‘Sinners’ Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw Makes History as First Woman to Win

Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first Black woman, and first woman of any race, to win the Oscar for best cinematography.

Arkapaw, who is of Filipino and African American Creole descent, won best cinematography at the 2026 Oscars. She triumphed over fellow nominees Dan Laustsen (Frankenstein), Darius Khondji (Marty Supreme), Michael Bauman (One Battle After Another) and Adolpho Veloso (Train Dreams).

During her speech, Arkapaw thanked Rachel Morrison, one of a number of female cinematographers who’d been nominated for Oscars but failed to win. Morrison was nominated in 2018 for Mudbound. The other two women nominated were Ari Wegner for The Power of the Dog in 2021 and Mandy Walker in 2022 for Elvis.

She began by thanking Sinners director Coogler, recalling, “Whenever I say thank you to Ryan, he replies and says, ‘no, thank you, thank you for believing in me and thank you for trusting me,’ and that’s…