Autumn Durald Arkapaw ASC wins Best Cinematography Oscar for Sinners

Autumn Durald Arkapaw has won Best Cinematography at the 98th Oscars — the first woman in history to do so — for her landmark work on Sinners, which was originally planned as a 16mm shoot.

Lots of movies won lots of Oscars last night. Well, actually not that many movies as there was a definite concentration amongst a few titles at the 98th Academy Awards. One Battle After Another won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, and Best Editing for Andy Jurgensen.

Sinners won four out of a record 16 nominations. Both films were made by Warner Bros., which perhaps helps highlight why Paramount Skydance is willing to pay $111 billion for the company. But we're going to briefly dwell on the Best Cinematography award won by Autumn Durald Arkapaw, as it is truly historic.

Another glass ceiling shattered

As we wrote last week, there's a lot of negative pressure on women in the film industry at the moment, so this richly deserved award is timely. 

Autumn Durald Arkapaw is the first woman to win the Best Cinematographer Oscar (and being of Filipino and African American Creole descent, also the first woman of color to win). She had been nominated at the BAFTAs, as well as awards given out by the British Society of Cinematographers and the American Society of Cinematographers, and had missed out each time. Last night though, she brought the big one home.

Only three women have ever been nominated for the award, and even that very recently. Rachel Morrison was a nominee in 2018 for Mudbound, Ari Wegner in 2021 for The Power of the Dog, and Mandy Walker in 2022 for Elvis. According to Variety, Arkapaw also made history as the first female cinematographer to shoot on IMAX 65mm and Ultra Panavision for Sinners.

A small jump in resolution

IMAX 65mm wasn't the original plan, however. It wasn't even 35mm. Director Ryan Coogler, who Arkapaw worked with on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, had originally planned it as a 16mm production.

"It became a 35mm film after Ryan spoke to our VFX supervisor, who suggested a more stable negative was needed for the twinning work of Smoke and Stack," she told the Kodak website (she is also the first cinematographer to shoot in the IMAX 15-perf film format using KODAK EKTACHROME filmstock).

DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw ASC, cast and crew on the set of SINNERS. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The studio suggested a larger format, and discussions centered around Arkapaw's love for Anamorphic, and how the format would be perfect for capturing the wide vistas and landscape of the Mississippi Delta. Screenings of 70mm clips from movies shot in 65mm 5-perf formats including scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Hateful Eight, and Tenet followed.

"Ryan fell in love with what he saw," she says. "So, we wrangled a Panavision System 65 camera, together with an IMAX film camera, and shot tests in the desert in Lancaster, northern Los Angeles County, to see how they rendered the landscape and flat horizon.

"We then screened prints of the 2.76:1 65mm footage at Fotokem, and the 1.43:1 IMAX material at IMAX's HQ in Playa Vista, and the images were stunning. After you see the beauty and scope you can capture on these formats, you can't go back."

Coping with IMAX

The cameras used on the shoot were the Panavision System 65 Studio, System 65 High Speed cameras, plus IMAX MSM 9802 and IMAX MKIV film cameras. Working closely with her, Panavision's lens guru, Dan Sasaki, customized a set of Panavision Ultra Panatar 1.3x squeeze Anamorphics, a brace of Panavision IMAX optics in 50mm and 80mm focal lengths, and a bespoke Panavision 80mm IMAX Petzval lens for the shoot.

It's fair to say she probably regretted the IMAX decision a few times during the 66-day shoot that took place in sweltering temperatures across southeastern Louisiana, not least because of the sheer heft of the equipment. 16mm would have been a lot easier.

"When you shoot with IMAX cameras, which weigh around 65 lb, you have to figure out your own relationship with them, how to frame with them, how to hold them, and how to move with them on your shoulder," she says.

"At first, it can feel uncomfortable on the shoulder, but you soon become accustomed to it and learn to compensate for what feels like carrying a mini fridge around. It was a little awkward for me, as I'm a left-eye operator, so I had to use the on-board monitor. A full 1000 ft IMAX magazine can run for two and a half minutes before you need to reload."

The Kodak article has more and it's a good read. One way or another, and with Christopher Nolan's epic The Odyssey waiting in the wings, we're going to hear a lot about IMAX this year.

We're also going to hear about more female cinematographers in the future too. And that is a very good thing.