Best Cinematography

RogerDeakins92nd — Roger Deakins, winner 2019

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.

History[]

In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) was not tied to a specific film; all of the work by the nominated cinematographers during the qualifying period was listed after their names. The problem with this system became obvious the first year, since Karl Struss and Charles Rosher were nominated for their work together on Sunrise but three other films shot individually by either Rosher or Struss were also listed as part of the nomination. The second year, 1929, there were no nominations at all, although the Academy has a list of unofficial titles which were under consideration by the Board of Judges. In the third year, 1930, films, not cinematographers, were nominated, and the final award did not show the cinematographer's name.

Finally, for the 1931 awards, the modern system in which individuals are nominated for a single film each was adopted in all profession-related categories. From 1939 to 1967 (with the single exception of 1957), there were also separate awards for color and for black-and-white cinematography. Since then, the only black-and-white film to win is Schindler's List (1993).

Floyd Crosby won the award for Tabu in 1931, which was the last silent film to win in this category. Hal Mohr won the only write-in Academy Award ever, in 1935 for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mohr was also the first person to win for both black-and-white and color cinematography.

No winners are lost, although some of the earliest nominees (and of the unofficial nominees of 1928-29) are lost, including The Devil Dancer (1927), The Magic Flame (1927), and Four Devils (1928). The Right to Love (1930) is incomplete, and Sadie Thompson (1927) is incomplete and partially reconstructed with stills.

The original name of the award has changed several times over the years:

1927/28 — 1938: Best Cinematography
1939 — 1956: Divided into two Categories, Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) and Best Cinematography (Color)
1957: Best Cinematography
1958 — 1966: Divided into two Categories, Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) and Best Cinematography (Color)
1967 — Present: Best Cinematography

Nominees and winners[]

Best Cinematography By Decade
1920s • 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s

1st Academy Awards (1927/28)

Winner: Charles Rosher and Karl Struss — Sunrise^[1]
Nominees: George Barnes — The Devil Dancer, The Magic Flame and Sadie Thompson

2nd Academy Awards (1928/29)

Winner: Clyde De Vinna — White Shadows in the South Sea^[2]
Nominees: The Divine Lady — John Seitz^[2]; Four Devils; and Street Angel — Ernest Palmer^[2]; In Old Arizona — Arthur Edeson^[2]; Our Dancing Daughters — George Barnes^[2]

3rd Academy Awards (1929/30)

Winner: With Byrd at the South Pole — Joseph T. Rucker, Willard Van Der Veer
Nominees: All Quiet on the Western Front — (Arthur Edeson)^[3]; Anna Christie — (William Daniels)^[3]; Hell's Angels — (Gaetano Gaudio, Harry Perry)^[3]; The Love Parade — (Victor Milner)^[3]

1930s

4th Academy Awards (1930/31)

Winner: Tabu — Floyd Crosby
Nominees: Cimarron — Edward Cronjager; Morocco — Lee Garmes; The Right to Love — Charles Lang; Svengali — Barney "Chick" McGill

5th Academy Awards (1931/32)

Winner: Shanghai Express — Lee Garmes
Nominees: Arrowsmith — Ray June; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Karl Struss

6th Academy Awards (1932/33)

Winner: A Farewell to Arms — Charles Bryant Lang, Jr.
Nominees: Reunion in Vienna — George J. Folsey; The Sign of the Cross — Karl Struss

7th Academy Awards (1934)

Winner: Cleopatra — Victor Milner
Nominees: The Affairs of Cellini — Charles Rosher; Operator 13 — George Folsey

8th Academy Awards (1935)

Winner: A Midsummer Night's Dream — Hal Mohr^[4]
Nominees: Barbary Coast — Ray June; The Crusades — Victor Milner; Les Miserables — Gregg Toland

9th Academy Awards (1936)

Winner: Anthony Adverse — Gaetano Gaudio
Nominees: The General Died at Dawn — Victor Milner; The Gorgeous Hussy — George Folsey
Winner (Special Award): To W. Howard Greene and Harold Rosson for the color cinematography of the Selznick International Production, The Garden of Allah.

10th Academy Awards (1937)

Winner: The Good Earth — Karl Freund
Nominees: Dead End — Gregg Toland; Wings over Honolulu — Joseph Valentine
Winner (Special Award): To W. Howard Greene for the color photography of A Star Is Born (This Award was recommended by a committee of leading cinematographers after viewing all the color pictures made during the year.)

