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Academy Award for Best Cinematography

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography, introduced at the awards debut in 1929, is presented annually for the best achievement in cinematography in a film from the previous year.

From 1940 to 1967—with the exception of 1958—two separate awards were given for color and black-and-white films.

Sorted Chronologically by Awards Year. Winners in BOLD. Acceptance speech linked in Notes (where available).

UPDATED: May 2026

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NOMINEES LIST | SITE MAP

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AWARD RECORDS:
Most Awards: Leon Shamroy & Joseph Ruttenberg (4)
Most Nominations: Charles Lang & Leon Shamroy (18)
Most Nominations Without a Win: George Folsey (13)

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CATEGORY NAME HISTORY:
1929–1939: Cinematography
1940–1957: Cinematography: (Black & White) & (Color)
1958: Cinematography
1959–1967: Cinematography: (Black & White) & (Color)
1968–Present: Cinematography

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  • Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

    1

  • White Shadows in the South Seas

    2

  • With Byrd at the South Pole

    3

  • Tabu: A Story of the South Seas

    4

  • Shanghai Express

    5

  • A Farewell to Arms

    6

  • Cleopatra

    7

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream

    8

  • Anthony Adverse

    9

  • The Good Earth

    10

  • The Great Waltz

    11

  • Gone with the Wind

    12

  • Wuthering Heights

    13

  • Rebecca

    14

  • The Thief of Bagdad

    15

  • How Green Was My Valley

    16

  • Blood and Sand

    17

  • Mrs. Miniver

    18

  • The Black Swan

    19

  • The Song of Bernadette

    20

  • Phantom of the Opera

    21

  • Wilson

    22

  • Laura

    23

  • Leave Her to Heaven

    24

  • The Picture of Dorian Gray

    25

  • The Yearling

    26

  • Anna and the King of Siam

    27

  • Great Expectations

    28

  • Black Narcissus

    29

  • Joan of Arc

    30

  • The Naked City

    31

  • Battleground

    32

  • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

    33

  • King Solomon's Mines

    34

  • The Third Man

    35

  • An American in Paris

    36

  • A Place in the Sun

    37

  • The Quiet Man

    38

  • The Bad and the Beautiful

    39

  • From Here to Eternity

    40

  • Shane

    41

  • On the Waterfront

    42

  • Three Coins in the Fountain

    43

  • The Rose Tattoo

    44

  • To Catch a Thief

    45

  • Around the World in 80 Days

    46

  • Somebody Up There Likes Me

    47

  • The Bridge on the River Kwai

    48

  • Gigi

    49

  • The Defiant Ones

    50

  • Ben-Hur

    51

  • The Diary of Anne Frank

    52

  • Sons and Lovers

    53

  • Spartacus

    54

  • West Side Story

    55

  • The Hustler

    56

  • Lawrence of Arabia

    57

  • The Longest Day

    58

  • Cleopatra

    59

  • Hud

    60

  • My Fair Lady

    61

  • Zorba the Greek

    62

  • Doctor Zhivago

    63

  • Ship of Fools

    64

  • A Man for All Seasons

    65

  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

    66

  • Bonnie and Clyde

    67

  • Romeo and Juliet

    68

  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

    69

  • Ryan's Daughter

    70

  • Fiddler on the Roof

    71

  • Cabaret

    72

  • Cries and Whispers

    73

  • The Towering Inferno

    74

  • Barry Lyndon

    75

  • Bound for Glory

    76

  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind

    77

  • Days of Heaven

    78

  • Apocalypse Now

    79

  • Tess

    80

  • Reds

    81

  • Gandhi

    82

  • Fanny and Alexander

    83

  • The Killing Fields

    84

  • Out of Africa

    85

  • The Mission

    86

  • The Last Emperor

    87

  • Mississippi Burning

    88

  • Glory

    89

  • Dances with Wolves

    90

  • JFK

    91

  • A River Runs Through It

    92

  • Schindler's List

    93

  • Legends of the Fall

    94

  • Braveheart

    95

  • The English Patient

    96

  • Titanic

    97

  • Saving Private Ryan

    98

  • American Beauty

    99

  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

    100