Most awards seasons throw up one or two curiosities that I never saw coming, sometimes even mid-season. This season, it's undoubtedly the strength of Mandy Walker's performance in the Cinematography categories for her work on Elvis. One of my favourite working DPs, I'd nevertheless not expected to see her name show up with much frequency, and yet she's appeared across all the major award nominations lists, and now she has a history-making trophy on top of that. Walker becomes the first woman to win the American Society of Cinematographers' award for Best Cinematography - Feature. She beats Claudio Miranda for Top Gun: Maverick, who might have been the frontrunner here had he not been omitted from the Oscar lineup, and the ASC has never before rewarded a non-Oscar nominee. I'm delighted at Walker's win, and happy too to see Ben Bernhard and Riju Das win for All That Breathes in the Documentary category. Check out the ASC's 2022 award nominations at this link, and see all the winners' details below.
Best Cinematography - Feature
Elvis (Mandy Walker)
Best Cinematography - Documentary
All That Breathes (Ben Bernhard and Riju Das)
Spotlight Award
War Sailor (Sturla Brandth Grovlen)