11th Academy Awards (1938)

Winner: The Great Waltz — Joseph Ruttenberg
Nominees: Algiers — James Wong Howe; Army Girl — Ernest Miller, Harry Wild; The Buccaneer — Victor Milner; Jezebel — Ernest Haller; Mad about Music — Joseph Valentine; Merrily We Live — Norbert Brodine; Suez — Peverell Marley; Vivacious Lady — Robert de Grasse; You Can't Take It with You — Joseph Walker; The Young in Heart — Leon Shamroy
Winner (Special Award): To Oliver Marsh and Allen Davey for the color cinematography of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production, Sweethearts.

1950s

30th Academy Awards (1957)

Winner: The Bridge on the River Kwai — Jack Hildyard
Nominees: An Affair to Remember — Milton Krasner; Funny Face — Ray June; Peyton Place — William Mellor; Sayonara — Ellsworth Fredricks

1960s

40th Academy Awards (1967)

Winner: Bonnie and Clyde — Burnett Guffey
Nominees: Camelot — Richard H. Kline; Doctor Dolittle — Robert Surtees; The Graduate — Robert Surtees; In Cold Blood — Conrad Hall

41st Academy Awards (1968)

Winner: Romeo and Juliet — Pasqualino De Santis
Nominees: Funny Girl — Harry Stradling; Ice Station Zebra — Daniel L. Fapp; Oliver! — Oswald Morris; Star! — Ernest Laszlo

42nd Academy Awards (1969)

Winner: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — Conrad Hall
Nominees: Anne of the Thousand Days — Arthur Ibbetson; Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice — Charles B. Lang; Hello, Dolly! — Harry Stradling; Marooned — Daniel Fapp

1970s

43rd Academy Awards (1970)

Winner: Ryan's Daughter — Freddie Young
Nominees: Airport — Ernest Laszlo; Patton — Fred Koenekamp; Tora! Tora! Tora! — Charles F. Wheeler, Osami Furuya, Sinsaku Himeda, Masamichi Satoh; Women in Love — Billy Williams

44th Academy Awards (1971)

Winner: Fiddler on the Roof — Oswald Morris
Nominees: The French Connection — Owen Roizman; The Last Picture Show — Robert Surtees; Nicholas and Alexandra — Freddie Young; Summer of '42 — Robert Surtees

45th Academy Awards (1972)

Winner: Cabaret — Geoffrey Unsworth
Nominees: Butterflies Are Free — Charles B. Lang; The Poseidon Adventure — Harold E. Stine; 1776 — Harry Stradling, Jr.; Travels with My Aunt — Douglas Slocombe

46th Academy Awards (1973)

Winner: Cries and Whispers — Sven Nykvist
Nominees: The Exorcist — Owen Roizman; Jonathan Livingston Seagull — Jack Couffer; The Sting — Robert Surtees; The Way We Were — Harry Stradling, Jr.

47th Academy Awards (1974)

Winner: The Towering Inferno — Fred Koenekamp, Joseph Biroc
Nominees: Chinatown — John A. Alonzo; Earthquake — Philip Lathrop; Lenny — Bruce Surtees; Murder on the Orient Express — Geoffrey Unsworth

48th Academy Awards (1975)

Winner: Barry Lyndon — John Alcott
Nominees: The Day of the Locust — Conrad Hall; Funny Lady — James Wong Howe; The Hindenburg — Robert Surtees; One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest — Haskell Wexler, Bill Butler

49th Academy Awards (1976)

Winner: Bound for Glory — Haskell Wexler
Nominees: King Kong — Richard H. Kline; Logan's Run — Ernest Laszlo; Network — Owen Roizman; A Star Is Born — Robert Surtees

50th Academy Awards (1977)

Winner: Close Encounters of the Third Kind — Vilmos Zsigmond
Nominees: Islands in the Stream — Fred J. Koenekamp; Julia — Douglas Slocombe; Looking for Mr. Goodbar — William A. Fraker; The Turning Point — Robert Surtees

51st Academy Awards (1978)

Winner: Days of Heaven — Nestor Almendros
Nominees: The Deer Hunter — Vilmos Zsigmond; Heaven Can Wait — William A. Fraker; Same Time, Next Year — Robert Surtees; The Wiz — Oswald Morris

