Movies of War

Mar 15, 2026 6:49pm PT ‘Sinners’ DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw Makes Oscar History as First Woman to Win Best Cinematography By Jazz Tangcay Plus Icon Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor @jazzt Latest ‘One Battle After Another’ Casting Director Cassandra Kulukundis Wins Inaugural Oscar for Best Casting 2 hours ago ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Wins Oscar for Best Animated Film: ‘This Is for Korea and Koreans Everywhere’ 2 hours ago ‘Sinners‘ and ‘The Pitt’ Take Top Honors at ICG Publicists Awards 2 days ago See All Gilbert Flores/Penske Media “Sinners” DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw has made history. She is the first woman to ever win the Oscar for best cinematography. Arkapaw, who is of Filipino and African American Creole descent, is now also the first woman of color to win. In the history of the category, only three women have ever been nominated: Rachel Morrison in 2018 for “Mudbound,” Ari Wegner in 2021 for “The Power of the Dog” and Mandy Walker in 2022 for “Elvis.” Arkapaw also made history as the first female cinematographer to shoot on Imax 65mm and Ultra Panavision for “Sinners.” Related Stories LISTEN: Hollywood Gets Ready for Oscars; Hanging With 'Baywatch' Hopefuls Oscars Increase Security After FBI Warns California Authorities of Possible Iran Drone Threat In the lead-up to the Oscars, Arkapaw was nominated at the BAFTAs, British Society of Cinematographers and American Society of Cinematographers, and she missed every pre-cursor going into Oscar night — but she prevailed. Popular on Variety She was nominated alongside Adolpho Veloso (“Train Dreams”), Michael Bauman (“One Battle After Another”), Dan Laustsen (“Frankenstein”) and Darius Khondji (“Marty Supreme”). “Sinners” marked her second collaboration with Coogler after the two shot “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Last year, she told Variety. “We support each other. I’ve learned how to read the story through [Ryan’s] eyes, to understand what he needs to tell it and what is important to him.” One of the most talked-about scenes in “Sinners” is the “piercing the veil” sequence. “At first this sequence is grounded in reality and then turns into a surreal moment in which the camera goes up to the roof and burns away, then comes back down into a wonderful fire exterior shot which transitions into the introduction of three strong characters, and then you’re back into the film,” she explained. “Sinners” broke an all-time Oscar record with 16 nominations. It received nods for best picture; director; actor (Michael B. Jordan); supporting actress (Wunmi Mosaku); supporting actor (Delroy Lindo); original screenplay; casting; production design; cinematography; costume design; film editing; makeup and hairstyling; sound; visual effects; original score; and original song for “I Lied to You.” Jump to Comments China Box Office: ‘Zootopia 2’ Returns to No. 1 as Holdovers Dominate Ahead of Lunar New Year LISTEN: It’s Heigh-Ho Time After Regime Change at Disney; Ted Sarandos Survives Politically Charged Senate Grilling ‘Zootopia 2’ Sets Disney+ Release Date Disney CEO Succession Drama: How Josh D’Amaro Won the Battle to Replace Bob Iger China Box Office: ‘Zootopia 2’ Leads Again as Market Cools Further Ahead of Lunar New Year This Vintage Disney Print From 1975 Gets a Revival in New Lilly Pulitzer Collection JavaScript is required to load the comments. Loading comments...