Other DPs were also adept at handling the season’s challenges, including of course Rachel Morrison, who found herself in “pioneer mode,” as the first female nominee for shooting a feature, on either the ASC or Oscar side of the equation.

That nominated film, of course, was Mudbound, which remained shut out on Oscar night. Collectively, however, it won an accolade the day before at the Independent Spirit Awards, held on under a massive tent, a la a Cirque de Soleil performance, on the beach in Santa Monica.

The winning cinematographer that day was Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, for his work capturing the raptures of both an Italian summer, and a first love, in Call Me By Your Name. Interestingly, Morrison wasn’t nominated in the cinematography category (and Mukdeeprom couldn’t be there, and had his award announced before the broadcast even began!)

But Mudbound did receive the Robert Altman Award, which goes to an indie film with an outstanding ensemble cast. The film certainly had that, but when director Dee Rees came backstage with the actors, and talked about opening doors and pioneering types of new work, we were able to ask her about the particular pioneer she had behind the camera.

She called a Morrison a “compelling, humanistic cinematographer,” and applauded her ability to work in tight quarters without a TV screen.

Which was similar to the praise that director Chloé Zhao, director of the film The Rider, gave to her cinematographer, Joshua James Richards. She was there to receive Indie Spirit’s first “Bonnie Award,” a grant from American Airlines named for Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo, who joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. It goes to a female director in mid-career, but Zhao responded that DPs were always like “my eyes on set,” especially Richards, since she was often only shooting scenes, partricularly in the story of an injured rodeo rider seeking redemption and rehabilitation, with just her and “an actor, my sound guy, and a camera.”

Of course, this equation of directorial praise was somewhat reversed during the earlier ASC Awards, which is where our march through award season left off last time ‘round. There, camera-folk generally get to lavish praise on their directors, along with everyone else who had helped them become honorees and winners.

Unless it was a director who was being honored, as was the case with Angelina Jolie, who received the ASC’s Board of Governors award, presented to her by Dean Semler - the Society’s only award not given to a cinematographer. Given that she was in London the next day for the BAFTAs, it was quite a night for her, but she said “I was taught to direct by a DP - by all my DPs,” though she also mentioned the shifting cultural paradigms that Hollywood - and everything else - is working under, noting “my job was never to be a female director, but a good director.”