The cinematography for “Mank,” “Nomadland,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “News of the World” and “Cherry” has been nominated as the best film work of 2020 by the American Society of Cinematographers, the ASC announced on Wednesday.
The first four of those films were expected to be recognized by the ASC and are thought to be strong contenders for the Oscar for Best Cinematography, but “Cherry” came as a surprise. The Russo brothers film came out in February to withering reviews and had not been considered an awards contender until the ASC included its cinematographer, Newton Thomas Sigel, in its list of nominees.
“Cherry” landed that nomination over a group of films that included “Tenet,” “Minari,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Judas and the Black Messiah” — and “Da 5 Bloods,” a more high-profile film that was also shot by Sigel.
In the Spotlight category, which singles out cinematographers from films that largely had film-festival or overseas distribution, the nominees were the Sundance entry “Swallow,” the French film “Two of Us” and the Russian “Dear Comrades!”
Documentary nominations went to “The Truffle Hunters,” “Gunda” and “Notturno,” three docs whose directors also served as cinematographers. (On “Gunda,” director Viktor Kosakovskiy collaborated with Egil Haskjold Larsen.)
In the television categories, “The Mandalorian” led all programs with three separate nominations in the half-hour episode category, while “My Project Blue Book” took two of the five noms in the one-hour commercial series category. Other television nominations included “The Plot Against America,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” “Watchmen,” “Better Call Saul,” “The Crown,” “Perry Mason” and “Lucifer.”
Typically, an ASC film nomination is a very reliable predictor of Oscar success. The ASC has nominated at least four of the eventual Oscar nominees for cinematography every year since 2006, and the two slates have matched all five nominees five times in that stretch. Over the past decade, 85% of ASC film nominees went on to receive Oscar nominations.
In the 34-year history of the ASC Awards, only two films have won the cinematography Oscar without first being nominated by the ASC: 1989’s “Glory” and 2006’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
ASC winners will be announced during the 35th ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards on April 18, a virtual ceremony that will take place from the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood.
The nominees:
Feature Film
• Erik Messerschmidt, ASC for “Mank”
• Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC for “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
• Joshua James Richards for “Nomadland”
• Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC for “Cherry”
• Dariusz Wolski, ASC for “News of the World”
-category sponsored by Keslow Camera
Spotlight
• Katelin Arizmendi for “Swallow”
• Aurélien Marra for “Two of Us”
• Andrey Naydenov for “Dear Comrades!”
-category sponsored by Panavision
Documentary
• Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw for “The Truffle Hunters”
• Viktor Kosakovskiy and Egil Haskjold Larsen for “Gunda”
• Gianfranco Rosi for “Notturno”
-category sponsored by Canon USA
Motion Picture, Limited Series, or Pilot Made for Television
• Martin Ahlgren, ASC for “The Plot Against America,” “Part 6”
• Anette Haellmigk for “The Great,” “The Great”
• Pete Konczal for “Fargo,” “The Birthplace of Civilization”
• Steven Meizler for “The Queen’s Gambit,” “End Game”
• Gregory Middleton, ASC, CSC for “Watchmen,” “This Extraordinary Being”
-category sponsored by RED Digital Cinema
Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Commercial
• Marshall Adams, ASC for “Better Call Saul,” “Bagman”
• Carlos Catalán for “Killing Eve,” “Meetings Have Biscuits”
• François Dagenais, CSC for “Project Blue Book,” “Area 51”
• Jon Joffin, ASC for “Motherland: Fort Salem,” “Up is Down”
• C. Kim Miles, ASC, CSC, MySC for “Project Blue Book,” “Operation Mainbrace”
-category sponsored by FotoKem
Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Non-Commercial
• David Franco for “Perry Mason,” “Chapter 2”
• Ken Glassing for “Lucifer,” “It Never Ends Well for the Chicken”
• Adriano Goldman, ASC, ABC, BSC for “The Crown,” “Fairytale”
• David Greene, ASC, CSC for “Impulse,” “The Moroi”
• M. David Mullen, ASC for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “It’s Comedy or Cabbage”
• Fabian Wagner, ASC, BSC for “The Crown,” “Imbroglio”
-category sponsored by Panavision
Episode of a Half-Hour Television Series
• Ava Berkofsky for “Insecure,” “Lowkey Lost”
• Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for “The Mandalorian,” “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian”
• Baz Idoine for “The Mandalorian,” “Chapter 13: The Jedi”
• Matthew Jensen, ASC for “The Mandalorian,” “Chapter 15: The Believer”
• Jas Shelton for “Homecoming,” “Giant”
-category sponsored by ARRI Inc.