Inception’s Wally Pfister Earns Top Honors at ASC Awards

Renowned DP Wally Pfister (The Prestige; The Italian Job) has a reason to celebrate this week—over the weekend, he nabbed an ASC Award for his work on Christopher Nolan’s Inception. The 25th annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Outstanding Achievement Awards took place on Sunday at the Hollywood Highland Grand Ballroom.

This is the first ASC win for Pfister, who was previously nominated for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Inception is his sixth collaboration with Nolan. The other nominees in the feature film category were Matthew Libatique (Black Swan), Danny Cohen (The King’s Speech), Jeff Cronenweth (The Social Network) and Roger Deakins (True Grit). This year, all of the ASC feature nominees are also Oscar-nominated. Is this an indication that Pfister may nab a shiny gold man later this month? We’ll find out February 27th.

Also during the ceremony, Tom Hanks presented the Board of Governors Award to Julia Roberts in recognition of her contributions to the art of moviemaking. Hanks and Roberts, who previously co-starred in Charlie Wilson’s War, re-team this summer in the comedy-drama Larry Crowne, which Hanks also co-wrote and directed. Another highlight of the memorable evening was the presentation of the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award to 10-time ASC Award nominee (and nine-time Oscar nominee) Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (No Country For Old Men; The Shawshank Redemption). In addition, the ASC International Award was presented to John Seale, ASC, ACS (The English Patient; Rain Man).

“The 25th anniversary of the ASC Awards is a celebration of the best that we can be, and an inspiration for those who will tell memorable visual stories in the future,” says ASC President Michael Goi. “It is a milestone in our ongoing celebration of the power an indelible photographic image has to move an audience, influence social change, and communicate who we are within a snapshot in time.”

For more information regarding the ASC Awards, visit www.theasc.com.