Dune wins top prize at the American Society of Cinematographers Awards

The American Society of Cinematographers awarded “Dune” the top prize for visual storytelling in a feature film. Greig Fraser received the feature film award from last year’s winner, Erik Messerschmidt for “Mank.”

The 36th Annual ASC Awards ceremony returned to a limited in-person component at Hollywood’s ASC Clubhouse. Debbie Allen was the evening’s host.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is a 2021 American epic science fiction film directed and written by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth. It is the first of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name, covering the first half of the book. The film is set in the far future and follows Paul Atreides as his noble House Atreides is thrust into a war for the deadly and inhospitable desert planet Arrakis. Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem are among the ensemble cast members.

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Other winners included “Pig,” which won the spotlight award, and James Laxton for “The Underground Railroad,” which won the motion picture, limited series, or pilot made for television award.

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The honoree awards were presented by Rachel Morrison, Stephen Hopkins, and Jay Holben, among other cinematographers. The lifetime achievement award was given to Ellen Kuras, ASC. Peter Levy, ASC, ACS received the career achievement in television award, while John Lindley, ASC received the president’s award and Dan Sasaki received the Curtis Clark technical achievement award.

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The following are the complete list of winners:

Feature Film

Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for “Dune”

-category sponsored by KESLOW CAMERA

Spotlight

Pat Scola for “Pig”

-category sponsored by PANAVISION

Documentary

Jessica Beshir for “Faya Dayi”

-category sponsored SONY

Motion Picture, Limited Series, or Pilot Made for Television

James Laxton, ASC for “The Underground Railroad” – Episode: “Chapter 9: Indiana Winter”

-category sponsored by ARRI

Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Non-Commercial

Jon Joffin, ASC for “Titans” – Episode: “Souls”

-category sponsored by PANAVISION

Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Commercial

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, ASC for “Snowfall” – Episode: “Weight”

-category sponsored by RED DIGITAL CINEMA

Episode of a Half-Hour Television Series

Michael Berlucchi and Marc Carter for “Mythic Quest” – Episode: “Backstory!”