With the Academy’s nominations announcement drawing closer by the day, it’s time to lay it all on the line with my final Oscar nomination predictions. In the race for Best Cinematography, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things, and Maestro have all scored nods from the three major precursor bodies in BAFTA, Critics Choice, and the American Society of Cinematographers. They should all be considered fairly solid locks for Oscar nods.
That leaves that final spot up for grabs. ASC went with the left-of-centre choice of El Conde. We know it’s extremely rare for the ASC five to all go on to Oscar nominations so that probably knocks Edward Lachman out. I think it’s far more likely the Academy will match the BAFTA five and The Zone of Interest makes it in. With two nominations under Łukasz Żal’s belt in the last ten years combined with the fact his work is in a film that’s a major contender overall makes him a much stronger player here.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY PREDICTIONS:
1. Oppenheimer – Hoyte van Hoytema (Universal Pictures) – ASC, BAFTA, CCA
2. Killers of the Flower Moon – Rodrigo Prieto (Paramount Pictures / Apple Original Films) – ASC, BAFTA, CCA
3. Poor Things – Robbie Ryan (Searchlight Pictures) – ASC, BAFTA, CCA
4. Maestro – Matthew Libatique (Netflix) – ASC, BAFTA, CCA
5. The Zone of Interest – Łukasz Żal (A24) – BAFTA
Alternate: Saltburn – Linus Sandgren (Amazon MGM Studios)
