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Autumn Durald Arkapaw

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177364851289898_AR_0246 (1).jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-dragging" width="960" alt="Autumn Durald Arkapaw. Photo courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences"/>Autumn Durald Arkapaw. Photo courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences</div>The 98th Academy Awards unfolded Sunday night with a mixture of celebration and history, a ceremony that seemed aware of the world beyond the Dolby Theatre even as it honored the craft of filmmaking.Hollywood’s biggest night has always been a mirror of its moment. This year, amid anxiety over geopolitical tensions and domestic political divisions in the United States, the Oscars leaned both inward and outward: celebrating artistic breakthroughs while acknowledging the moral questions pressing on the culture around it.No moment captured the evening’s historic dimension more clearly than the win by cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw. When she took the stage for &quot;Sinners,&quot; she cracked open a category that had stood largely unchanged for nearly a century. In 98 years of the Academy Awards, cinematography, one of filmmaking’s most technical and traditionally male-dominated disciplines, had never crowned a woman and had never recognized a Black Filipina cinematographer.Arkapaw’s mother is Filipina and her father is of African-American heritage. Her work on &quot;Sinners,&quot; directed by Ryan Coogler, had already drawn attention for its lush imagery and visual language. But on Oscar night, the achievement carried a significance that extended far beyond the frame.“It takes a village to make stuff like this happen,” Arkapaw said backstage and in her acceptance speech.“But this isn’t about me anymore. This is about so much more, and I know that. And I wanted it for all the girls at home, my parents back there. Thank you so much. This is an honor.”Onstage, she loudly paid tribute to women: “I really want all the women to stand because I feel like I don’t get here without you guys.”&quot;Sinners&quot; also earned Michael B. Jordan his first Academy Award for Best Actor, recognized for his demanding dual performance playing twin brothers.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/movies-series/2026/3/16/michael-b-jordan-battles-his-way-to-oscar-for-sinners-1043">READ: Michael B. Jordan battles his way to Oscar for &#x27;Sinners&#x27; </a></div>Backstage, Jordan said: “My father always told me, ‘Don’t expect anything to be handed to you.’ Do the work and everything else is going to figure itself out. There is a selfishness in understanding that in your craft, in your industry, this is a pinnacle. This is what our industry standard is. This is what we put value on in a big way — that competitiveness. You do want that. But at the same time, what’s for you is for you. And you can’t take anybody’s blessings away from anybody else. So I’m just walking my path and just trying to be locked in. I would encourage other actors and other artists, no matter what their medium is, to try to keep that in mind and be honest and truthful. Dream big.”Another first-time winner arrived when Irish actress Jessie Buckley was named Best Actress for her haunting performance in &quot;Hamnet.&quot;Best Picture went to &quot;One Battle After Another,&quot; a sweeping story that pays tribute to rebels and ordinary people who choose to resist injustice. Yet when the filmmakers stepped onto the stage, the speeches largely sidestepped the very spirit of defiance the film celebrates. <div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/movies-series/2026/3/16/-one-battle-after-another-wins-oscar-for-best-picture-1050">READ: &#x27;One Battle After Another&#x27; wins Oscar for best picture </a></div>In a ceremony where several artists spoke openly about moral courage and civic responsibility, the silence felt a bit noticeable. Among the most direct voices of the evening was Javier Bardem, who used his moment on stage to call attention to human rights and to plead for peace. The sense that the world was intruding on the ceremony surfaced repeatedly, sometimes through humor from host Conan O’Brien, sometimes through more sober reflections. David Borenstein, whose documentary &quot;Mr. Nobody Against Putin&quot; won Best Feature Documentary, offered perhaps the evening’s starkest warning.“&#x27;Mr. Nobody Against Putin&#x27; is about how you lose your country,” he said.“What we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small little acts of complicity. When we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities. When we don’t say anything when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce it and consume it. We all face a moral choice. But luckily, even a nobody is more powerful than you think.”History unfolded in other corners of the ceremony as well. The Best Original Song award went to “Golden” from the animated film &quot;KPop Demon Hunters,&quot; marking the first time a K-pop song — and the first South Korean songwriting team — had won in the category.And the night quietly reflected the growing presence of Filipino talent in global filmmaking. Beyond Arkapaw’s win, producer Zinzi Coogler was behind &quot;Sinners,&quot; a Best Picture nominee, while the animated nominee &quot;Elio&quot; featured the voice of Filipino actor Yonas Asuncion Kibreab. The documentary short winner &quot;All the Empty Rooms&quot; counted Filipino American Claire Aguilar among its executive producers.During the annual In Memoriam tribute, the audience watched as images of the industry’s departed were shown on-screen. Among those who offered emotional tributes was the iconic Barbra Streisand who spoke and sang to honor Robert Redford, her co-star in &quot;The Way We Were&quot; and a defining figure of American cinema.More than 10,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cast their ballots this year across 19 branches of the industry.

When Autumn Durald Arkapaw took the stage for 'Sinners,' she cracked open a category that had stood largely unchanged for nearly a century.

When Autumn Durald Arkapaw took the stage for 'Sinners,' she cracked open a category that had stood largely unchanged for nearly a century.

Fil-Am Autumn Durald Arkapaw makes history as 2026 Oscars celebrate changing industry

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Fil-Am Autumn Durald Arkapaw makes history as 2026 Oscars celebrate changing industry

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 16, 2026 04:28 PM PHT

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98th Academy Awards

Oscars

Autumn Durald Arkapaw

Sinners

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