2025 Oscars: Best Cinematography Predictions

Nominations voting is from January 8-12, 2025, with official Oscar nominations announced January 17, 2025. Final voting is February 11-18, 2025. And finally, the 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2, and air live on ABC at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT. We update our picks throughout awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.

The State of the Race

“Anora” (Neon), “The Brutalist” (A24), “Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM), “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix), “Maria” (Netflix), “The Fire Inside” (Amazon MGM), “Blitz” ( (Apple TV+), and “September 5” (Paramount) have all emerged from the fall festivals as Best Cinematography Oscar contenders. For those keeping track, “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” and “Maria” were all shot on Kodak film.

Other films still to come include “Gladiator II” (Paramount), “Wicked” (Universal), “Nosferatu” (Focus Features, also shot on film), and “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures).

Prior to the fall festivals, “Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) emerged as the early favorite, joined by such standouts as “Challengers” (Amazon MGM), “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” (Kino Lorber), “I Saw the TV Glow” (A24), and “Civil War” (A24).

“Dune” Oscar winner Greig Fraser returns as DP of “Part Two,” Denis Villeneuve’s more lavish sequel, in which Paul (Timothée Chalamet) leads the nomadic Fremen in battle on Arrakis as a prelude to their holy war. Think “Lawrence of Arabia” in space. It’s a bigger world with more planets, more set pieces, and more action. This time, the large-format film was presented entirely in the expanded IMAX aspect ratio with the Alexa mini LF and Alexa 65 digital cameras using spherical lenses.

The desert contained an expanded color palette for the immense battle sequences and the romance between Paul and Chani. The moment when Paul rides atop the sandworm for the first time to complete his Fremen rite of passage was shot practically in the desert as part of a separate “worm” unit, with Chalamet standing on a platform with gimbals and surrounded by an industrial fan that blew sand on the set. In addition, Fraser experimented with an infrared black-and-white look for the gladiator fight sequences with Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) on the artificial Harkonnen planet of Giedi Prime. Fraser used the Alexa 65 with special filtering and monochrome desaturation.

“Anora,” Sean Baker’s acclaimed rom-com (winning the Cannes Palme d’Or), finds Mikey Madison as a Russian-American exotic dancer who meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch. Then all hell breaks loose in this fever dream of a nightmarish romance. It was shot in 35mm anamorphic by cinematographer Drew Daniels (“Red Rocket”), who achieves a ’70s vibe with the help of negative flashing in such locations as Brooklyn, Coney Island, and Las Vegas.

“Nosferatu,” director Robert Eggers’ reworking of the legendary silent vampire film by F.W. Murnau (later remade by Werner Herzog in 1979), stars Bill Skarsgård as the infamous Count Orlok, Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, and Nicholas Hoult as her husband, Thomas Hutter. Shot in 35mm (1.66) by the director’s frequent cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, the film boasts a desaturated look reminiscent of Romanticism through special filtering that was engineered. It offers the chills and thrills of roving from 19th-century Germany to a Gothic castle in Romania. The couple is haunted by dreams that could be harbingers of what’s to come, and peek-a-boo with the elusive vampire, lurking in the shadows.

“Maria,” Pablo Larraín’s biographically inspired drama about opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), takes place during her final years in Paris in the ’70s. It continues the director’s cycle of psychological portraits (“Jackie,” “Spencer”) and contains a visual concept that fuses the ’40s through the ’70s period with surreal musical sequences. It’s shot in multiple formats (35mm, 16mm, Super8) by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Ed Lachman (“El Conde”) in color for the present and in black-and-white for her memories. The effect captures contrasting emotions during personal highs and lows, performances, interviews, and introspection.

“The Brutalist,” from director Brady Corbet (“Vox Lux”), is a 215-minute epic, shot by go-to cinematographer Lol Crawley predominantly in VistaVision (the first time since “One Eyed Jacks”), in which the 35mm film is mounted horizontally for higher-resolution and released in both 35mm and 70mm. It spans 30 years in the life of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Jew and Auschwitz survivor, who struggles as a visionary architect before being offered a massive project by industrialist Hamilton Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce). The Brutalist architectural movement from the ’50s came out of post-war trauma. The non-decorative style was angular and comprised of exposed concrete or brick. The film uses the maximalist capability of VistaVision to convey this minimalist style as an ethos tied to the psychology of Tóth.

