Mandy Walker Becomes First Woman to Win American Society of Cinematographers Feature Competition

Elvis cinematographer Mandy Walker cracked a glass ceiling on Sunday, becoming the first woman to win the American Society of Cinematographers Award in the feature competition during the 37th ASC Awards.

The crowd at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom erupted with applause and gave Walker a lengthy standing ovation as her name was called.

“This is for all the women that win this award after me,” she said to enthusiastic applause, and she looked forward to more women breaking more glass ceilings. “This is an inclusive, representative community,” she said, adding, “I didn’t cry, I thought I was going to cry.”

She thanked Elvis director Baz Luhrmann for allowing her to “create magic with him;” Catherine Martin for her “support and inspiration;” and her crew for “dancing with the camera and flying with the camera” during Austin Butler’s performance as Elvis.

Walker’s bold lensing of Elvis topped a field that included ASC International Award recipient Darius Khondji for Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths; Roger Deakins for Empire of Light; Greig Fraser for The Batman; and Claudio Miranda for Top Gun: Maverick.

Walker was the third woman ever nominated in the ASC feature competition and is also the third woman ever nominated for an Oscar. Rachel Morrison was nominated for both awards in 2018 for Mudbound, followed by Ari Wegner, who was nominated for both in 2022 for The Power of the Dog.

With the ASC prize, Walker is a step closer to becoming the first woman to win an Academy Award in cinematography. She’s Oscar-nominated alongside Deakins, Khondji, All Quiet On the Western Front DP James Friend and Tar DP Florian Hoffmeister. In seven of the last 10 years, the winner of the ASC feature competition went on to win the cinematography Oscar.

Iranian-French cinematographer Khondji — whose credits also include The Immigrant, Evita and Se7en — accepted the ASC International Award during the ceremony.

Special honors were also bestowed on Stephen Goldblatt, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; Viola Davis, the Board of Governors Award; Charlie Lieberman, the President’s Award; Fred Murphy, the Career Achievement in Television honor; and Sam Nicholson, the Curtis Clark Technical Achievement Award. The Bud Stone Award was given to FotoKem’s Mike Broderson and Mark Van Horne.

A list of winners follows.

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.) (WINNER)

SPOTLIGHT AWARD

Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, DFF for War Sailor (DCM Film) (WINNER)
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) (WINNER)
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) (WINNER)

EPISODE OF A HALF-HOUR SERIES

Adam Bricker for Hacks – “The Click” (HBO/HBO MAX)
Carl Herse for Barry – “Starting Now” (HB0/HBO MAX) (WINNER)
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) (WINNER)
Jaime Reynoso, AMC for Snowpiercer – “Bound by One Track” (TNT)

DOCUMENTARY AWARD

Ben Bernhard and Riju Das for All That Breathes (HBO/HBO Max) (WINNER)
Adam Bricker for Chef’s Table: Pizza – “Franco Pepe” (Netflix)
Wolfgang Held, ASC for This Stolen Country of Mine