Kees Van Oostrum (born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands) is a Dutch cinematographer and director. He served as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) from 2016 to 2020 and has received an ASC Award as well as multiple ASC and Primetime Emmy nominations.
Van Oostrum has worked as a cinematographer on a range of feature films and television productions, including ' (1993), Gods and Generals (2003), and Spartacus (2004), as well as series such as The Fosters. His work spans both film and television, with projects in the United States and internationally.
As a director, he directed Bitter Herbs (1985) and A Perfect Man (2013), in addition to work on television series including Profiler and The Hitchhiker.
In addition to his work as a cinematographer and director, Van Oostrum has contributed to technical developments in filmmaking. He is the inventor of the Aerocrane Jib Arm and developed the Optica Magnus lens expander system. He also is a co-founder of Cinegear Expo, which first took place in 1996 at Paramount Studios.
During his tenure as ASC president, Van Oostrum was involved in industry discussions regarding the presentation of the Academy Awards, including opposition to a proposal to present the Best Cinematography award during a commercial break; the decision was later reversed.
Since 2020, he has been a cinematography professor at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, where he teaches and mentors students in film production and contributes to international exchange in cinematography education.