“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.”
During her thank you speech, she thanked director Ryan Coogler and said, “Thank you for believing in me and thank you for trusting me, and that’s the kind of guy I get to make films with.”
Arkapaw also thanks fellow cinematographer Rachel Morrison. She said, “I have felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign and gotten to meet so many people, and I just feel like moments like this happen because of you guys, and I want to thank you for that.”
Backstage, Arkapaw was met with huge applause. Speaking about the women in the Dolby Theater who gave her the biggest cheers, the cinematographer said, “Moments like this don’t happen without women standing up for you and advocating for you. I know that this happened because of that.” She added, “I’ve learned over the past few months going through this process that it does take a village to make stuff like this happen. But this isn’t about me anymore. This is about so much more.”
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.
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.”
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