Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw didn’t realize she was going to make history on “Sinners.” The Ryan Coogler film, now playing in theaters nationwide, marks the first time a female director of photography has shot a movie on large format IMAX film.
It was Kodak executive Vanessa Bendetti who texted her the news.
“I smiled at the thought,” Arkapaw said in a recent interview. “I felt very proud that Ryan gave me the opportunity.”
The format, a favorite of filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, has gained popularity in recent years — not just with directors but with moviegoers seeking it out as well. Coogler hadn’t originally sought it out for “Sinners” (he had planned on using 16 mm) until Warner Bros. executive Jesse Ehrman asked him if he’d considered large format, which gives moviegoers more resolution and a shallower depth of field.
“Just from an exhibition sense in this day and age with folks having so much access to streaming and watching so many things on their phones, it’s nice to have a format like IMAX that can be an experience you can only experience in the theaters,” Coogler told The Associated Press.
Coogler and Arkapaw then began a testing process, looking at 70 mm IMAX prints of films like “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Hateful Eight” and “Tenet” and consulting with Nolan and his regular cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema. Coogler quickly fell in love with the format and felt it was fitting for the larger-than-life, genre-bending film about vampires, the blues and life in the Jim Crow south in 1932.
“I wasn’t surprised that we were exploring large format,” Arkapaw said. “We shot ‘Wakanda Forever’ on IMAX, but that was digital. We always talked about true IMAX being ... something that you see and you fall in love with.”
Her conversation with Hoytema made her even more excited. The Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer” cinematographer told her not to worry about the size or weight of the equipment and to shoot the movie as she would with any other kind of camera.
“Hearing that straight off was inspiring and encouraging and we took that advice and just told our story,” Arkapaw said. “It was very freeing.”
In the end, they decided to employ a combination of IMAX film and Ultra Panavision 70, an even rarer format that Quentin Tarantino resurrected for “The Hateful Eight.” This means different scenes have different aspect ratios, which Coogler himself broke down in a video explainer for Kodak.
“We’re using these two formats for the very first time,” Coogler said. “It really complements the story, it really complements the setting and it really complements the filmmaking.”
One of Arkapaw’s favorite scenes was one they weren’t even initially going to do on IMAX film because it was dialogue heavy and the cameras are notoriously noisy. But if her work on “Wakanda” taught her anything about Coogler, it’s that he’s always looking to push boundaries.
The scene is the introduction to Jack O’Connell’s Irish vampire Remmick and the Choctaw trying to hunt him down, which they shot like a Western as the sun sets in the distance.
“We had a lot of beautiful crane work in that and some intimate stuff. Ryan loves a hallway, so there’s a Steadicam shot inside. It’s very eerie,” she said. “I can’t see that scene in any other format now.”
With “Sinners” out now, the hope is that audiences will seek out the special formats where they can, whether it’s IMAX film or digital.
“We want to bring people back to the cinema, get back to theaters,” “Sinners” star Michael B. Jordan said. “I think this is a movie that’s meant to give for the moviegoing experience…it takes you on a ride.”
The profession has come a long way since Arkapaw started exploring cinematography as a career path. It wasn’t too long ago that she said she struggled to find many women cinematographers besides Ellen Kuras (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”). And while there are more than there were 20 years ago, there are still barriers to be broken, including an Oscar win. Only three have been nominated: Rachel Morrison (who worked with Coogler on “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther”) was the first for “Mudbound," in 2018, followed by Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog" and Mandy Walker for “Elvis.”
Arkapaw takes the significance of her landmark seriously.
“I heard a phrase that said you need to see you to be you,” she said. “I think for us females in business, the more women are able to shoot on large format, it will inspire the younger girls who maybe don’t think that they can get there.”
Director Ryan Coogler poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Sinners' on Monday, April 14, 2025, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump was addressing graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday, a visit that drew hundreds of protesters to an off-campus rally.
Trump’s remarks in Tuscaloosa are the Republican president’s first address to graduates in his second term and come as he has been celebrating the first 100 days of his administration. The previously scheduled visit came shortly after he announced a shake-up to his national security team, with Mike Waltz being tapped for United Nations ambassador and Secretary of State Marco Rubio taking over Waltz's national security adviser role on an interim basis.
“What a nice looking group this is,” Trump said to open his speech. “There's nowhere I'd rather be than Tuscaloosa.”
Alabama, where Trump won a commanding 64% of the vote in 2024, is where he has staged a number of his trademark large rallies over the past decade. It is also where Trump showed early signs of strength in his first presidential campaign when he began filling stadiums for his rallies.
While Trump has described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students have the option of attending the event.
Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban also spoke, regaling the audience with a story about visiting the Oval Office in 2018 during Trump's first term. Saban said Trump was a gracious host.
Ahead of the president's arrival, cap-and-gown-wearing graduates and their families began filing into the arena where Trump was set to speak. Many seemed excited about the prospect of seeing him in person.
Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at their school “a cherry on top” of her college years.
“I think it’s such an honor, no matter who the president is. I think this is a huge honor to have the president of the United States speaking to our school," Appel said.
She called Trump a “very influential person” and said she hoped he had a message to share that was "positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future.”
Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, “I don’t think that we could have had a greater person come to speak."
The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump.
“I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it’s super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this,” she said.
At a park several miles away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, addressed the rally, called a “Tide Against Trump” — a play on the university’s nickname.
Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he felt betrayed by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event.
“I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime,” Meyers said.
He said he also feels betrayed by the administration’s stance on science and research. A fellowship he was seeking at the National Institutes of Health was canceled because of the federal hiring freeze, he said.
O'Rourke told the rally that Trump was trying to make the students’ graduation “all about him, true to form.” He urged students and others gathered to go out and use their voices to “win America back.”
“The power of people works in this country, even against Donald Trump,” O’Rourke said.
Jones told the crowd they were there “not just as a protest, but as a movement.”
“You are here today because you’re concerned, you’re afraid. You understand that this country’s great democracy is teetering right now with what we’re seeing going on,” the former senator said.
Ahead of the rally, O'Rourke praised the students who invited him as “inspiring” and said their efforts in a Republican-dominated state like Alabama are an example for the rest of the country.
“You cannot be too red or too rural or too Republican to be written off right now. You also can't be too blue or too liberal to be taken for granted,” O’Rourke told The Associated Press after arriving in Tuscaloosa. “You've got to show up absolutely everywhere. We truly are in crisis.”
Trump’s presence has also drawn criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color.
Trump's visit to Alabama is his second trip this week. He held a rally in Michigan on Tuesday to mark 100 days in office.
Outside of weekend trips for personal visits, the president has not made many official trips since taking office on Jan. 20. He usually speaks to the public from the impromptu news conferences he holds in the Oval Office and at other events at the White House.
After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Associated Press writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report from Atlanta.
President Donald Trump walks with Air Force Col. Angela Ochoa, Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing from Marine One to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., en route Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
