Who became the first woman to win Best Cinematography at the Oscars in 2026?

Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography in 2026. She won for photographing Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners at the 98th Academy Awards.

The cinematography Oscar honors the visual design and photographic work that shape a film’s images, including lighting, camera movement, lenses, framing, and exposure. Although women had worked prominently as cinematographers for decades, the category had never awarded one before 2026.

Rachel Morrison became the first woman nominated for Best Cinematography in 2018 for Mudbound. Other widely recognized women cinematographers, including Mandy Walker and Ari Wegner, had also received nominations before Durald Arkapaw made history as the first female winner.

Her victory carried additional significance: she was also identified as the first woman of color, first Black person, and first Filipino person to win the cinematography Oscar. Sinners’ period setting and richly controlled images made the award a major milestone for both her career and representation in the craft.