Oscar-winning cinematographer previously awarded in the ASC feature category for ‘Gravity’ and ‘Birdman.’
LOS ANGELES -- Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki’s work on The Revenant gave him his third consecutive win in the feature competition of the American Society of Cinematographers Awards for Outstanding Achievement, handed out Sunday evening at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
Lubezki won the cinematography Oscar and ASC feature category the previous two years for Gravity and Birdman. He also won the ASC feature competition for Children of Men and Tree of Life. With the win for The Revenant, he became the first cinematographer to win the feature competition five times; he previously shared the record of four wins with the late Conrad L. Hall. Lubezki is also the first to win the feature category for three consecutive years. Also on Sunday, Lubezki won the BAFTA for cinematography.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be here with all of you and to be nominated amongst this incredible group,” Lubezki said from the stage. “People talk about how brutal the movie is, the conditions. From my perspective, it was an amazing experience…. I think the most important thing was to have Alejandro -- his passion, his incredibly energy. I think that’s what I’m going to remember most about the film. I share a big chunk of this award with him for taking me on this incredible journey and for being a great teacher and friend.”
For this year’s 30th annual ASC Awards, Lubezki was nominated alongside Roger Deakins for Sicario, Ed Lachman for Carol, Janusz Kaminski for Bridge of Spies, and John Seale for Mad Max: Fury Road. At the Academy Awards, Lubezki is nominated with Deakins, Lachman and Seale as well as three-time Oscar winner Robert Richardson for The Hateful Eight.
There was a tie for the ASC Spotlight Award, which recognizes outstanding cinematography in feature films and documentaries that are screened at festivals, internationally or in limited theatrical release. The winners were Adam Arkapaw for director Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth and Matyas Erdely for director Laszlo Nemes’ foreign-language Oscar contender, Son of Saul.
During the evening, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to John Toll, who won consecutive Oscars as director of photography on Edward Zwick’s Legends of the Fall in 1995 and Mel Gibson’s Braveheart in 1996. His wife, Oscar-winning makeup artist Lois Burwell, presented the award to her “Valentine,” whom she met on Braveheart. “I can’t imagine doing anything else,” Toll said, saluting his wife and his collaborators.
See below for the complete list of nominees and winners:
Theatrical Release
- Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC, The Revenant (WINNER)
- Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC, Sicario
- Janusz Kaminski, Bridge of Spies
- Ed Lachman, ASC, Carol
- John Seale, ASC, ACS, Mad Max: Fury Road
Spotlight
- Adam Arkapaw, Macbeth (WINNER-TIE)
- Mátyás Erdély, HSC, Son of Saul (WINNER-TIE)
- Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation
TV Series
- Vanja Cernjul, ASC, HFS, Marco Polo, “The Fourth Step” (WINNER)
- David Greene, CSC, 12 Monkeys, “Mentally Divergent”
- Christopher Norr, Gotham, “Strike Force”
- Crescenzo Notarile, ASC, AIC, Gotham, “Scarification”
- Fabian Wagner, BSC, Game of Thrones, “Hardhome”
Television Movie, Miniseries or Pilot
- Pierre Gill, CSC, Casanova pilot (WINNER)
- Martin Ahlgren, Blindspot pilot
- James Hawkinson, The Man in the High Castle pilot
- Jeffrey Jur, ASC, Bessie
- Romain Lacourbas, Marco Polo pilot
Lifetime Achievement Award
- John Toll
Board of Governors Award
- Ridley Scott
Career Achievement in Television Award
- Lowell Peterson
Presidents Award
- Bill Bennett
ASC Gordon Willis Heritage Award Winners
- Undergraduate: Nicolas Aguilar Ketchum, Run
- Documentary: Rob W. Scribner, Warbird Pilot: Behind the Visor
- Graduate: Steven Holloway, The Defeat (x3)
Source: American Society of Cinematographers
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
