Autumn Durald Arkapaw makes history as first woman to win Best Cinematography

In one of the most empowering moments of the Oscars tonight, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw took home the Academy Award for ‘Best Cinematography’ for her work in ‘Sinners’, making her the first woman to do so in this category. 

During her speech, Autumn asked if all the women in the room could stand and told each of them, “I don’t get here without you guys. I really, truly mean that.” 

She went on to explain that she had “felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign.”

Moments like this happen because of you guys, and I want to thank you for that.

She is the fourth woman to be nominated in this category, and the first woman of colour. Her other work includes collaborating with Ryan Coogler on ‘Black Panther’ and with Gia Coppola on ‘The Last Showgirl’ and ‘Palo Alto’. 

‘Sinners’ had a massive night at the award ceremony, winning 4 Oscars, including Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Original Screenplay (Ryan Coogler), and Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson),  after being nominated for a record-breaking 16 awards. 

The film had made some serious waves through the ceremony, after the song ‘I Lied to You’ from the film was also up for ‘Best Original Score’. Stars Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq brought out Shaboozey, Misty Copeland, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Alice Smith, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, and Eric Gales for a breathtaking performance. 

‘Sinners’ was also up for the biggest award of the night for ‘Best Picture’, but lost to ‘One Battle After Another’.