Vilmos Zsigmond named UCLA Kodak Cinematographer in Residence

Acclaimed Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, who won an Oscar in 1978 for Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, has been named Kodak Cinematographer in Residence for the spring quarter at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. The mentorship program was created in 2000 by Professor William McDonald with the support of Kodak.

“Vilmos Zsigmond overcame seemingly impossible odds to become one of the defining film artists of our times,” McDonald says. “Leonard Maltin hit the nail on the head when he wrote, ‘Recognition for cinematographers is long overdue. When it comes to Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, it’s clear that the American New Wave of the late 1960s and early ’70s wouldn’t have flowered as it did without them.”

The residency program kicks off with a free screening of the classic 1971 revisionist Western McCabe & Mrs. Miller, which Zsigmond shot in collaboration with moviemaking legend Robert Altman. McDonald will moderate a discussion with Zsigmond after the screening, which takes place at the James Bridges Theater on the UCLA campus in Westwood at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 11. The public is invited to attend along with faculty and students.

Zsigmond is responsible for shooting some of the greatest movies of the 1970s, including (along with the aforementioned films) Deliverance, The Long Goodbye and The Deer Hunter. “The generous spirit of cinematographers, their passion for their art form and their willingness to share their knowledge and insights has made this program an extraordinarily valuable experience for our students, “McDonald says.

For more information about the May 11 screening of McCabe & Mrs. Miller, visit http://www.tft.ucla.edu/ or call 310-206-8365.