52nd Academy Awards (1979)

Winner: Apocalypse Now — Vittorio Storaro
Nominees: All That Jazz — Giuseppe Rotunno; The Black Hole — Frank Phillips; Kramer vs. Kramer — Nestor Almendros; 1941 — William A. Fraker

1980s

53rd Academy Awards (1980)

Winner: Tess — Geoffrey Unsworth, Ghislain Cloquet
Nominees: The Blue Lagoon — Nestor Almendros; Coal Miner's Daughter — Ralf D. Bode; The Formula — James Crabe; Raging Bull — Michael Chapman

54th Academy Awards (1981)

Winner: Reds — Vittorio Storaro
Nominees: Excalibur — Alex Thomson; On Golden Pond — Billy Williams; Ragtime — Miroslav Ondricek; Raiders of the Lost Ark — Douglas Slocombe

55th Academy Awards (1982)

Winner: Gandhi — Billy Williams, Ronnie Taylor
Nominees: Das Boot — Jost Vacano; E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial — Allen Daviau; Sophie's Choice — Nestor Almendros; Tootsie — Owen Roizman

56th Academy Awards (1983)

Winner: Fanny & Alexander — Sven Nykvist
Nominees: Flashdance — Don Peterman; The Right Stuff — Caleb Deschanel; WarGames — William A. Fraker; Zelig — Gordon Willis

57th Academy Awards (1984)

Winner: The Killing Fields — Chris Menges
Nominees: Amadeus — Miroslav Ondricek; The Natural — Caleb Deschanel; A Passage to India — Ernest Day; The River — Vilmos Zsigmond

58th Academy Awards (1985)

Winner: Out of Africa — David Watkin
Nominees: The Color Purple — Allen Daviau; Murphy's Romance — William A. Fraker; Ran — Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda, Asakazu Nakai; Witness — John Seale

59th Academy Awards (1986)

Winner: The Mission — Chris Menges
Nominees: Peggy Sue Got Married — Jordan Cronenweth; Platoon — Robert Richardson; A Room with a View — Tony Pierce-Roberts; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home — Don Peterman

60th Academy Awards (1987)

Winner: The Last Emperor — Vittorio Storaro
Nominees: Broadcast News — Michael Ballhaus; Empire of the Sun — Allen Daviau; Hope and Glory — Philippe Rousselot; Matewan — Haskell Wexler

61st Academy Awards (1988)

Winner: Mississippi Burning — Peter Biziou
Nominees: Rain Man — John Seale; Tequila Sunrise — Conrad L. Hall; The Unbearable Lightness of Being — Sven Nykvist; Who Framed Roger Rabbit — Dean Cundey

62nd Academy Awards (1989)

Winner: Glory — Freddie Francis
Nominees: The Abyss — Mikael Salomon; Blaze — Haskell Wexler; Born on the Fourth of July — Robert Richardson; The Fabulous Baker Boys — Michael Ballhaus

1990s

63rd Academy Awards (1990)

Winner: Dances With Wolves — Dean Semler
Nominees: Avalon — Allen Daviau; Dick Tracy — Vittorio Storaro; The Godfather, Part III — Gordon Willis; Henry & June — Philippe Rousselot

64th Academy Awards (1991)

Winner: JFK — Robert Richardson
Nominees: Bugsy — Allen Daviau; he Prince of Tides — Stephen Goldblatt; Terminator 2: Judgment Day — Adam Greenberg; Thelma & Louise — Adrian Biddle

65th Academy Awards (1992)

Winner: A River Runs through It — Philippe Rousselot
Nominees: Hoffa — Stephen H. Burum; Howards End — Tony Pierce-Roberts; The Lover — Robert Fraisse; Unforgiven — Jack N. Green

66th Academy Awards (1993)

Winner: Schindler's List — Janusz Kaminski
Nominees: Farewell My Concubine — Gu Changwei; The Fugitive — Michael Chapman; The Piano — Stuart Dryburgh; Searching for Bobby Fischer — Conrad L. Hall

67th Academy Awards (1994)

Winner: Legends of the Fall — John Toll
Nominees: Forrest Gump — Don Burgess; Red — Piotr Sobocinski; The Shawshank Redemption — Roger Deakins; Wyatt Earp — Owen Roizman

