MANILA, Philippines —Filipino-American cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history after winning Best Cinematography for the film "Sinners" at the Academy Awards held Sunday night (Monday in Manila) at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Arkapaw became the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography, the first woman of color and first Filipina to win the award.
During her acceptance speech, the cinematographer called on women in the audience to stand in recognition of their support throughout her career and the film’s awards campaign.
“I'm so honored to be here, and I really want all the women in the room to stand up. Because I feel like I wouldn't be here without you guys. I really, really, truly mean that. I felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign, and we've 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,” she said.
“Sinners,” directed by Ryan Coogler, led all films this year with a record 16 Academy Award nominations. Arkapaw’s victory places her in a category that has historically excluded women, with only a handful ever nominated before her win.
Born in Oxnard, California and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area,Arkapawis of Filipino descent on her mother’s side and African American Creole on her father’s. She follows Rachel Morrison as only the second woman nominated in the category and joins Matthew Libatique as another cinematographer of Filipino heritage recognized by the Academy.
Her work on “Sinners” was already considered groundbreaking even before awards season. Arkapaw became the first female cinematographer to shoot a feature film using large-format IMAX65mm and Ultra Panavision 70 — formats typically reserved for big-budget epics and rarely led by women behind the camera.
The 98th Academy Awards is currently livestreaming in the Philippines viaDisney+.