Cinematographer of “Sinners” Autumn Durald Arkapaw Makes History – And Other Highlights from Oscars 2026

Oscars 2026Awards

by Mascha DeikovaMarch 16^th, 2026

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The Academy Awards ceremony returned to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the 98th time yesterday. As always, there were heartfelt speeches, a few surprises, and some expected and unexpected wins. This year, however, one moment felt especially important for us: Autumn Durald Arkapaw winning Best Cinematography for “Sinners.” Not just because her work on the film is stunning, but because with this Oscar, she became the first woman – and the first woman of color – ever to win in this category. Let’s take a look at this and other highlights from the Oscars 2026!

Overall, it felt like strong competition this year, and the results didn’t come as a shock. Of course, as subjective as filmmaking is, all of us had our favorite movies, and not everyone is satisfied with the Academy choices. Yet when you see the list of winners, there is no doubt they deserved it.

Highlights from Oscars 2026: a historic cinematography prize

The vampire drama “Sinners” by Ryan Coogler entered the ceremony as the frontrunner with a record-breaking 16 nominations and went home with “only” four wins. (Not the most cheerful conversion rate for the crew.) However, one of those was among the night’s biggest highlights, especially for cinematography lovers: Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s historic win.

Her visceral visuals in “Sinners” (we wrote about them here) already had strong momentum throughout the awards season, and the win has now made Academy history. She was only the fourth woman ever nominated in the category, and the first to actually win it, as well as the first woman of color. During her acceptance speech, she asked all the women in the room to stand up, creating a highly emotional moment. And rightly so. It took the Oscars almost a century (98 years, to be precise) to get here.  Considering the strong competition this year, the win is widely celebrated within the cinematography community.

I feel like I don’t get here without you guys. I really, really truly mean that. I have felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign and gotten to meet so many people.

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, a quote from her acceptance speech

Grand evening for Paul Thomas Anderson

At the same time, it was also an absolutely grand night for the writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson. His political thriller “One Battle After Another” ended up as the Academy’s big darling, taking home six awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The latter two are personal and first-ever Oscars for the already legendary filmmaker. Before this ceremony, he had collected 14 (!) Oscar nominations and had never won. To go from zero to two personal wins in one evening was quite a change of fortune, and, as Paul Thomas Anderson joked in his speech, “You make a guy work hard for one of these; I really appreciate it.”

“One Battle After Another” won six awards in total, including Supporting Actor for Sean Penn and the newly introduced Casting award. A nice detail in the film’s success was that Cassandra Kulukundis took home the very first Oscar ever given in this brand-new category. So not only did Anderson finally get his due, but his film also became part of Academy history in more than one way.

Surprises and no surprises

The gap between the nomination count of “Sinners” and the final haul is probably one of the most talked-about post-ceremony details. Michael B. Jordan’s Best Actor victory softened the blow, of course, and Ryan Coogler’s Original Screenplay win gave the film a further major nod.

Another frontrunner that hadn’t had much success yesterday evening was the period drama “Hamnet” by Chloé Zhao. Out of eight nominations, it came away with only one win: a Best Actress trophy for Jessie Buckley. Yet if you have watched the film, you would agree how well-deserved this award is for her. Apart from that, she is the first Irish performer to win Best Actress, adding another historical note to Oscars 2026.

As for the “no surprises,” the animated cultural phenomenon, “KPop Demon Hunters,” predictably won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. (We wrote about the movie here, and after its successful awards-season run, the result felt somehow predictable.)

Also unsurprisingly, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” secured three technical Oscars, including Production Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Costume Design.

All winners of the Oscars 2026

You can find the complete list of winners in all categories on the Academy’s official website.

What do you think about this year’s Oscar race? Was Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s cinematography win your highlight, too? Are you glad that Paul Thomas Anderson finally got his Oscars, or were you rooting for “Sinners” to take the top prize? And which result surprised you the most? Let’s discuss the Academy Awards in the comments below.

Feature image source: a still from Autumn’s acceptance speech; courtesy of A.M.P.A.S. 2026.