68th Academy Awards (1995)

Winner: Braveheart — John Toll
Nominees: Batman Forever — Stephen Goldblatt; A Little Princess — Emmanuel Lubezki; Sense and Sensibility — Michael Coulter; Shanghai Triad — Lu Yue

69th Academy Awards (1996)

Winner: The English Patient — John Seale
Nominees: Evita — Darius Khondji; Fargo — Roger Deakins; Fly Away Home — Caleb Deschanel; Michael Collins — Chris Menges

70th Academy Awards (1997)

Winner: Titanic — Russell Carpenter
Nominees: Amistad — Janusz Kaminski; Kundun — Roger Deakins; L.A. Confidential — Dante Spinotti; The Wings of the Dove — Eduardo Serra

71st Academy Awards (1998)

Winner: Saving Private Ryan — Janusz Kaminski
Nominees: A Civil Action — Conrad L. Hall; Elizabeth — Remi Adefarasin; Shakespeare in Love — Richard Greatrex; The Thin Red Line — John Toll

72nd Academy Awards (1999)

Winner: American Beauty — Conrad L. Hall
Nominees: The End of the Affair — Roger Pratt; The Insider — Dante Spinotti; Sleepy Hollow — Emmanuel Lubezki; Snow Falling on Cedars — Robert Richardson

2000s

73rd Academy Awards (2000)

Winner: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — Peter Pau
Nominees: Gladiator — John Mathieson; Malèna — Lajos Koltai; O Brother, Where Art Thou? — Roger Deakins; The Patriot — Caleb Deschanel

74th Academy Awards (2001)

Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — Andrew Lesnie
Nominees: Amélie — Bruno Delbonnel; Black Hawk Down — Slawomir Idziak; The Man Who Wasn't There — Roger Deakins; Moulin Rouge — Donald M. McAlpine

75th Academy Awards (2002)

Winner: Road to Perdition — Conrad L. Hall
Nominees: Chicago — Dion Beebe; Far from Heaven — Edward Lachman; Gangs of New York — Michael Ballhaus; The Pianist — Pawel Edelman

76th Academy Awards (2003)

Winner: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World — Russell Boyd
Nominees: City of God — Cesar Charlone; Cold Mountain — John Seale; Girl with a Pearl Earring — Eduardo Serra; Seabiscuit — John Schwartzman

77th Academy Awards (2004)

Winner: The Aviator — Robert Richardson
Nominees: House of Flying Daggers — Zhao Xiaoding; The Passion of the Christ — Caleb Deschanel; The Phantom of the Opera — John Mathieson; A Very Long Engagement — Bruno Delbonnel

78th Academy Awards (2005)

Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha — Dion Beebe
Nominees: Batman Begins — Wally Pfister; Brokeback Mountain — Rodrigo Prieto; Good Night, and Good Luck. — Robert Elswit; The New World — Emmanuel Lubezki

79th Academy Awards (2006)

Winner: Pan's Labyrinth — Guillermo Navarro
Nominees: The Black Dahlia — Vilmos Zsigmond; Children of Men — Emmanuel Lubezki; The Illusionist — Dick Pope; The Prestige — Wally Pfister

80th Academy Awards (2007)

Winner: There Will Be Blood — Robert Elswit
Nominees: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford — Roger Deakins; Atonement — Seamus McGarvey; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly — Janusz Kaminski; No Country for Old Men — Roger Deakins

81st Academy Awards (2008)

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire — Anthony Dod Mantle
Nominees: Changeling — Tom Stern; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — Claudio Miranda; The Dark Knight — Wally Pfister; The Reader — Chris Menges and Roger Deakins

82nd Academy Awards (2009)

Winner: Avatar — Mauro Fiore
Nominees: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — Bruno Delbonnel; The Hurt Locker — Barry Ackroyd; Inglourious Basterds — Robert Richardson; The White Ribbon — Christian Berger

2010s

83rd Academy Awards (2010)

Winner: Inception — Wally Pfister
Nominees: Black Swan — Matthew Libatique; The King's Speech — Danny Cohen; The Social Network — Jeff Cronenweth; True Grit — Roger Deakins

84th Academy Awards (2011)

Winner: Hugo — Robert Richardson
Nominees: The Artist — Guillaume Schiffman; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — Jeff Cronenweth; The Tree of Life — Emmanuel Lubezki; War Horse — Janusz Kaminski

