="2" |1979 |''The Seduction of Joe Tynan'' |Jerry Schatzberg | |- |''Promises in the Dark'' |Jerome Hellman | |- | rowspan="2" |1980 |''Simon'' |Marshall Brickman | |- |''The Idolmaker'' |Taylor Hackford | |- |1985 |''Twisted'' |Himself |Director |- |1986 |''The Boy Who Could Fly'' |Nick Castle |with Steven Poster<ref name=":1" /> |- |1987 |''Street Smart'' |Jerry Schatzberg | |- |1988 |''To Kill a Priest'' |Agnieszka Holland | |- | rowspan="2" |1989 |''The Dream Team'' |Howard Zieff | |- |''Sea of Love'' |Harold Becker |Additional photography<ref name=":1" /> |- |1994 |''Fresh'' |Boaz Yakin | |- | rowspan="2" |1995 |''Smoke'' | rowspan="2" |Wayne Wang | |- |''Blue in the Face'' | |- | rowspan="2" |1996 |''I'm Not Rappaport'' |Herb Gardner | |- |''Grace of My Heart'' |Allison Anders |2nd unit photography<ref name=":1" /> |- |1997 |''8 Heads in a Duffel Bag'' |Tom Schulman | |- | rowspan="2" |1998 |''A Price Above Rubies'' |Boaz Yakin | |- |''Wide Awake'' |M. Night Shyamalan | |- | rowspan="2" |2002 |''Roads to Riches'' |Michelle Gallagher | |- |''Rollerball'' |John McTiernan |Additional photography<ref name=":1" /> |- |2004 |''Stateside'' |Reverge Anselmo | |- |2005 |''Carlito's Way: Rise to Power'' |Michael Bregman | |- |2007 |''Shortcut to Happiness'' |Alec Baldwin |Filmed in 2001 |- |2019 |''Apollo 11'' |Todd Douglas Miller |Documentary; filmed in 1969 |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Notes |- |1966 |''Four Tank-Men and a Dog'' |5 episodes |- |1978 |''The Other Side of Hell'' |TV movie |- |1980 |''The Shadow Box'' |TV movie |- |1984 |''Threesome'' |TV movie |- |1985 |''The Best Times'' |Episode: "Making Out" |- | rowspan="2" |2000 |''Mary and Rhoda'' |TV movie |- |''Falcone'' | |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDB name|390435}} * [https://www.adamholender.com/ Official website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holender, Adam}} Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Polish cinematographers
{{Poland-film-bio-stub}} {{cinematographer-stub}} Category:American cinematographers Category:Film people from Kraków Category:Film directors from New York City Category:Łódź Film School alumni Category:Polish film directors