American Society of Cinematographers • Est. 1919 • Awards since 1986

ASC Awards

The American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards are the definitive peer recognition in cinematography. ASC membership — by invitation only — is among the highest honours in the camera department. The initials “ASC” after a DP’s name represent a career milestone. The annual awards cover feature film, television drama, television movie and limited series, documentary, and commercial cinematography — making them the most comprehensive guild award in the discipline.

Feature Film TV Drama — One Hour TV Movie or Mini-Series Documentary Commercial
1919
ASC Founded
1986
First ASC Awards
4
Deakins ASC Feature Awards
3
Lubezki Consecutive Feature Awards
Invite
Only Membership

About the ASC Award: Unlike the Oscar, which is voted on by all Academy members, the ASC Award is peer-voted — only ASC members vote. This makes it arguably more meaningful to working cinematographers, as it represents the specific judgment of their craft colleagues. The ASC Feature Film Award and the Oscar for Best Cinematography align in most recent years, but when they diverge it marks a genuine split in industry opinion.

Feature Film — Complete Winners Archive

Outstanding Achievement — Feature Film

The ASC’s most prestigious category. Winners spanning 2010–2025, with Oscar alignment noted.

Year Cinematographer Film Oscar?
2025 Lol Crawley BSC The Brutalist ASC + Oscar
2024 Hoyte van Hoytema NSC FSF ASC Oppenheimer ASC + Oscar
2023 James Friend BSC All Quiet on the Western Front ASC + Oscar
2022 Greig Fraser ACS ASC Dune ASC + Oscar
2021 Erik Messerschmidt ASC Mank ASC + Oscar
2020 Roger Deakins CBE ASC BSC 1917 ASC + Oscar
2019 Alfonso Cuarón Roma ASC + Oscar
2018 Roger Deakins CBE ASC BSC Blade Runner 2049 ASC + Oscar
2017 Linus Sandgren FSF ASC La La Land ASC + Oscar
2016 Emmanuel Lubezki AMC ASC The Revenant ASC + Oscar
2015 Emmanuel Lubezki AMC ASC Birdman ASC + Oscar
2014 Emmanuel Lubezki AMC ASC Gravity ASC + Oscar
2013 Claudio Miranda ASC Life of Pi ASC + Oscar
2012 Guillaume Schiffman AFC The Artist Oscar: Robert Richardson (Hugo)
2011 Wally Pfister ASC Inception ASC + Oscar
2010 Mauro Fiore ASC Avatar ASC + Oscar
TV Drama — One Hour

Outstanding Achievement — TV Drama Series (One Hour)

The ASC’s television drama category has tracked the rise of prestige streaming and cinematic TV — with Game of Thrones, Succession, and The Crown dominating the last decade.

Year Cinematographer Episode & Series
2025 Martin Ruhe ASC BVK Shōgun — “Restore Heaven”
2024 Andrij Parekh ASC Succession — “Connor’s Wedding”
2023 Tat Radcliffe BSC The Crown — “Maundy”
2022 Ari Wegner ACS The Power of the Dog (TV Movie/Limited)
2021 Fabian Wagner ASC BSC Game of Thrones — “The Long Night”
2020 Barry Ackroyd BSC Chernobyl
2019 Greig Fraser ACS ASC The Mandalorian — “Chapter 1”
2018 Robert McLachlan ASC CSC Game of Thrones — “Beyond the Wall”
TV Movie or Mini-Series

Outstanding Achievement — TV Movie or Mini-Series

Year Cinematographer Production
2025 Pablo Berron AEC Ripley
2024 Adriano Goldman ASC ABC Fellow Travelers
2023 Jo Willems SBC ASC Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
2022 Ari Wegner ACS The Power of the Dog
2021 Pepe Avila del Pino I May Destroy You
About ASC Membership

The Meaning of ASC Membership

Why the three letters after a cinematographer’s name matter as much as any award they win.

