Autumn Durald Arkapaw: Vision Behind Sinners Film
Capturing Soul: Autumn Durald Arkapaw Talks Cinematography and Vision Behind Sinners
When cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw first received the script for Sinners from longtime collaborator Ryan Coogler, she knew it was something special. “It felt personal,” she recalls. “There was something raw and real in it, a story that needed to be told with soul.”
Set in 1930s Mississippi, Sinners follows twins Smoke and Stack—both portrayed by Michael B. Jordan—who open a juke joint that becomes a vibrant hub for music, culture, and resistance. The film pulses with rhythm, heritage, and the tension of the era, and it demanded a visual language that could match its emotional weight.
To bring that vision to life, Arkapaw and Coogler made a bold decision: to shoot on 15-perforation IMAX film. After testing multiple formats, they were inspired by the expansive scope of films like Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, aiming to harness the immersive power of wide landscape photography. The Mississippi Delta, with its sweeping cotton fields and moody bayous, became a character in its own right—rendered in staggering detail through the lens of 70mm film.
Arkapaw, the first woman cinematographer to shoot on 70mm film, embraced the challenge head-on. Encouraged by cinematography legend Hoyte Van Hoytema, she refused to let the size and weight of the IMAX cameras stifle her creativity. “Hoyte told me not to be intimidated by the gear,” Arkapaw said. “And he was right. There’s something freeing about working in such a grand format—it makes you commit.”
One of the film’s most ambitious sequences, the much-talked-about “Surreal Montage,” showcases Arkapaw’s ability to blend the poetic and the grounded. This pivotal scene required weeks of meticulous planning, extensive rehearsals, and tight collaboration with the visual effects team to weave surreal imagery seamlessly into the gritty realism of the story. The result is a dreamlike, emotionally charged moment that lingers long after the credits roll.
With Sinners, Arkapaw doesn’t just shoot a film—she paints with light, movement, and emotion. Her collaboration with Coogler is once again proving to be a powerhouse of vision and voice, breaking new ground both technically and artistically.
As Sinners hits the big screen in all its 70mm glory, audiences will not only witness a powerful story but also the work of a cinematographer unafraid to break boundaries and redefine the frame.