After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Boris Kaufman moved with his family to newly independent Poland. (His brothers Mikhail Kaufman and Dziga Vertov stayed in the Soviet Union, where they would also launch careers in filmmaking.) Kaufman later went to Paris to study, fought in the French Army, and, when France fell to Germany, left for Canada and eventually the US. Director Elia Kazan chose Kaufman as Director of Photography for On the Waterfront, which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography.