The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is awarded each year to a cinematographer for his work in one particular motion picture.

1920s

• 1928 - Sunrise
• 1929 - White Shadows in the South Seas

1930s

• 1930 - With Byrd at the South Pole
• 1931 -
• 1932 - Shanghai Express
• 1933 - A Farewell to Arms
• 1934 - Cleopatra
• 1935 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

From 1936, there were separate awards for Black and White and for Color:

• 1936 - Anthony Adverse (B&W); The Garden of Allah (Color)
• 1937 - The Good Earth (B&W); A star is born (Color)
• 1938 - The Great Waltz (B&W); Sweethearts (Color)
• 1939 - Wuthering Heights (B&W); Gone with the Wind (Color)

1940s

• 1940 - Rebecca (B&W); The Thief of Bagdad (Color)
• 1941 - How Green Was My Valley (B&W); Blood and Sand (Color)
• 1942 - Mrs. Miniver (B&W); The Black Swan (Color)
• 1943 - The Song of Bernadette (B&W); The Phantom of the Opera (Color)
• 1944 - Laura (B&W); Wilson (Color)
• 1945 - Picture of Dorian Gray (B&W); Leave Her to Heaven
• 1946 - Anna and the King of Siam (B&W); The Yearling (Color)
• 1947 - Great Expectations (B&W); Black Narcissus (Color)
• 1948 - The Naked City (B&W); Joan of Arc (Color)
• 1949 - Battleground (B&W); She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Color)

1950s

• 1950 - The Third Man (B&W); King Solomon's Mines (Color)
• 1951 - A Place in the Sun (B&W); An American in Paris (Color)
• 1952 - The Bad and the Beautiful (B&W); The Quiet Man (Color)
• 1953 - From Here to Eternity (B&W); Shane (Color)
• 1954 - On the Waterfront (B&W); Three Coins in the Fountain (Color)
• 1955 - The Rose Tattoo (B&W); To Catch a Thief (Color)
• 1956 - Somebody Up There Likes Me (B&W); Around the World in Eighty Days (Color)

For 1957, there was a single award:

• 1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai

From 1958, there were separate awards for Black and White and for Color:

• 1958 - The Defiant Ones (B&W); Gigi (Color)
• 1959 - The Diary of Anne Frank (B&W); Ben-Hur (Color)

1960s

• 1960 - Sons and Lovers (B&W); Spartacus (Color)
• 1961 - The Hustler (B&W); West Side Story (Color)
• 1962 - The Longest Day (B&W); Lawrence of Arabia (Color)
• 1963 - Hud (B&W); Cleopatra (Color)
• 1964 - Zorba the Greek (B&W); My Fair Lady (Color)
• 1965 - Ship of Fools (B&W); Doctor Zhivago (Color)
• 1966 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (B&W); A Man for All Seasons (Color)

From 1967, there was a single award again:

• 1967 - Bonnie & Clyde
• 1968 - Romeo and Juliet
• 1969 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Conrad Hall

1970s

• 1970 - Ryan's Daughter
• 1971 - Fiddler on the Roof
• 1972 - Geoffrey Unsworth , Cabaret
• 1973 - Sven Nykvist, Cries and Whispers
• 1974 - The Towering Inferno
• 1975 - John A. Alonzo , Barry Lyndon
• 1976 - Haskell Wexler , Bound for Glory
• 1977 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• 1978 - Nestor Almendros , Days of Heaven
• 1979 - Apocalypse Now

1980s

• 1980 - Tess
• 1981 - Reds
• 1982 - Gandhi
• 1983 - Sven Nykvist, Fanny and Alexander
• 1984 - The Killing Fields
• 1985 - Out of Africa
• 1986 - The Mission
• 1987 - The Last Emperor
• 1988 - Mississippi Burning
• 1989 - Glory

1990s

• 1990 - Dances with Wolves
• 1991 - JFK
• 1992 - A River Runs Through It
• 1993 - Janusz Kaminski, Schindler's List
• 1994 - Legends of the Fall
• 1995 - John Toll, Braveheart
• 1996 - John Seale , The English Patient
  • Darius Khondji , Evita
  • Roger Deakins, Fargo
  • Caleb Deschanel, Fly Away Home
  • Chris Menges , Michael Collins
• 1997 - Russell Carpenter , Titanic
  • Janusz Kaminski, Amistad
  • Roger Deakins, Kundun
  • Dante Spinotti , L.A. Confidential
  • Eduardo Serra , The Wings of the Dove
• 1998 - Janusz Kaminski, Saving Private Ryan
  • Conrad L. Hall, A Civil Action
  • Remi Adefarasin , Elizabeth
  • Richard Greatrex , Shakespeare in Love
  • John Toll, The Thin Red Line
• 1999 - Conrad Hall, American Beauty
  • Roger Pratt , The End of the Affair
  • Dante Spinotti , The Insider
  • Emmanuel Lubezki , Sleepy Hollow
  • Robert Richardson , Snow Falling on Cedars

2000s

• 2000 - Peter Pau , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • John Mathieson, Gladiator
  • Lajos Koltai , Malena
  • Roger Deakins, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  • Caleb Deschanel, The Patriot

• 2001 - Andrew Lesnie, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • Bruno Delbonnel , Amélie
  • Slawomir Idziak , Black Hawk Down
  • Roger Deakins, The Man Who Wasn't There
  • Donald M. McAlpine , Moulin Rouge

• 2002 - Conrad Hall, Road to Perdition
  • Dion Beebe , Chicago
  • Edward Lachman , Far from Heaven
  • Michael Ballhaus , Gangs of New York
  • Pawel Edelman , The Pianist

• 2003 - Russell Boyd, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
  • Cesar Charlone , City of God
  • John Seale , Cold Mountain
  • Eduardo Serra , Girl with a Pearl Earring
  • John Schwartzman , Seabiscuit

• 2004 - Robert Richardson , The Aviator
  • Zhao Xiaoding , House of Flying Daggers
  • Caleb Deschanel, The Passion of the Christ
  • John Mathieson, The Phantom of the Opera
  • Bruno Delbonnel , A Very Long Engagement

See also: Academy Awards