Miroslav Ondricek, theacclaimed director of photography whose credits include Ragtime, Amadeus and Silkwood, will receive the 2004 American Society of Cinematographers (ASC)International Achievement Award in Los Angeles on Feb 8 2004.

The award is presented atthe annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards to an individual who, in thewords of the ASC, has made "enduring contributions to advancing theinternational art of cinematography".

Ondricek is a native ofPrague, Czechoslovakia, where he began his career working on documentariesduring the late 1950s.

He studied at the state filmschool in the evenings for four years, and was at the vanguard of the new waveof Eastern European film-makers who penetrated the Hollywood mainstream duringthe late 1970s and early 1980s.

He earned Oscar nominationsfor Ragtime in 1982 and for Amadeus in 1985 and has worked on a varied list of titlesincluding Slaughterhouse-Five, Hair, Awakenings and Riding In Cars With Boys.

"Miroslav Ondricek has madean indelible impression on the international art of film-making," ASC presidentRichard Crudo said in a statement.

"He was born with the soulof an artist and mastered the skills needed to express himself as acinematographer."

Previous winners of the ASCInternational Achievement Award include Jack Cardiff, Henri Alekan, GiuseppeRotunno, Oswald Morris and Douglas Slocombe.