2021 Oscar Predictions: CINEMATOGRAPHY (September)

This year’s batch of cinematography Oscar hopefuls is a surprising mix of names we know, like Greig Fraser (a previous nominee for Lion) who has the Denis Villeneuve sandy space saga Dune and 6-time nominee and two-time Academy Award winner Janusz Kaminski with Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, with what looks to be a lot of newcomers to the Oscar conversation. Erik Messerschmidt, an Emmy nominee this year for David Fincher’s Mindhunter, lenses Fincher’s long-awaited Mank and Joshua James Richards’ gorgeous landscapes in Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland are ready to make some waves this season.

Here are my ranked 2021 Oscar predictions in Cinematography for September. [UPDATED to reflect the just announced move of West Side Story to December 2021]

1. Mank (Netflix)
Erik Messerschmidt

2. Dune (Warner Bros) [moved to October 2021]
Greig Fraser

3. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Joshua James Richards

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

5. Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Sean Bobbitt

Other Contenders (alphabetical)

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Newton Thomas Sigel

The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ben Smithard

Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Maryse Alberti

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

Mulan (Walt Disney Pictures)
Mandy Walker

No Time to Die (MGM/UA)
Linus Sandgren

One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Tami Reiker

Tenet (Warner Bros)
Hoyte van Hoytema

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Phedon Papamichael