‘One Battle After Another’ Wins Top Honor at 2026 Cinematography Awards

The 40th annual awards celebrating excellence in cinematography recognized some of the year’s most visually impressive films and television projects during a ceremony held Sunday night in Beverly Hills.

Cinematographer Michael Bauman took home the top prize for theatrical feature film for his work on One Battle After Another. The award recognizes outstanding camera work and visual storytelling in major motion pictures.

Bauman’s win places him among a group of cinematographers whose work is also competing for the upcoming Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Historically, winners of this cinematography prize have frequently gone on to win the Oscar in the same category.

Interestingly, this year marked Bauman’s first nominations at the awards. In addition to his win for the feature film category, he was also nominated in a television category for his work on an episode of Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

The event honors achievements in seven different categories, covering feature films, television series, documentaries and music videos.

One of the night’s most unusual moments came in the category for a one-hour television series episode, where the judges announced a rare tie. Christophe Nuyens won for the Andor episode titled “I Have Friends Everywhere,” while Alex Disenhof was honored for the Task episode “Crossings.”

In other television categories, Adam Newport-Berra won the award for a half-hour series episode for his work on the episode “The Oner” from The Studio. Meanwhile, Pete Konczal received the award for limited or anthology series cinematography for the Black Rabbit episode “Isle of Joy.”

The documentary award went to filmmakers Mstyslav Chernov and Alex Babenko for their powerful documentary 2000 Meters from Andriivka. During the ceremony, Chernov accepted the award and noted that Babenko remained in Kyiv continuing his work.

The music video category was won by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto for his work on “The Fate of Ophelia,” performed by Taylor Swift.

Several special honors were also presented during the ceremony. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro received the Board of Governors Award, recognizing his contributions to filmmaking and his support of cinematographers.

Veteran cinematographer Robert Yeoman, known for his long collaboration with director Wes Anderson, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Other recognitions included the Career Achievement in Television Award for M. David Mullen, the Presidents Award for Cynthia Pusheck, and the Award of Distinction for Stephen Pizzello, a longtime editor covering the art of cinematography.

The annual ceremony continues to highlight the growing importance of cinematography in modern storytelling, honoring the artists responsible for shaping the visual language of film and television.