85th Academy Awards (2012)

Winner: Life of Pi — Claudio Miranda
Nominees: Anna Karenina — Seamus McGarvey; Django Unchained — Robert Richardson; Lincoln — Janusz Kaminski; Skyfall — Roger Deakins

86th Academy Awards (2013)

Winner: Gravity — Emmanuel Lubezki
Nominees: The Grandmaster — Philippe Le Sourd; Inside Llewyn Davis — Bruno Delbonnel; Nebraska — Phedon Papamichael; Prisoners — Roger Deakins

87th Academy Awards (2014)

Winner: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) — Emmanuel Lubezki
Nominees: The Grand Budapest Hotel — Robert Yeoman; Ida — Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski; Mr. Turner — Dick Pope; Unbroken — Roger Deakins

88th Academy Awards (2015)

Winner: The Revenant — Emmanuel Lubezki
Nominees: Carol — Ed Lachman; The Hateful Eight — Robert Richardson; Mad Max: Fury Road — John Seale; Sicario — Roger Deakins

89th Academy Awards (2016)

Winner: La La Land — Linus Sandgren
Nominees: Arrival — Bradford Young; Lion — Greig Fraser; Moonlight — James Laxton; Silence — Rodrigo Prieto

90th Academy Awards (2017)

Winner: Blade Runner 2049 — Roger Deakins
Nominees: Darkest Hour — Bruno Delbonnel; Dunkirk — Hoyte van Hoytema; Mudbound — Rachel Morrison; The Shape of Water — Dan Laustsen

91st Academy Awards (2018)

Winner: Roma — Alfonso Cuarón
Nominees: Cold War — Lukasz Zal; The Favourite — Robbie Ryan; Never Look Away — Caleb Deschanel; A Star is Born — Matthew Libatique

92nd Academy Awards (2019)

Winner: 1917 — Roger Deakins
Nominees: The Irishman — Rodrigo Prieto; Joker — Lawrence Sher; The Lighthouse — Jarin Blaschke; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — Robert Richardson

2020s

93rd Academy Awards (2020)

Winner: Mank — Erik Messerschmidt
Nominees: Judas and the Black Messiah — Sean Bobbitt; News of the World — Dariusz Wolski; Nomadland — Joshua James Richards; The Trial of the Chicago 7 — Phedon Papamichael

94th Academy Awards (2021)

Winner: Dune: Part One — Greig Fraser
Nominees: Nightmare Alley — Dan Lausten; The Power of the Dog — Ari Wegner; The Tragedy of Macbeth — Bruno Delbonnel; West Side Story — Janusz Kaminski

95th Academy Awards (2022)

Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front — James Friend
Nominees: Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths — Darius Khondji; Elvis — Mandy Walker; Empire of Light — Roger Deakins; Tár — Florian Hoffmeister

96th Academy Awards (2023)

Winner: TBD
Nominees: El Conde — Edward Lachman; Killers of the Flower Moon — Rodrigo Prieto; Maestro — Matthew Libatique; Oppenheimer — Hoyte van Hoytema; Poor Things — Robbie Ryan

Related Categories[]

Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
Best cinematography (Color)

Notes[]

↑ For this awards year, awards were presented in the name of the individual and could honor work on one or more films. Charles Rosher and Karl Struss were both honored for cinematography on this film. It is considered a single nomination for the film.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 For the third Academy Awards no certificates of nomination were given out in this category, only the titles of the nominated films and their companies were listed. When the winners were revealed, only the names of the individuals involved with the winning achievements were announced. The name(s) of those credited with this achievement are indicated here in parens.
↑ THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. Write-in candidate.

[1st-1] For this awards year, awards were presented in the name of the individual and could honor work on one or more films. Charles Rosher and Karl Struss were both honored for cinematography on this film. It is considered a single nomination for the film.

[2nd-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges.

[3rd-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 For the third Academy Awards no certificates of nomination were given out in this category, only the titles of the nominated films and their companies were listed. When the winners were revealed, only the names of the individuals involved with the winning achievements were announced. The name(s) of those credited with this achievement are indicated here in parens.

[4] THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. Write-in candidate.

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Best Cinematography

Contents

History[]

Nominees and winners[]

Related Categories[]

Notes[]

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