Oscars 2019: Who Should Win Every Award (And Who Actually Will)

9. Cinematography

Nominees: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón), Cold War (Lukasz Zal), Never Look Away (Caleb Deschanel), The Favourite (Robbie Ryan), A Star Is Born (Matty Libatique)

Who Should Win

Roma

In a year where the two stand-outs for Cinematography are both black and white, foreign-language films, the award should go to the better of the two: Roma. Alfonso Cuarón handled the camera himself after his usual collaborator, Emmanuel Luzbecki, had to drop out, and he does a stunning job of capturing just how both personal yet grand Roma is. With his deep-focus shots, Cuarón is able to stunningly showcase all of those details packed into the design of the film, while still ensuring his actors are at the forefront. The black-and-white feels more naturalistic than gimmicky. And the trademark long-shots are as technically brilliant as we've come to expect, as are moments like the pan around when the Corpus Christi massacre takes place. They're incredible to look at, but also very much of a piece with the movie's approach to showing us Cleo's life.

Who Will Win

Roma

Roma has largely been cleaning up in this category across awards season, including winning the BAFTA, which stands it in good stead heading into the Oscars. It's got the kind of eye-catching cinematography that should get votes, along with the fact it's a big player that most voters will have seen. That's especially good, given its closest competition is Cold War, which took home the American Society of Cinematographers prize. That puts it in with a chance too, but they have differed from the Oscars enough that it's far from a sure thing. Roma is the bigger film, and does slightly more with its monochrome alongside having a few more strings to its bow, which should get it the nod over Cold War.