“Gladiator II,” Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Oscar winner, concerns Lucius (Paul Mescal), the former heir to the Empire, forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome. The epic is shot by cinematographer John Mathieson, who began his collaboration with Scott on “Gladiator.” The sequel sports greater grandeur, highlighted by fierce gladiator fighting, a thrilling sea battle, and a glam and gritty visualization of Rome, influenced by “Orientalist” paintings, among others.

“Nickel Boys,” RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, explores two Black teenagers, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), who become friends as wards of a barbaric juvenile reform school in Jim Crow–era Florida. The film is a sensory experience about their different perspectives — hope and despair — shot by cinematographer Jomo Fray (“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”) as an experiment in docu-poetry. The approach involved unlearning a lot of the traditional practices of filmmaking.

“RaMell and I used the term POV as a short-hand,” Fray told IndieWire, “but I believe we were truly after an image with a sentience to it — an image that had real bodily stakes attached to it. We wanted to try and create an image that was hyper-subjective and immersive for the audience. One that pulled them not just into the story, but into the very bodies of two young Black boys trying to navigate the Jim Crow South. Reveling not in the brutality but, in the beauty of the mundane, in the everyday.”

“Wicked” (Universal), Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Broadway musical fantasy by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, explores the teen friendship between the Wicked Witch and Glinda the Good Witch that turns into a rivalry. Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba Thropp, the compassionate girl born with green skin, and Ariana Grande plays the conceited Galinda Upland. Made at England’s new Sky Studios in Elstree, the musical reunites Chu with rising cinematographer Alice Brooks, who last collaborated together on “In the Heights.” But this hyperreal extravaganza is definitely a horse of a different color, in which Brooks was guided by the color language of L. Frank Baum’s original “Wizard of Oz” books, mixing old-school gelled Tungsten lights with new school game engine tech (previewing how to fly her camera through Emerald City before the set was built). She also helped build custom lenses that ensured visual coherence throughout the film and developed a different lens for each leading lady.

“Emilia Pérez,” the musical crime thriller from Jacques Audiard, stars Zoe Saldaña as a disgruntled lawyer who assists the titular Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) in undergoing gender confirmation surgery. The director audaciously offers an operatic fever dream about the hope of a new life through song and dance — but it’s also about the difficulty in escaping the past. It is set in Mexico City but almost entirely shot against blue screens in Paris by cinematographer Paul Guillaume. The gaudy, neon-lit style is combined with the rough naturalism of the crime world.

“Maria,” Pablo Larraín’s biographically inspired drama about opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), takes place during her final years in Paris in the ’70s. It continues the director’s cycle of psychological portraits (“Jackie,” “Spencer”) and contains a visual concept that fuses the ’40s through the ’70s period with surreal musical sequences. It’s shot in multiple formats (35mm, 16mm, Super8) by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Ed Lachman (“El Conde”) in color for the present and in black-and-white for her memories. The effect captures contrasting emotions during personal highs and lows, performances, interviews, and introspection.

“The Fire Inside” marks the directorial debut of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison, shot impressively by rising newcomer DP Rina Yang. Scripted by Barry Jenkins, the biopic concerns Olympic boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (Ryan Destiny) from Flint, Michigan, who wins her first gold medal and must contend with the difficult prospect of peaking so quickly. Brutality is to be expected from boxing, but it’s the intimacy, for which Morrison has always excelled as a visual storyteller, which dominates her portrayal of Shields, both inside the ring and outside in Flint, assisted by Yang.

