2021 Oscar Predictions: CINEMATOGRAPHY (October)

A lot of new blood this month with A24’s Minari, Sony Classics’ Nine Days and Netflix’s The Prom joining the fray. Minari has some very classic widescreen lensing this branch loves and if the film hits elsewhere it could find a spot here. The dozens of perspectives created in Nine Days deserves a spot but is rarely given one. The Prom is a candy-colored explosion that could impress as easily as overwhelm.

The top 5 sees quite a lot of movement with Searchlight’s Nomadland up to #2, the resurgence of Warner Bros’ Tenet (what other blockbusters can they choose?) and Netlfix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. The latter two are previous nominees and once you’re in with a branch, you’re in.

Still, it’s going to be tough to unseat Netflix Mank, I think, and Erik Messerschmidt should be able to turn a first nomination into a first win from his very first feature film.

Here are my ranked 2021 Oscar predictions in Cinematography for October.

Green – moves up; Red – moves down; Blue – new entry this month

1. Mank (Netflix)
Erik Messerschmidt

2. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Joshua James Richards

3. Tenet (Warner Bros)
Hoyte van Hoytema

4. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Dariusz Wolski

5. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Phedon Papamichael

Other Contenders (alphabetical)

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Newton Thomas Sigel

The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ben Smithard

Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Maryse Alberti

Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Sean Bobbitt

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Tobias A. Schliessler

Minari (A24)
Lachlan Milne

Mulan (Walt Disney Pictures)
Mandy Walker

Nine Days (Sony Pictures Classics)
Wyatt Garfield

One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Tami Reiker

The Prom (Netflix)
Matthew Libatique

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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