The awards season that just keeps on and on and on also just keeps on giving surprises. After yesterday's historic BAFTA announcements, today brings the American Society of Cinematographers' 2020/21 awards nominations. Up for the top award are a few expected Oscar contenders, plus minor shocker The Trial of the Chicago 7, and out-and-out WTF pick Cherry. It is from the highly experienced DP Newton Thomas Sigel, but then so too was Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, which continues its extremely disappointing run with the big awards by missing here. It's an odd bunch, not necessarily the best but certainly not the most boring, and it's made a lot better by the Spotlight and Documentary categories, both of which are crammed with brilliant choices. Winners will be announced on the 18th of April.
Best Cinematography - Feature Film
Erik Messerschmidt (Mank)
Phedon Papamichael (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Joshua James Richards (Nomadland)
Newton Thomas Sigel (Cherry)
Dariusz Wolski (News of the World)
Spotlight Award
Katelin Arizmendi (Swallow)
Aurelien Marra (Two of Us)
Andrey Naydenov (Dear Comrades!)
Best Cinematography - Documentary
Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw (The Truffle Hunters)
Egil Haskjold Larsen and Viktor Kosakovskiy (Gunda)
Gianfranco Rosi (Notturno)