“September 5,” director Tim Fehlbaum’s (“Hell”) docudrama about ABC Sports’ groundbreaking broadcast of the Israeli terrorist attack during the 1972 Munich Olympics, recalls “All the President’s Men” as a suspenseful, journalistic procedural. Shot in a semi-documentary style by the director’s go-to cinematographer Markus Förderer, the film presents an authentic replica of the broadcasting facility used by ABC and makes extraordinary use of archival footage. The narrative ping pongs back and forth between the four principal characters:  Peter Sarsgaard as cunning producer Roone Arledge, John Magaro as newbie coordinating producer Geoffrey Mason, Ben Chaplin as VP of Olympic Operations Marvin Bader, and Leonie Benesch as the German assistant Marianne Gebhardt caught in the crossfire.

“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” (winner of the 2023 Cannes Camera d’Or) is the remarkable feature debut of Vietnamese director Pham Thien An. The three-hour odyssey, defined by great stillness, is one of the most audacious films of the year. Unassuming Thiện (Lê Phong Vũ ) leaves Saigon with his 5-year-old nephew and returns to his country village after the death of his sister-in-law. Through a series of encounters, he starts coming out of his shell and experiences a spiritual awakening.

“Inside” was filmed by cinematographer Đinh Duy Hưng primarily in long, static shots for objective observation, but there are also sustained ethereal shots of the countryside and nature. The color palette is saturated or soft, depending on the mood. One of the highlights is an erotic flashback with Thiện’s ex-girlfriend, Thảo (Nguyễn Thị Trúc Quỳnh), on a wet balcony that explains a lot about why he moved to Saigon and why she took her vows as a nun.

With “Challengers,” director Luca Guadagnino tackles the competitive nature of tennis with a love triangle involving former tennis prodigy-turned-coach Zendaya, her husband and slumping tennis champ Mike Faist, and tennis rival Josh O’Connor, who is her ex-lover and his former best friend. Shot in 35mm by Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, the movie subjectively focuses on their relationships and rivalries. While the matches reflect their changing emotional and personal dynamics, the scenes off the court achieve their own natural tension and colorful look. They storyboarded the tennis action with Brad Gilbert, the tennis consultant who coached the actors and choreographed the action. The tennis was about camera speed and dexterity. The lighting team even came up with an inspired solution to cover the court and grandstand: a pair of Magni scissor lifts with two 100K SoftSuns on each. However, the final 10 minutes utilize a glass floor to enable a partial view of the players in constant motion.

Alex Garland’s “Civil War” is a surreal road trip through the dystopian nightmare of guerilla warfare that rips the country apart and culminates with the final assault on D.C. and The White House. Cinematographer Rob Hardy creates an authentic-looking combat aesthetic based on newsreel footage and real combat photography, which mostly avoids tracks and dollies in favor of elegant hand-held shots. In fact, they reversed engineered sequences that were adaptable to sequences that were planned as military operations. Additionally, they cunningly used still photography cutaways by jaded combat photographer Kirsten Dunst and aspiring photographer Cailee Spaeny, who play out an “All About Eve” dynamic.

“I Saw the TV Glow” marks the latest meta-cultural exploration of suburban teen angst by director Jane Schoenbrun. Set in the late 1990s to 2000s, the horror film follows Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), who bond over their love over the late-night kid’s show “The Pink Opaque” and slowly realize that the show’s bizarre reality has overtaken their own after its cancelation. Shot in 35mm by cinematographer Eric K. Yue, the look contrasts a grim reality with a cotton candy-like hyper-reality as a glimmer of hope.

“Blitz,” from British director Steve McQueen, concerns the 1940 fall of London under German aerial attack during World War II, and stars Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, and singer/songwriter Paul Weller (The Jam) in his acting debut. It centers on biracial youngster Heffernan, who’s evacuated out of London for safekeeping and immediately runs away and struggles to reunite with his mother (Ronan) and grandfather (Weller). It’s shot by French cinematographer Yorick Le Saux through a combination of naturalism and surrealism, with a big nod to “Oliver Twist.” As a follow-up to McQueen’s acclaimed World War II doc, “Occupied City,” it leverages a sense of authenticity in every detail.

“I Saw the TV Glow” marks the latest meta-cultural exploration of suburban teen angst by director Jane Schoenbrun. Set in the late 1990s to 2000s, the horror film follows Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), who bond over their love over the late-night kid’s show “The Pink Opaque” and slowly realize that the show’s bizarre reality has overtaken their own after its cancelation. Shot in 35mm by cinematographer Eric K. Yue, the look contrasts a grim reality with a cotton candy-like hyper-reality as a glimmer of hope.

