Academy Award for Best Cinematography Winners
# A Midsummer Night's Dream
Year: 1999 | Country: Italy, United States of America, United Kingdom
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Synopsis
The lovely Hermia is to wed Demetrius, but she truly cares for Lysander. Hermia's friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, while other romantic entanglements abound in the woods, with married fairy
# Gone with the Wind
Year: 1939 | Country: US
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel
Synopsis
The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
# Black Swan
Year: 2010 | Country: US
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
Synopsis
The story of Nina, a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica who zealously supports her daughter's professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice.
# King Solomon's Mines
Year: 1985 | Country: United States of America
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Synopsis
Ever in search of adventure, explorer Allan Quatermain agrees to join the beautiful Jesse Huston on a mission to locate her archaeologist father, who has been abducted for his knowledge of the legenda
# Shane
Year: 1953 | Country: US
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Palance
Synopsis
A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.
# Ben-Hur
Year: 1959 | Country: US
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet
Synopsis
In 25 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.
# Spartacus
Year: 1960 | Country: US
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov
Synopsis
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.
# West Side Story
Year: 2021 | Country: US
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist
Synopsis
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
# Lawrence of Arabia
Year: 1962 | Country: GB
Director: David Lean
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Synopsis
The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Lawrence becomes a flamboyant, messianic figure in the cause of Arab unity but his psychological instability threatens to undermine his achievements.
# Cleopatra
Year: 1963 | Country: GB
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown, George Cole
Synopsis
Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.
# Doctor Zhivago
Year: 1965 | Country: Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America
Director: David Lean
Cast: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness
Synopsis
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
# Bonnie and Clyde
Year: 1967 | Country: US
Director: Arthur Penn
Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons
Synopsis
In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
# Romeo and Juliet
Year: 1968 | Country: Italy, United Kingdom
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Synopsis
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love against the wishes of their feuding families. Driven by their passion, the young lovers defy their destiny and elope, only to suffer the ultimate tragedy
# Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Year: 1969 | Country: United States of America
Director: George Roy Hill
Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones
Synopsis
In late 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy is the affable, clever and talkative leader of the outlaw Hole in the Wall Gang. His closest companion is the laconic dead-shot Sundance Kid. As the west rapidly b
# Cries and Whispers
Year: 1972 | Country: Sweden
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Synopsis
As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so deeply immersed in their own psychic pains that they can't offer her the support she needs. Maria is wracked with guilt at her husband's attempted su
# The Towering Inferno
Year: 1974 | Country: United States of America
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Synopsis
At the opening party of a colossal—but poorly constructed—skyscraper, a massive fire breaks out, threatening to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
# Barry Lyndon
Year: 1975 | Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
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Synopsis
An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.
# Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Year: 1977 | Country: GB
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban
Synopsis
After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
# Apocalypse Now
Year: 1979 | Country: US
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Albert Hall, Frederic Forrest, Laurence Fishburne
Synopsis
At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.
# Gandhi
Year: 1982 | Country: IN
Director: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard
Synopsis
In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
# Fanny and Alexander
Year: 1982 | Country: Sweden, Germany, France
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Synopsis
As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a j
# Glory
Year: 1989 | Country: United States of America
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Synopsis
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
# Dances with Wolves
Year: 1990 | Country: GB
Director: Kevin Costner
Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman
Synopsis
Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.
# JFK
Year: 1991 | Country: US
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Michael Rooker
Synopsis
Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.
# Schindler's List
Year: 1993 | Country: United States of America
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall
Synopsis
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
# Legends of the Fall
Year: 1994 | Country: US
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond, Henry Thomas
Synopsis
In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit family are bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, as told over the course of several decades in this epic saga.
# Apollo 13
Year: 1995 | Country: US
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris
Synopsis
The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.
# The English Patient
Year: 1996 | Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
Director: Anthony Minghella
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Naveen Andrews
Synopsis
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World W
# Saving Private Ryan
Year: 1998 | Country: United States of America
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper
Synopsis
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating
# American Beauty
Year: 1999 | Country: US
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari
Synopsis
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
# Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Year: 2000 | Country: HK
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Lung Sihung
Synopsis
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.
# The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Year: 2001 | Country: NZ
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Ian Holm
Synopsis
Young hobbit Frodo Baggins, after inheriting a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, must leave his home in order to keep it from falling into the hands of its evil creator. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to protect the ringbearer and make sure that the ring arrives at its final destination: Mt. Doom, the only place where it can be destroyed.
# Road to Perdition
Year: 2002 | Country: United States of America
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Synopsis
Mike Sullivan works as a hit man for crime boss John Rooney. Sullivan views Rooney as a father figure, however after his son is witness to a killing, Mike Sullivan finds himself on the run in attempt
# The Aviator
Year: 2004 | Country: Germany, United States of America
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin
Synopsis
A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously grow
# Memoirs of a Geisha
Year: 2005 | Country: France, Japan, United States of America
Director: Rob Marshall
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Youki Kudoh, Tsai Chin, Suzuka Ohgo
Synopsis
A sweeping romantic epic set in Japan in the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
# Pan's Labyrinth
Year: 2006 | Country: MX
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil, Doug Jones
Synopsis
Living with her tyrannical stepfather in a new home with her pregnant mother, 10-year-old Ofelia feels alone until she explores a decaying labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun who claims to know her destiny. If she wishes to return to her real father, Ofelia must complete three terrifying tasks.
# There Will Be Blood
Year: 2007 | Country: US
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciarán Hinds, Dillon Freasier
Synopsis
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
# Avatar
Year: 2009 | Country: United States of America, United Kingdom
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Synopsis
In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.
# Inception
Year: 2010 | Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
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Synopsis
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inc
# Hugo
Year: 2011 | Country: France, United Kingdom, United States of America
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone
Synopsis
Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is
# Life of Pi
Year: 2012 | Country: IN
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Adil Hussain
Synopsis
The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
# Gravity
Year: 2013 | Country: GB
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Orto Ignatiussen, Phaldut Sharma
Synopsis
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
# The Revenant
Year: 2015 | Country: CA
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck
Synopsis
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
# La La Land
Year: 2016 | Country: US
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons
Synopsis
Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
# Blade Runner 2049
Year: 2017 | Country: CA
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista, Robin Wright
Synopsis
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
# 1917
Year: 2019 | Country: IN
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden
Synopsis
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.
# Dune
Year: 1984 | Country: US
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Francesca Annis, Patrick Stewart, Linda Hunt, José Ferrer
Synopsis
In the year 10,191, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe, the vast desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Its native inhabitants, the Fremen, have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah who would lead them to true freedom.
# All Quiet on the Western Front
Year: 2022 | Country: DE
Director: Edward Berger
Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald
Synopsis
Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
# Oppenheimer
Year: 2023 | Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
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Synopsis
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.