The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) held its annual awards on Sunday evening (3/3) with Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC earning the marquee feature film honor for Oppenheimer. In his acceptance remarks before an industry audience at the Beverly Hilton, van Hoytema thanked Oppenheimer writer-director Christopher Nolan, producer Emma Thomas, and a close-knit camera team. The cinematographer added that a priority for him over the years has been to help keep celluloid alive as a viable option for filmmakers. The success of Oppenheimer, he noted, underscores that “ [celluloid] film is alive and appreciated by audiences more than ever.” Van Hoytema added that four of the five nominated pictures in this year’s ASC Award feature category were shot on film.

This marks van Hoytema’s first ASC Award win. He was previously nominated for Dunkirk (2018) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2012).

The 38th ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards also honored Warwick Thornton for The New Boy in the Spotlight Award category, which recognizes stellar cinematography in independent, foreign or art-house-type/festival films. And cinematographer Curren Sheldon topped the documentary competition on the strength of King Coal. These were the first career ASC wins for Thornton and Sheldon.

ASC winners in television included M. David Mullen, ASC for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Ben Kutchins, ASC for Boston Strangler; and Carl Herse for Barry. Jon Joffin, ASC took home the first ASC Award in the inaugural music video category for Jon Bryant’s “At Home.”

This was Mullen’s fifth nomination for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and his second consecutive win. Kutchins scored his first ASC win. Herse has won the ASC Award for Barry for two straight years. And Joffin registered his fourth ASC Award win, having previously earned TV honors for Beyond (2019), Motherland: Fort Salem (2020) and Titans (2022).

Honorary awards at this year’s ASC ceremony included Spike Lee receiving the ASC Board of Governors Award (presented by Matthew Libatique, ASC, Ellen Kuras, ASC; and Ernest Dickerson, ASC), and Don Burgess, ASC was honored with the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award (presented by Robert Zemeckis). Steve Fierberg, ASC was honored with the ASC Career Achievement in Television Award (presented by Sarah Treem). Amy Vincent, ASC received the Presidents Award (presented by Beverly Wood). And the Bud Stone Award was presented by ASC President Shelly Johnson to ­­­­­­Sony’s Dan Perry

Here’s a rundown of the evening’s winners in competition:

THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC for Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures)
 

SPOTLIGHT AWARD
Warwick Thornton for The New Boy
 

EPISODE OF A ONE-HOUR REGULAR SERIES
M. David Mullen, ASC for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Four Minutes” (Prime Video)

LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV
Ben Kutchins, ASC for Boston Strangler (Hulu)

EPISODE OF A HALF-HOUR SERIES
Carl Herse for Barry, “Tricky Legacies” (Max)

DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Curren Sheldon for King Coal

MUSIC VIDEO AWARD
Jon Joffin, ASC for "At Home" (Performed by Jon Bryant)