“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate), Francis Ford Coppola’s $120 million epic sci-fi movie drawing parallels between the fall of Rome and the collapse of America, is set in a New York-like metropolis called New Rome. After an accident destroys the decaying city, an architect (Adam Driver) with the power to control time attempts to rebuild it as a utopia despite regressive opposition. The film was shot by the director’s frequent cinematographer, Mihai Mălaimare Jr., with the Alexa 65 and Alexa LF (and Alexa Mini LF for second unit) to convey something radically different: imagery that is more metaphorical by design with the look of a woven mural or tapestry.

As for the rest: “Queer” (A24), Guadagnino’s much-anticipated adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novella, was also shot by Mukdeeprom in 35mm. It’s about disconnected gay American expatriates in post-World War II Mexico City, and concerns heroin user William Lee (Daniel Craig) falling for the much younger and enigmatic Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), who go on a surreal odyssey together.

“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures), James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, chronicles the folk star’s rise in New York’s West Village in 1961 to the controversial 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where he turned electric. Shot by frequent cinematographer Phedon Papamichael with period naturalism and chiaroscuro during performances.

“Conclave” (Focus Features), director Edward Berger’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning “All Quiet on the Western Front,” is a thriller adapted from the Robert Harris novel about a Cardinal (Ralph Fiennes) tasked with finding a successor to the deceased Pope, who harbored a dangerous secret. The film is shot by French cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (“Jackie”), whose shadowy lighting evokes a noirish atmosphere of mystery and conspiracy.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.), Todd Phillips’ musical thriller, picks up with Arthur/Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) facing the death penalty for multiple murders and striking up a delusional romance with Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn while incarcerated in Arkham Asylum. They experience musical escape together. Oscar-nominated “Joker” cinematographer Lawrence Sher returns to shoot this surreal musical with the force of a live sporting event.

“The Piano Lesson” (Netflix), director Malcolm Washington’s adaption of the August Wilson play, starring John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, was shot by cinematographer Michael Gioulakis. It explores the lives of the Charles family in Depression-era 1936 Pittsburgh and the importance of the cherished family heirloom: a piano documenting the family history through carvings made by their enslaved ancestor.

“Saturday Night” (Sony Pictures), from director Jason Reitman, chronicles the lead-up to the premiere of NBC’s iconic late-night sketch comedy show on October 11, 1975. Gabriel LaBelle pivots from playing Steven Spielberg in “The Fabelmans” to “SNL” creator/producer Lorne Michaels, sharing the spotlight with an ensemble cast portraying the legendary comedy troupe that became famous on the show. The film was shot in 16mm to authenticate the period vibe by Reitman’s go-to cinematographer, Eric Steelberg.

Potential nominees are listed in alphabetical order; no film will be deemed a frontrunner until we have seen it.

Frontrunners

“Anora” (Drew Daniels)
“The Brutalist” (Lol Crawley)
“Dune: Part Two” (Greig Fraser)
“Maria” (Ed Lachman)
“Nosferatu” (Jarin Blaschke)

Contenders

“Blitz” (Yorick Le Saux)
“Challengers” (Sayombhu Mukdeeprom)
“A Complete Unknown” (Phedon Papamichael)
“Conclave” (Stéphane Fontaine)
“Emilia Pérez” (Paul Guilhaume)
“The Fire Inside” (Rina Yang)
“Gladiator II” (John Mathieson)
“I Saw the TV Glow” (Eric K. Yue)
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” (Đinh Duy Hưng)
“Joker: Folie à Deux” (Lawrence Sher)
“Megalopolis” (Mihai Mălaimare Jr.)
“Nickel Boys” (Jomo Fray)
“The Piano Lesson” (Michael Gioulakis)
“Queer” (Sayombhu Mukdeeprom)
“Saturday Night” (Eric Steelberg)
“September 5” (Markus Förderer)
“Wicked” (Alice Brooks)