Roger Deakins: Last News

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor EnergaCamerimage, the international cinematography-focused film festival, will honor Oscar winner Sam Mendes with the Special Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Director during its 30th anniversary edition, which will run in Toruń Poland Nov. 12-19. The helmer’s “Empire of Light,” starring Academy Award winner Olivia Colman (‘The Favourite,” “The Lost Daughter”) and BAFTA-winner Michael Ward (“Blue Story,” “Top Boy”), will open the Camerimage fest in addition to being one of the Main Competition nominees. Aside from “Empire of Light,” Mendes’ notable films include “American Beauty” (for which he won his best director Oscar), “Road to Perdition,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Skyfall,” “Spectre” and “1917.”

Diego Ramos Bechara editor French songwriting and composing duo Camille Dalmais and Clément Ducol have been presented with the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Variety Artisan Award for composing the soundtrack for Jacques Audiard’s Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez.” The duo will be feted as part of the TIFF’s 2024 class of tribute award honorees, which will also include Mike Leigh (awarded the TIFF Ebert Director Award) and Durga Chew-Bose (awarded the TIFF Emerging Talent Award). Dalmais (“Corsage”) and Ducol (“Little Tickles”) are prominent figures in the French music scene.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events.

TeamDeakins, the podcast run by acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins and James Deakins, his collaborator, a script supervisor, and his wife, is consistently entertaining and listenable. On a recent episode, the Deakins duo had actor Benicio del Toro on the podcast to discuss their work together on “Sicario”—Roger was the DP, del Toro co-starred— and much of the Latin American actor’s impressive career.

Oscar winning filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee are getting feted at this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Legendary filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee are the first honorees announced for this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards. Almodóvar, who won the Oscar for original screenplay for “Talk to Her” (2002), will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media presented by Participant, which recognizes leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema.

Just as the global pandemic seemed to profoundly accelerate the demise of movies and theatergoing—something we all cynically assumed would happen, but hell, not that fast! Not so soon! culturally, our internal clocks all have an impending sense of doom that seems to be ticking faster than ever. Climate change is something we presume will destroy our lives eventually, but globally, it’s been unnerving to watch raging forest fires in Australia that appear apocalyptic, or more recently, if you’re a New Yorker, experience firsthand alarming smoke and air quality pollution that looks like it’s been shot by Roger Deakins on the set of “Blade Runner 2049.” Intentional timed or not, this is where Steven Soderbergh and writer Kurt Anderson are coming from with their surprise new sci-fi-ish satirical series, “Command Z” (the Apple key command for “undo,” and specifically the computer power to negate a mistake; the serious was not officially announced until three days prior to release, and not for nothing, we were the only ones that reported about it months ago in advance).

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This contains spoilers from “Swagger” Season 2, now streaming on AppleTV+. As Reggie Rock Bythewood was gearing up for AppleTV+’s second season of “Swagger,” the filmmaker was thinking about how to elevate the series and take it to another level. One film that came to mind was Sam Mendes’ “1917” and how cinematographer Roger Deakins had shot the film and presented it as if it were one continuous long shot. The series follows a team of basketball players inspired by NBA star Kevin Durant and in the latest “maze,” as Bythewood calls it, the team down to six players, Jace (Isaiah R. Hill), Phil (Solomon Irama), Musa (Caleel Harris), Drew, Royale (Ozie Nzeribe), and Nick (Jason Rivera) head to Maryland’s Youth Facility, a detention center for young offenders for a game. “I thought about ‘1917’ and the entire film is shot as if it were one shot. So, Cliff Charles, the D.P., and I talked about doing one that way,” says Bythewood.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic A slow-burn Rocky Mountain noir set along the corridor between Billings, Mont., and the Canadian border — a cold, lonely stretch of highway shared by salesmen and smugglers alike — “Blood for Dust” establishes a ruthless sense of sangfroid from its opening shot. On a desk in a bland business office sits a family portrait, depicting a proud Marine and his family. Without warning, a shotgun goes off, splattering the photo and the wall behind it in blood and brain matter. The camera pulls back to reveal the same man, his face half-missing, a briefcase full of cash propped open on his desk. It’s a jarring — and jarringly artificial — scene. Fortunately, it’s the only one that rings false in director Rod Blackhurst’s otherwise tense, no-nonsense thriller, a standout of the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival that merits comparison to “Breaking Bad” or “Hell or High Water,” but with snow instead of sand. Moments after that opening gun blast, “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harrington (sporting a sleazy handlebar mustache) and Scoot McNairy (as his hangdog accomplice) show up, too late to save the friend who offed himself. In taking his own life, the dead man saved theirs. The question that lingers is how long their luck may last.

James Friend won the Oscar tonight in the Best Cinematography category for his work on Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front, beating out fellow cinematographers Darius Khondji, Mandy Walker, Roger Deakins and Florian Hoffmeister.

Roger Deakins, legendary cinematographer and knight of the British realm, cut to the chase: In his view several of the best examples of cinematography are missing from this year’s Oscars list.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The American Society of Cinematographers handed out its best visual storytelling in feature film award to “Elvis” on Sunday night, and in doing so, Mandy Walker has become the first woman to win the top prize in the society’s history. Walker triumphed over Greig Fraser (“The Batman”), Darius Khondji (“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”), Claudio Miranda (“Top Gun: Maverick” and Roger Deakins (“Empire of Light”) in a very competitive race.  Walker‘s win comes as Oscar voting ends on March 7, where she is also nominated. She became only the third woman ever nominated for cinematography for her work on “Elvis.” Rachel Morrison (“Mudbound”) made history as the first female DP to land a nom in 2018, while Ari Wegner was nominated last year for “The Power of the Dog.”

The American Society of Cinematographers is handing out its 37th annual ASC Awards tonight at the Beverly Hilton, and Deadline is posting the winners as they’re announced. See the list below.

British screenwriter Ray Jenkins, who wrote on some of the UK’s biggest TV hits across several decades, has died aged 87. Jenkins died last month and leaves behind his two children, Pascale and Ceri.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Is the Oscar cinematography category making progress when it comes to recognizing female DPs? This year, Mandy Walker became only the third woman ever nominated for cinematography for her work on “Elvis.” Rachel Morrison (“Mudbound”) made history as the first female DP to land a nom and that was in 2018, while Ari Wegner was nominated last year for “The Power of the Dog.” Walker’s up against James Friend (“All Quiet on the Western Front”), Darius Khondji (“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”), Roger Deakins (“Empire of Light”) and Florian Hoffmeister (“Tár”), in a very competitive race. 

EXCLUSIVE: Toby Jones says he initially had concerns of being “bored out my mind” working on summer blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but the actor tells Deadline that he’s “so relieved that I had done it” because “actually, I absolutely loved working on that film.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday hosted its annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon to celebrate this year’s crop of hopefuls.

The American Society of Cinematographers has unveiled the nominations for its 37th annual ASC Awards, honoring the year’s best in feature film, documentary and television cinematography.

Sam Mendes was the guest of honor at the opening of the 30th EnergaCamerimage Film Festival Saturday evening, where he picked up the Krzysztof Kieslowski career award and introduced a special screening of his latest film, Empire of Light.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor With Oscar season fully underway following the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals, buzz is building for the latest offerings from marquee filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Darren Aronofsky,Sarah Polley and Alejandro G. Iñárritu. But behind the scenes, look for leading artisans to also be recognized for their work on high-profile contenders; within the film community, these names have become as renowned as the directors and A-listers with whom they work. Here are some titans of the crafts who could add a nomination and even an Oscar win to their résumés when the Academy Awards are dispensed in March. Catherine MartinProduction designer“Elvis”

Olivia Colman sandwiches herself in between Michael Ward and Tanya Moodie at the premiere of their new film, Empire of Light, during the 2022 Toronto Film Festival at Princess of Wales on Monday (September 12) in Toronto, Ontario.