| Birth Name: | Bedřich Baťka |
| Birth Date: | August 21, 1922 |
| Birth Place: | Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) |
| Death Place: | Floral Park, New York, United States |
| Occupation: | Cinematographer |
| Years Active: | 1963–1980 |
Beda Batka (Bedřich Baťka; August 21, 1922 – June 6, 1994) was a Czech and American cinematographer and a teacher in the Tisch School of the Arts.[1] [2]
Batka started his career as a camera operator on the movie On the Right Track (1948). In Czechoslovakia he frequently worked with director Jiří Weiss. Batka told Weiss a story that happened at his wife's workplace. Weiss decided to use this story as a basis for his film Ninety Degrees in the Shade. In 1967 Batka was a director of photography for František Vláčil's Marketa Lazarová, which was later voted the best Czech movie of all time.[3] After he emigrated to USA, he taught cinematography at the Tisch School of the Arts.[4] Among his students were Barry Sonnenfeld, Bill Pope,[5] and the late Ken Kelsch.[6] The best known movie he worked on in America was Little Darlings.[7]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Fear | |
| 1963 | The Golden Fern | |
| 1964 | Láska nebeská | Short film |
| 1965 | Ninety Degrees in the Shade | |
| 1966 | Sign of the Cancer | |
| 1966 | Marketa Lazarová | |
| 1967 | Four in a Circle | |
| 1972 | In Pursuit of Treasure | |
| 1979 | The Orphan | |
| 1980 | Little Darlings | |