Last year’s top American Society of Cinematographers award went to a film renowned for its vibrant, creative colors. This year’s top award went to a film noted for its absence of them.
Polish cinematographer Łukasz Żal won the top 2019 ASC award for his work shooting Cold War, a black-and-white love story set in the 1940s-1960s, directed by fellow Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski. The award came as a surprise: The big favorite before the Feb. 9 awards was a different black-and-white film, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma. Cuarón, who served as his own cinematographer on the Netflix film, will have a chance to best Żal later this month when the Oscars announce its top cinematography prize.
Cold War‘s win proves that effective cinematography doesn’t necessarily mean epic, colorful images—it can include intimate, stripped-down moments too. The film’s visuals are much different from last year’s winner, Blade Runner 2049 (shot by one of the trade’s masters, Roger Deakins), which was one of the most vivid and flashy blockbusters in recent memory.
Żal beat out a talented field, including Cuarón, Linus Sandgren (First Man), Matthew Libatique (A Star Is Born), and Robbie Ryan (The Favourite). The ASC awards are chosen annually by the group’s 390 members, many of whom live and work outside the United States. The cinematography trade, however, is one of film’s least gender diverse. Only about 4% of the society’s members are women. Rachel Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for both ASC and Academy awards last year for the film Mudbound.
Here are some of the most striking stills, as well as the trailer, from Cold War:
