# Adam Holender

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{{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](/source/Krak%C3%B3w), Poland
| alma_mater         = [Łódź Film School](/source/%C5%81%C3%B3d%C5%BA_Film_School)
| occupation         = Cinematographer, film director
| website            = {{url|https://www.adamholender.com/}}
}}
'''Adam Holender''', [ASC](/source/American_Society_of_Cinematographers)<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](/source/Krak%C3%B3w), 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](/source/%C5%81%C3%B3d%C5%BA_Film_School), from where he graduated in 1964.<ref name="cinematographers" /> 

== Career ==
Holender worked on short films by [Krzysztof Zanussi](/source/Krzysztof_Zanussi) and [Roman Polański](/source/Roman_Pola%C5%84ski), and in the camera department of several Polish films and television series, notably ''[Four Tank-Men and a Dog](/source/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](/source/BBC) and [CBS](/source/CBS).<ref name=":0" />

''[Midnight Cowboy](/source/Midnight_Cowboy)'' was Holender's first feature film cinematography assignment: he was recommended to director [John Schlesinger](/source/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](/source/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](/source/When_I_Am_Dead_and_Gone)'' by a Serbian director [Živojin Pavlović](/source/%C5%BDivojin_Pavlovi%C4%87).<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](/source/Camerimage) in [Toruń](/source/Toru%C5%84), 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](/source/Midnight_Cowboy)''
|[John Schlesinger](/source/John_Schlesinger)
|
|-
|1971
|''[The Panic in Needle Park](/source/The_Panic_in_Needle_Park)''
|[Jerry Schatzberg](/source/Jerry_Schatzberg)
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1972
|''[Moonwalk One](/source/Moonwalk_One)''
|[Theo Kamecke](/source/Theo_Kamecke)
|
|-
|''[J. W. Coop](/source/J._W._Coop)''
|[Cliff Robertson](/source/Cliff_Robertson)
|Additional photography<ref name=":1" />
|-
|''[The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds](/source/The_Effect_of_Gamma_Rays_on_Man-in-the-Moon_Marigolds_(film))''
|[Paul Newman](/source/Paul_Newman)
|
|-
|1974
|''[Man on a Swing](/source/Man_on_a_Swing)''
|[Frank Perry](/source/Frank_Perry)
|
|-
|1978
|''[If I Ever See You Again](/source/If_Ever_I_See_You_Again_(film))''
|[Joseph Brooks](/source/Joseph_Brooks_(songwriter))
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1979
|''[The Seduction of Joe Tynan](/source/The_Seduction_of_Joe_Tynan)''
|Jerry Schatzberg
|
|-
|''[Promises in the Dark](/source/Promises_in_the_Dark_(film))''
|[Jerome Hellman](/source/Jerome_Hellman)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1980
|''[Simon](/source/Simon_(1980_film))''
|[Marshall Brickman](/source/Marshall_Brickman)
|
|-
|''[The Idolmaker](/source/The_Idolmaker)''
|[Taylor Hackford](/source/Taylor_Hackford)
|
|-
|1985
|[''Twisted''](/source/Twisted_(1986_film))
|Himself
|Director
|-
|1986
|''[The Boy Who Could Fly](/source/The_Boy_Who_Could_Fly)''
|[Nick Castle](/source/Nick_Castle)
|with [Steven Poster](/source/Steven_Poster)<ref name=":1" />
|-
|1987
|''[Street Smart](/source/Street_Smart_(film))''
|Jerry Schatzberg
|
|-
|1988
|''[To Kill a Priest](/source/To_Kill_a_Priest)''
|[Agnieszka Holland](/source/Agnieszka_Holland)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1989
|''[The Dream Team](/source/The_Dream_Team_(1989_film))''
|[Howard Zieff](/source/Howard_Zieff)
|
|-
|[''Sea of Love''](/source/Sea_of_Love_(film))
|[Harold Becker](/source/Harold_Becker)
|Additional photography<ref name=":1" />
|-
|1994
|''[Fresh](/source/Fresh_(1994_film))''
|[Boaz Yakin](/source/Boaz_Yakin)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1995
|''[Smoke](/source/Smoke_(film))''
| rowspan="2" |[Wayne Wang](/source/Wayne_Wang)
|
|-
|''[Blue in the Face](/source/Blue_in_the_Face)''
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1996
|''[I'm Not Rappaport](/source/I'm_Not_Rappaport_(film))''
|[Herb Gardner](/source/Herb_Gardner)
|
|-
|''[Grace of My Heart](/source/Grace_of_My_Heart)''
|[Allison Anders](/source/Allison_Anders)
|[2nd unit photography](/source/Second_unit)<ref name=":1" />
|-
|1997
|''[8 Heads in a Duffel Bag](/source/8_Heads_in_a_Duffel_Bag)''
|[Tom Schulman](/source/Tom_Schulman) 
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1998
|''[A Price Above Rubies](/source/A_Price_Above_Rubies)''
|Boaz Yakin
|
|-
|''[Wide Awake](/source/Wide_Awake_(1998_film))''
|[M. Night Shyamalan](/source/M._Night_Shyamalan)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2002
|''Roads to Riches''
|Michelle Gallagher
|
|-
|[''Rollerball''](/source/Rollerball_(2002_film))
|[John McTiernan](/source/John_McTiernan)
|Additional photography<ref name=":1" />
|-
|2004
|''[Stateside](/source/Stateside_(film))''
|Reverge Anselmo
|
|-
|2005
|''[Carlito's Way: Rise to Power](/source/Carlito's_Way%3A_Rise_to_Power)''
|Michael Bregman
|
|-
|2007
|''[Shortcut to Happiness](/source/Shortcut_to_Happiness)''
|[Alec Baldwin](/source/Alec_Baldwin)
|Filmed in 2001
|-
|2019
|''[Apollo 11](/source/Apollo_11_(2019_film))''
|[Todd Douglas Miller](/source/Todd_Douglas_Miller)
|Documentary; filmed in 1969
|}

=== Television ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Notes
|-
|1966
|''[Four Tank-Men and a Dog](/source/Four_Tank-Men_and_a_Dog)''
|5 episodes
|-
|1978
|''The Other Side of Hell''
|TV movie
|-
|1980
|''[The Shadow Box](/source/The_Shadow_Box)''
|TV movie
|-
|1984
|''Threesome''
|TV movie
|-
|1985
|''[The Best Times](/source/The_Best_Times)''
|Episode: "Making Out"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2000
|''[Mary and Rhoda](/source/Mary_and_Rhoda)''
|TV movie
|-
|[''Falcone''](/source/Falcone_(TV_series))
|
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDB name|390435}}
* [https://www.adamholender.com/ Official website]

{{Authority control}}

{{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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Adam Holender](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Holender) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Holender?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.