12-05-2008

Hungarian Revolution cameraman Joseph Miko dies, age 87

By FNE Staff

    Joseph Miko, who filmed the 1956 Hungarian uprising, then fled to the U.S., has died in Los Angeles.

    According to a Los Angeles Times report on May 11, Miko died on April 28.

    Miko was a recent film school graduate returning home from a film shoot when he saw university students demonstrating in Budapest. His footage of the uprising, including the toppling of a statue of Stalin and demonstrators fleeing while being shot at by the secret police, have been seen repeatedly in documentaries including Torn from the Flag, Freedom's Fury, the History Channel's four-part series Caught on Film, and Walter Cronkite's iconic CBS TV series The 20th Century.

    Miko emigrated to the U.S. along with fellow cinematographers, Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. After briefly working on low-budget films, Miko left the film industry and was the owner of camera and electronics stores in California. He donated the film of the revolution to the Hungarian National Film Archives. His contribution was recognized with several awards, including The Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, presented by the President of Hungary.