The Academy had never handed Best Cinematography to a woman. That finally changed on Sunday night at the 98th Academy Awards, when Autumn Durald Arkapaw won the Oscar for “Sinners,” becoming the first woman ever to take the prize. Her nomination had already made history, too — she was only the fourth woman ever nominated in the category, and the first woman of color.
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Durald Arkapaw beat fellow nominees Dan Laustsen for “Frankenstein,” Darius Khondji for “Marty Supreme,” Michael Bauman for “One Battle After Another,” and Adolpho Veloso for “Train Dreams.”
The win was another milestone in a season already full of them for the cinematographer. AP reported that “Sinners” was shot on IMAX and Ultra Panavision 70, with Durald Arkapaw becoming the first woman to shoot a film on IMAX.
Before “Sinners,” Durald Arkapaw had already built one of the more distinctive résumés in contemporary filmmaking, with credits including “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “The Last Showgirl,” and “Loki.” She had also previously collaborated with director Ryan Coogler on “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which made Sunday’s Oscar win feel less like a surprise breakthrough than the Academy finally catching up to a cinematographer who had already been doing this level of work for years.
Now, with “Sinners” in the history books, Durald Arkapaw goes in with it — not just as this year’s winner, but as the first woman ever to claim one of the Academy’s oldest craft honors.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
