The 2026 Oscars, held Sunday at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, proved to be a major night for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which took home awards in several of the evening’s top categories, including best original screenplay and best actor. But it was the film’s director of photography, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who made history during the ceremony. With her win for best cinematography, Arkapaw became the first woman — and the first Black or Filipino person — to win the award.
“I’m so honored to be here, and I really want all the women in the room to stand up because I feel like I don’t get here without you guys,” Arkapaw said during her acceptance speech, according to The Associated Press.
Later, with her Oscar in hand, she added, “I have felt so much love from all the women throughout this entire campaign. I feel like moments like this happen because of people like you.”
But who is Arkapaw? Here’s what to know about the award-winning cinematographer who made history at the 2026 Oscars.
She’s of Filipino and Black Creole descent
According to Preview, Arkapaw was born on Dec. 14, 1979, to a Filipino mother and a Black Creole father. Her mother’s family — including her maternal grandfather, Guillermo Pagan Bautista — has roots in Pampanga in the Philippines. Bautista grew up in Masantol and survived the Bataan Death March during World War II, International Business Times UK reported. In previous interviews, Arkapaw shared that he later joined resistance forces before eventually serving in the U.S. Army.
After the war, Arkapaw’s maternal relatives moved abroad before eventually settling in California, where the future Oscar winner was born. The 46-year-old was raised primarily by her mother and alongside her maternal cousins, aunts and uncles.
On her father’s side, Arkapaw’s family traces its heritage to Black Creole communities in New Orleans and Mississippi — a connection that drew her to Sinners. While working on the film in Louisiana, she said the experience deepened her ties to that part of her background.
“I had a really strong connection to the subject matter because my father was born in New Orleans. He’s Creole, and I visited my grandparents there when I was younger. I already had that visual in my head of what I remember the South being like as a kid — and then to imagine the Old South the way Ryan envisioned it,” she told The Talks.
‘Sinners’ was not her first collaboration with Coogler
Arkapaw’s work on Sinners was not her first collaboration with Coogler. The pair previously worked together on the 2022 Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her cinematography credits also include films such as The Last Showgirl and Teen Spirit.
According to Preview, Arkapaw has also brought her visual style to music videos for artists such as HAIM, Solange Knowles, Big Sean, SZA and Rihanna.
She’s the first female director of photography to shoot a movie on large-format IMAX film
Arkapaw was making history well before Sunday night’s Oscars. Her work on Sinners marked the first time a woman cinematographer had shot a feature using IMAX 65mm or any 65mm film format, the American Society of Cinematographers reported. She also is the first cinematographer of any gender to combine it with Ultra Panavision 70 on a feature film, NBC News reported.