Oscars: Rachel Morrison makes history as first female cinematographer nominee

Los Angeles: After a wait of 90 long years, one more barrier has been broken at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The director of photography for the movie ‘Mudbound,’ Rachel Morrison made history by becoming the first woman to be nominated by the Academy for best cinematography – a category which was dominated by men for 89 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Morrison was quite thrilled with her nomination and said, “The job of the cinematographer is to visualize emotion – things we as women are inherently good at.”

She added, “There’s no stopping us. Women are so qualified they should just go for it. It’s not just about cinematography, it about believing in yourself and that anything’s possible.”

Morrison is shared that she is looking forward to the day when she’s not viewed as a “woman” cinematographer, but just a cinematographer.

“It comes down to statistics. If women are only 2 percent of the working DPs, it’s not surprising there haven’t been more women [nominated]. I’ve been reaching out to more women and hiring more women, not just for the camera department but so that they can become cinematographers. If this [nomination] says anything, there’s no stopping us,” explained Morrison.

Earlier this month, she also became the first woman to collect at American Society of Cinematographers Award in its feature competition.

Her previous credits include ‘Fruitvale Station’, ‘Cake’, ‘Dope’ and ‘Sound of My Voice’. She also lensed Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’, which opens next month.

She is nominated for the Academy Award with the likes of Roger Deakins for ‘Blade Runner 2049’, Bruno Delbonnel for ‘Darkest Hour’, Hoyte Van Hoytema for ‘Dunkirk’ and Dan Laustsen for ‘The Shape of Water’. (ANI)