Invitation-Only Membership
Peer recognition • Active + Associate Members
ASC membership cannot be applied for — it is extended by invitation from the existing membership to cinematographers who have demonstrated exceptional achievement and commitment to the craft. Active members are working DPs; associate members include directors, producers, and technologists who have contributed to the cinematographic art. Many of the world’s greatest DPs spend their entire careers without receiving an invitation — it is not a reflection of skill so much as the small size and selective nature of the society.
Membership by invitation only • Los Angeles
International Affiliates
BSC, ACS, CSC, BVK, AFC, SBC and more
The ASC is the founding society in a global network of national cinematographer societies. The British Society of Cinematographers (BSC), the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS), and the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC) among others maintain their own membership standards and award programs. Many leading DPs hold membership in multiple societies — Roger Deakins is both ASC and BSC; Greig Fraser is both ACS and ASC — reflecting careers that span multiple countries and industries.
Global network • Over 20 affiliated societies
The ASC Manual
Technical Reference • Published since 1935
The American Cinematographer Manual is the definitive technical reference of the profession — a comprehensive guide to exposure, lenses, cameras, formats, lighting, and workflow that has been updated through eleven editions since 1935. It is the textbook used in film schools worldwide and the reference kept on the shelves of working DPs. Its existence is itself a statement about the ASC’s role as a technical as well as artistic guild.
Published since 1935 • 11 editions • Industry standard reference
Notable ASC Members

The Cinematographers Who Define the Craft

The ASC members whose work has most shaped how cinema looks — from the revolutionary darkness of the 1970s to the IMAX-scale naturalism of today.

Roger Deakins CBE ASC BSC
British
The most decorated living cinematographer and the defining DP of the post-studio era. Deakins received 14 Oscar nominations before finally winning for Blade Runner 2049 (2018) — a record-setting wait that became a source of industry-wide guilt and relief when the win finally came. His second Oscar followed for 1917 (2020). His work for the Coen Brothers across two decades — from Barton Fink to No Country for Old Men — represents the most consistent and varied body of cinematographic work in contemporary cinema. He is both ASC and BSC member.
The Shawshank Redemption Fargo No Country for Old Men Skyfall Blade Runner 2049 1917
★ 2 Oscars • 4 ASC Awards • 14 Oscar nominations (before first win)
Emmanuel Lubezki AMC ASC
Mexican
The holder of the most remarkable consecutive-win streak in Oscar cinematography history: three consecutive wins for Gravity (2014), Birdman (2015), and The Revenant (2016) — a feat never before achieved. Known for his extraordinary ability to harness natural and available light, and for his mastery of the long take: the simulated one-shot of Birdman and the brutal natural-light conditions of The Revenant are defining works of contemporary cinematography. A frequent collaborator of Alfonso Cuarón and Terrence Malick.
A Little Princess Y Tu Mamá También Children of Men Gravity Birdman The Revenant
★ 3 Oscars (consecutive) • 3 ASC Awards • Only DP to win 3 straight Oscars
Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC
Italian
One of the most intellectually rigorous and visually expressive cinematographers in film history. Storaro’s theory of “writing with light” — using colour and shadow as narrative and psychological instruments — shaped the visual language of an entire era. His three Oscars span two of the greatest films ever made (Apocalypse Now, Reds) and Bertolucci’s Chinese epic (The Last Emperor). His influence on the next generation of DPs is incalculable.
The Conformist Apocalypse Now Reds The Last Emperor Dick Tracy Caravaggio (TV)
★ 3 Oscars • ASC International Award • Creator of “writing with light” philosophy
Gordon Willis ASC
American • 1931–2014
Known as “The Prince of Darkness,” Willis redefined how dark a Hollywood film could be. His work on The Godfather and The Godfather Part II — using deep shadow and low-key lighting in ways the Academy found too dark to reward — remains the most influential American cinematography of the 20th century. He was twice overlooked for the Oscar for his Godfather work before receiving an Honorary Oscar in 2010. His partnership with Woody Allen produced a parallel body of radically different work, including Annie Hall and Manhattan.
The Godfather The Godfather Part II All the President’s Men Annie Hall Manhattan Zelig
★ Honorary Oscar (2010) • ASC Lifetime Achievement • Zero competitive Oscar nominations despite defining the form
Greig Fraser ACS ASC
Australian
The DP of the moment — two Oscar wins in three years, for Dune (2022) and The Batman (which earned an Oscar nomination but not a win). His work for Denis Villeneuve on Dune and Dune: Part Two created one of the most comprehensively realised visual environments in science fiction cinema. Fraser also shot the first season of The Mandalorian, pioneering the use of the LED Volume technology that has since transformed studio filmmaking. He holds both ACS (Australian) and ASC membership.
Lion Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The Mandalorian Dune The Batman Dune: Part Two
★ 2 Oscars • 2 ASC Awards • Pioneer of LED Volume cinematography