The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has unveiled Outstanding Achievement Award nominees across the feature film, documentary and television categories. Winners will be announced during the 37th Annual ASC Awards ceremony on March 5, 2023, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The event will be live streamed worldwide.
Nominated in the marquee feature film category are: Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC for Empire of Light; Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for The Batman; Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC for Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths; Claudio Miranda, ASC for Top Gun: Maverick; and Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS for Elvis. (Last year’s ASC feature film winner was Fraser for Dune. He went on to win the Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography.)
Nominees for the ASC Spotlight Award–which recognizes stellar cinematography in independent, foreign or art-house-type/festival films–are: Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, DFF, for War Sailor; Kate McCullough, ISC for The Quiet Girl; and Andrew Wheeler for God’s Country.
Documentary nominees are: Ben Bernhard and Riju Das for All That Breathes; Adam Bricker for Chief’s Table: Pizza–”Franco Pepe”; and Wolfgang Held, ASC for This Stolen Country of Mine.
Nominees on the TV side include the cinematographers behind such series as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Westworld, House of the Dragon, 1899, Hacks, Barry, Atlanta, Russian Doll, Better Call Saul, Interview With the Vampire, Snowfall, The Old Man and Snowpiercer.
Below is a complete list of this year’s nominees by category:
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM NOMINEES
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC for Empire of Light (Searchlight Pictures)
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for The Batman (Warner Bros.)
Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC for Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Netflix)
Claudio Miranda, ASC for Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS for Elvis (Warner Bros.)
SPOTLIGHT AWARD
- Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, DFF for War Sailor (DCM Film)
- Kate McCullough, ISC for The Quiet Girl (Super)
- Andrew Wheeler for God’s Country (IFC Films)
EPISODE OF A ONE-HOUR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION SERIES
- John Conroy, ASC, ISC for Westworld – “Années Folles” (HBO/HBO MAX)
- Catherine Goldschmidt for House of the Dragon – “The Lord of the Tides” (HBO/HBO MAX)
- Alejandro Martinez for House of the Dragon – “The Green Council” (HBO/HBO MAX)
- M. David Mullen, ASC for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” (Prime Video)
- Alex Nepomniaschy, ASC for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – “Everything is Bellmore” (Prime Video)
- Nikolaus Summerer for 1899 – “The Calling” (Netflix)
PILOT, LIMITED SERIES, OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
- Todd Banhazl, ASC for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty – “The Swan” (HBO/HBO Max)
- Jeremy Benning, CSC for Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities – “The Outside” (Netflix)
- Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC for Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities – “The Autopsy” (Netflix)
- C. Kim Miles, ASC, CSC, MySC for Lost Ollie – “Bali Hai” (Netflix)
- Sean Porter for The Old Man – “I” (FX)
EPISODE OF A HALF-HOUR SERIES
- Adam Bricker for Hacks – “The Click” (HBO/HBO MAX)
- Carl Herse for Barry – “Starting Now” (HBO/HBO MAX)
- Stephen Murphy BSC, ISC for Atlanta – “New Jazz” (FX)
- Ula Pontikos, BSC for Russian Doll – “Matryoshka” (Netflix)
- Christian Sprenger, ASC for Atlanta – “Andrew Wyeth. Alfred’s World.” (FX)
EPISODE OF A ONE-HOUR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION SERIES
- Marshall Adams, ASC for Better Call Saul – “Saul Gone” (AMC)
- Jesse M. Feldman for Interview With the Vampire – “Is My Very Nature That of the Devil” (AMC)
- Christian “Tico” Herrera, CCR for Snowfall – “Departures” (FX)
- Jules O’Loughlin, ASC, ACS for The Old Man – “IV” (FX)
- Jaime Reynoso, AMC for Snowpiercer – “Bound by One Track” (TNT)
DOCUMENTARY AWARD
- Ben Bernhard and Riju Das for All That Breathes (HBO/HBO Max)
- Adam Bricker for Chef’s Table: Pizza – “Franco Pepe” (Netflix)
- Wolfgang Held, ASC for This Stolen Country of Mine
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Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More