Academy Award for Best Cinematography facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The 2024 recipient: Lol Crawley
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Country	United States
First awarded	May 16, 1929; 96 years ago (1929-05-16) (for films released during the 1927/1928 film season)
Currently held by	Lol Crawley The Brutalist (2024)

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is a special Oscar given each year to a cinematographer. A cinematographer, also known as a Director of Photography (DP), is the person in charge of how a movie looks. They work with the director to choose the cameras, lenses, and lighting to create the film's visual style.

This award honors the most beautiful and skillful camera work in a single movie for that year.

History of the Award

Charles Rosher, who won the very first award for cinematography in 1928.

When the Academy Awards first started, the rules for this award were a bit different. In the first year, 1927–28, cinematographers were nominated for all their work during the year, not just for one film. This caused some confusion, so the rules were changed.

By 1931, the system we know today was in place. Cinematographers were nominated for their work on a single film.

Color vs. Black-and-White

For a long time, from 1939 to 1966, there were two separate awards for cinematography: one for black-and-white films and one for color films. This was because filming in color was a special skill and looked very different.

After 1966, most movies were made in color, so the two awards were combined into one. Since then, only a few black-and-white films have won this Oscar, including:

• Schindler's List (1993)
• Roma (2018)
• Mank (2020)

Milestones and Fun Facts

• The last silent film to win for cinematography was Tabu in 1931.
• In 1935, Hal Mohr won the award for A Midsummer Night's Dream as a write-in candidate. This means he wasn't officially nominated, but so many people wrote his name on the ballot that he won. He is the only person to ever win an Oscar this way.
• Director David Lean holds a record for directing the most films that won this award. Five of his movies, including Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, won for their cinematography.

Modern Cinematography

The way movies are filmed has changed a lot with technology. In 2009, Slumdog Millionaire was the first movie shot mainly on digital video to win this award. The next year, Avatar became the first winner to be filmed entirely with digital cameras.

The award has also seen important firsts for diversity:

• In 2017, Bradford Young became the first African-American cinematographer to be nominated, for the film Arrival.
• In 2018, Rachel Morrison was the first woman ever nominated for this award, for her work on Mudbound.

In 2019, Alfonso Cuarón won for the film Roma. What made this special was that he was also the film's director. He famously said, "In the history of cinema, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No single film has ever existed without cinematography."

Amazing Achievements

This table shows some of the biggest record-holders for the Best Cinematography award.

Recent Winners and Nominees

Here are the winners and other nominees for the Best Cinematography award from the last few years. The winner is listed first in the colored row.

2010s

2020s

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar a la mejor fotografía para niños

• BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Cinematography
• American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases