Considering that Sir Roger Deakins has landed his 16th nomination Oscar nomination, including his two previous wins for Blade Runner 2049 and 1917. It’s safe to say that the Oscars aren’t enough to evaluate Sir Roger Deakins’ contribution to the world of Cinema and the cinematographer has also been pretty vocal about his distaste for some of the Academy’s practices.
With the 95th Academy Awards around the corner, the Blade Runner 2049 Cinematographer blasted the Academy for their treatment of popular movies. Deakins also didn’t back away from shutting down the arguments surrounding the importance of gender in winning the Oscars.
Roger Deakins believes that gender shouldn’t play a factor in winning the Oscars
While expressing his thoughts about his 16th Oscar nomination for Empire of Light, Sir Roger Deakins expressed his viewpoint on the role of gender in the industry. On asked whether it is about time that a woman should win the Oscar for Best Cinematographer, Deakins went on to shut the argument of gender playing a role in the win. He stated that the winners should be based on the quality of their work, as he stated, “It’s about the work, not the gender”.
Although Deakins expressed that such an outcome would be great but shared that their win should be backed up by their work. The Cinematographer also proceeded to criticize the Oscars for snubbing the Award from deserving candidates and called out for their treatment of popular films.
Roger Deakins blasted the Oscars for their treatment of popular movies
Sir Roger Deakins, who was too previously snubbed from several Oscar wins, including Sicario, No Country for Old Man, and Skyfall, has recently called out the Oscars for leaving out the deserving candidates. Deakins shared that Greig Fraser deserved to win 2023’s Oscars for his exceptional work on The Batman. He also criticized the Oscars for not being open to popular films, including the recent Top Gun: Maverick. The cinematographer also went on to express that the genre shouldn’t matter and the award should always be handed to deserving candidates. He said,
“The best cinematography hasn’t been nominated. It’s The Batman. That’s the best work in my view. “The reason it wasn’t is pure and simple: snobbery. There’s this unfair tendency to avoid the Marvel universe and the other popular universes,”
Although Deakins too will be competing for the Best Cinematographer accolade this year. But the cinematographer shared that he isn’t expecting to take the trophy home after observing James Friend’s win at BAFTA for All Quiet on the Western Front and Mandy Walker’s win at ASC Award for Elvis.
Source: Deadline
