Sinners' Best Cinematography Win Just Made Oscar History (And It's About Time)

Autumn Durald Arkapaw was the first person of color to ever earn an Oscar nomination in the cinematography category — and now, she's the first woman to ever win in the category too.

During the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, Durald became the first woman to win an Oscar for best cinematography for "Sinners" — and if you're unfamiliar with the fine art of cinematography, it means that the movie looks the way it does because of this artist. The cinematographer, or director of photography, works hand-in-hand with the director to ensure that the movie's lighting, colors, and overall feel are exactly right and serve the story to boot. Durald did that in "Sinners," and she did it beautifully. From the now-famous musical montage to the climactic sunrise, "Sinners" is gorgeous from start to finish, and it's thanks to her incredible work.

"Sinners" is a movie that largely takes place at night, and instead of letting the evening scenes be murky and incomprehensible (like too many cinematographers do), Durald made sure that the movie's stars — Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jack O'Connell, among others, all of whom she thanked in her acceptance speech — looked radiant even in moments that took place in the dead of night. Her approach to "Sinners" — directed by Ryan Coogler, who previously worked with Durald on "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" — was astounding and truly award-worthy work, and I'm personally overjoyed that the Academy saw fit to honor her achievement and her work in "Sinners." Not only does "Sinners" look absolutely unbelievable, but Durald worked with Coogler closely to create the movie's aesthetics with IMAX cameras, and their effort paid off handsomely. 

Ryan Coogler has discussed the fact that he chose to shoot quite a lot of "Sinners" in 65mm IMAX format, and in a piece with IndieWire, Autumn Durald Arkapaw discussed the challenges of that experience. As she told the outlet, using older lenses from a different era of filmmaking really made her experience as full as possible. "I gravitate toward older glass generally," she said. "When you're working with this format that's very resolute, they pair nicely, as far as having age and texture to the image, because you want it to look like the 1930s."

Durald and Coogler absolutely pulled this off; "Sinners" feels lush and beautiful, but it also looks crisp and impeccable by any modern standards. As Durald told the outlet, she knew that this movie was special as soon as she started working with the actors, including star Michael B. Jordan. "It happened even in the tests," Durald said of what it looked like to shoot the film. "We did a hair and makeup test, and just seeing Michael in those hats and walking on set — the power of his face — you just got so excited. There were so many moments on set early on where I would look at Ryan, and it would be unspoken: 'Wow, this is really special.' All you want as a photographer is to be inspired every time you look through the lens, and it was happening constantly on this film for me."

Durald richly deserved this win, and the fact that she made history is, truly, icing on the cake. "Sinners" is streaming on HBO Max now.