The 35th American Society of Cinematographers Awards will be handed Sunday, April 18th, 2021.

As I have been doing for a few years, as we get into the awards season, I’ll post the fictional ballots for some of the guild awards, showing what my vote would be if I had one. I will, as a rule, abstain from my fictional vote if I haven’t seen at least half of the nominees. And to be perfectly clear, I’m not a member of any of these guilds and organizations.

The list of nominees can be seen here.

Here it goes:

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography – Documentary: abstain (Not seen: The Truffle Hunters, Gunda, Notturno.)

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Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography – Spotlight Award: abstain (Not seen: Swallow, Two of Us, Dear Comrades!.)

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Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography – Theatrical Release: Erik Messerschmidt, ASC, for Mank

In beautiful, lustrous black-and-white, Messerschmidt emulates the visual style of films of the 1940s; his camera movements are elegant, his framing is exquisite, and his lighting, expressive. (Not seen: Nomadland.)