Autumn Durald Arkapaw Becomes the First Woman to Win An Oscar for Cinematography

From studying art history to pursuing filmmaking, Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s passion for cinematography has paved the way for her historic moment at the 98th Academy Awards.

As someone who once spent nights and weekends researching film schools, Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s passion for cinematography has now brought her to the Oscars. At the 98th Academy Awards, she made history as the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Cinematography.

In January 2026, Sinners made Oscars history with a record-breaking 16 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography for Filipino-American cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw. Beyond the film’s record-breaking nominations, Durald Arkapaw also made history as the first woman to shoot a feature using large-format IMAX 65mm and Ultra Panavision 70. She is also the first woman of color and only the fourth woman ever to be nominated for Best Cinematography in the Academy Awards’ century-long history.

“It sounds crazy now because there weren’t as many female cinematographers [at that time]. My parents didn’t even know what a cinematographer was,” she said in a previous interview with Vogue Philippines.

Durald Arkapaw’s rise as one of the industry’s most talked-about cinematographers did not happen overnight. She initially studied art history at Loyola Marymount University before eventually pursuing cinematography more seriously, later earning a place in AFI Conservatory’s cinematography program in 2007.

Early in her career, however, she wasn’t always certain there would be a path forward. While researching the films she admired, she noticed that many of them were shot by men, and struggled to find female names in the credits. That changed when she learned that the film Blow had been shot by cinematographer Ellen Kuras, who would later become a friend, offering her an early glimpse that such a career was possible.

“At that moment, there was this young girl searching for someone she could relate to. It took me a second, but I found her,” she added in the interview.

She reflected on her journey into cinematography and the emotional experience of shooting Sinners. “When you do these awards, you have to do a lot of talks and do these photo shoots, and even if that part of it feels uncomfortable to me, I’m okay with it, because I’m so proud of the film, and I want to show other girls that they can also be doing the same job.”

Dunald Arkapaw’s passion for filmmaking made her carve a path towards the success of her works prior to Sinners, The Last Showgirl (2024), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and Loki (2021), among others.