Oscars’ First Woman of Color Cinematography Nominee

“Sinners” cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw has made Oscar history as the first woman of color nominated in that category.

In the history of the category, no woman has ever won the Oscar for cinematography, and 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, who is of Filipino and Creole descent, was nominated alongside Adolpho Veloso (“Train Dreams”), Michael Bauman (“One Battle After Another,” Dan Laustsen (“Frankenstein”) and Darius Khondji (“Marty Supreme”).

This year, Arkapaw became the first female cinematographer to shoot on Imax 65mm and Ultra Panavision for “Sinners.”

The film marks her second collaboration with Coogler after the two shot “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Last year, she told Variety. “We support each other,” says Durald Arkapaw. “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. She explained, “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.

Each of the three shots inside the juke joint are “all on Steadicam and shot on 15perf Imax [65mm running horizontally],” she said. “And there’s a blend of a VFX takeover that tips up into the roof that’s based off of a burning roof plate that we shot on the last day of principal photography. Then, it transitions into a night exterior shot that’s on a 50-foot techno crane that pulls back in a night exterior where you see them dancing with the effect of a burned mill around them.” The camera also reveals the three vampires — Remmick (Jack O’Connell), Joan (Lola Kirke) and Bert (Peter Dreimanis) — observing it all from a distance.

With Arkapaw’s work drawing attention, she said she was grateful for the opportunity to continue opening doors for more representation in cinematography and to be an inspiration for female cinematographers. “It means the world when young girls, or film students of similar heritage, come up to me and express their gratitude, not just for the work, but for the fact that they can see someone like themselves behind the camera.”