AceShowbiz - One Battle After Another's cinematographer Michael Bauman has secured the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) top honor for feature film cinematography. This victory positions Bauman as a leading contender for the Academy Award, which will be decided in exactly one week.

The race for best cinematography this year has been notably close. Bauman previously won the BAFTA award, while Adolpho Veloso earned the Spirit Award for his work on Train Dreams, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw dominated critics’ awards circuits for Sinners. Notably, if Durald Arkapaw wins the Oscar, she would become the first woman ever to receive the cinematography Oscar. Other Oscar nominees rounding out the field include Dan Laustsen for Frankenstein and Darius Khondji for Marty Supreme, both of whom also received ASC nominations.

This year marks the second time in three years that the ASC Awards and the Academy have aligned on the same roster of cinematography nominees. Unlike last year, when the ASC expanded its nominations from five to seven but excluded then Oscar favorite Emilia Pérez, this year’s nominations were more in sync. However, the ASC and the Academy have matched winners for best cinematography only six times in the past decade. Just last year, the guild honored Edward Lachman for Maria, while the Oscars awarded Lol Crawley for The Brutalist.

Though One Battle After Another is currently the frontrunner, the competition remains strong. Films like Sinners and Train Dreams are still very much in the race. Importantly, the ASC has already broken its long-standing streak of male-only winners in the feature-film category. Mandy Walker became the first woman to win the ASC feature-film cinematography award three years ago for Elvis, although she ultimately lost the Oscar to All Quiet on the Western Front's James Friend. For Durald Arkapaw and Sinners, the opportunity to break through as the first female Oscar winner in cinematography remains a real possibility in the coming week.

In the documentary category, only one Oscar-nominated film, Come See Me in the Good Light, was in contention. However, the ASC award went to 2000 Meters from Andriivka, a documentary notable for its visceral wartime imagery captured through body-cam footage.

The television categories this year showed a different trend compared to the rest of the guild season. For half-hour series, Adam Newport-Berra took the award for his work on The Studio episode “The Oner.” In the one-hour series category, there was a tie between Christophe Nuyens for Andor and Alex Disenhof for Task, both surpassing Emmy winner Severance, whose nominated episode was “The Pitt.” Notably, The Pitt itself was not nominated.

In a significant upset within the limited series category, the ambitious one-take project Adolescence lost to Netflix’s noir series Black Rabbit, with Pete Konczal honored for his cinematography work.

The ASC Awards ceremony took place at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and was hosted by Kerri Kenney-Silver, known for her role in The Four Seasons. Presenters included notable figures such as Jason Reitman, Owen Wilson, and Rachel Brosnahan. Special honors were also given to industry veterans including Guillermo del Toro and Robert Yeoman.

The full list of winners in the major categories included:

Theatrical Feature Film:

• Winner: Michael Bauman for One Battle After Another
• Nominees: Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Sinners, Darius Khondji for Marty Supreme, Dan Laustsen for Frankenstein, Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams

Episode of a Half-Hour Series:

• Winner: Adam Newport-Berra for The Studio (“The Oner”)
• Nominees: Adam Bricker for Hacks (“I Love LA”), Fraser Brown for Twisted Metal (“NUY3ARZ”), Paul Daley for The Righteous Gemstones (“Prelude”), Daniel Grant for Murderbot (“Escape Velocity Protocol”), Matthew J. Lloyd for Government Cheese (“Trial and Error”)

Limited/Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV:

• Winner: Pete Konczal for Black Rabbit (“Isle of Joy”)
• Nominees: Michael Bauman for Monster: The Ed Gein Story (“Buxum Bird”), Sam Chiplin for The Narrow Road to the Deep North (“Episode One”), Matthew Lewis for Adolescence (“Episode Two”), Igor Martinovi? for Black Rabbit (“Attaf**kinboy”)

Episode of a One-Hour Regular Series:

• Winners (tie): Alex Disenhof for Task (“Crossings”) and Christophe Nuyens for Andor (“I Have Friends Everywhere”)
• Nominees: Jessica Lee Gagné for Severance (“Hello, Ms. Cobel”), Dana Gonzales for Alien: Earth (“Neverland”), Ben Kutchins for The White Lotus (“Killer Instincts”)

The ASC also presented several special honors during the evening:

• Board of Governors Award: Guillermo del Toro (presented by Jason Reitman)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert Yeoman (presented by Owen Wilson)
• Career Achievement in Television Award: M. David Mullern (presented by Rachel Brosnahan)
• Presidents Award: Cynthia Pusheck (presented by Baz Iodine and John Simmons)
• Award of Distinction: Stephen Pizzello (presented by Mandy Walker)
• Curtis Clark ASC Technology Award: Kodak (presented by Giovanni Ribisi)

Additionally, the documentary award went to Mstyslav Chernov and Alex Babenko for 2000 Meters from Andriivka, while the ASC Music Video Award was won by Rodrigo Prieto for Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia.”

The ASC Awards ceremony continues to be a significant barometer for cinematography excellence and serves as a strong indicator for the upcoming Oscars. With just one week remaining until the Academy Awards, all eyes will be on the competition between Michael Bauman and his peers as the industry’s highest honor approaches.