Ryan Coogler, winner of the award for writing (original screenplay) for “Sinners, ” poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
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Ryan Coogler accepts the award for original screenplay for “Sinners” during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
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Swedish composer Ludwig Goransson accepts the award for best music (original score) for “Sinners” onstage during the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
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Autumn Durald Arkapaw hugs director Ryan Coogler as she walks to accept the award for Best Cinematography for “Sinners.”
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Autumn Durald Arkapaw accepts the award for Best Cinematography for “Sinners.”
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Michael B. Jordan accepts the Actor in a Leading Role award for “Sinners.”
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Ryan Coogler, from left, winner of the award for writing (original screenplay) for “Sinners, ” Ludwig Goransson, winner of the award for music (original score), Autumn Durald Arkapaw, winner of the award for cinematography and Michael B. Jordan, winner of the award for actor in a leading role pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Jordan Strauss/Associated Press
Even if it didn’t take home the ultimate prize, “Sinners” — and the East Bay — were big winners at the 98th Academy Awards.
Oakland’s Ryan Coogler won his first career Oscar on Sunday, March 15, for best original screenplay award for “Sinners.” The film’s director of photography, Danville-raised Autumn Durald Arkapaw, made history as the first woman to win the best cinematography.
Michael B. Jordan, who first collaborated with Coogler by portraying BART police shooting victim Oscar Grant in “Fruitvale Station” (2013), won best actor for playing twins Smoke and Stack in Coogler’s vampire tale set in the Jim Crow South. This was also his first Oscar.
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Ludwig Göransson, who has collaborated with Coogler since both were students at the University of Southern California, won his third statuette for best original score.
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The four Oscars — out of a record 16 nominations — were a strong showing despite the six won by best picture winner “One Battle After Another,” which also captured Academy Awards for Paul Thomas Anderson’s direction and adapted screenplay and Sean Penn’s best supporting actor performance.
In accepting his screenplay award onstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Coogler warned the well-heeled crowd and a worldwide television audience that he might talk a bit.
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“I grew up in Oakland, Richmond, California. We can talk a lot,” he said with a chuckle.
Coogler, who is now the second Black filmmaker to win in the category following Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” win in 2018, was asking the crowd to stop clapping so he could speak. Throughout the evening, several Oscar winners had been cut off for time. Even the intricate dance and musical performance of the Oscar-nominated “Sinners” song “I Lied To You,” led by Oakland native Raphael Saadiq, wasn’t shown in its entirety so the ABC broadcast could go to commercial, while the performance continued onstage.
After congratulating his fellow nominees and thanking Warner Bros. and his production team, Coogler, whose hair was braided into the shape of a guitar and treble clef in homage of the film’s blues theme, concluded his speech by thanking his family, including his wife, co-producer Zinzi Coogler.
“Zinzi, you’re the best wife and mom in the world,” Coogler said. “Every day I get to spend with you is better than the one that came before. And to my parents who are here, thank y’all for all the memories. Thank y’all for making me believe in myself.
“And to my babies that are at home watching, I apologize for all the time away. Dad loves you.”
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Michael B. Jordan accepts the Oscar for Actor in a Leading Role for “Sinners” during the 98th Annual Academy Awards.
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Jordan, who brought his mother as his Oscar date, became the sixth Black man to win best actor. He thanked past Black acting winners by name, as well as Warner Bros. brass and his “Sinners” castmates.
But he had special praise for Coogler.
“You’re an amazing, amazing person,” Jordan told Coogler from the stage. “I’m so honored to call you a collaborator and a friend. You gave me the opportunity and space for me to be seen.”
When Coogler responded from his seat by making a heart emoji with his hands, Jordan said, “I love you too, bro. I love you to death.”
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Durald Arkapaw, who is of Filipino and Creole descent, was only the fourth woman in the 98-year history of the Oscars to be nominated in the category, and the first woman of color. She followed Rachel Morrison (2018’s “Mudbound”), Ari Wegner (2021’s “The Power of the Dog”) and Mandy Walker (2022’s “Elvis”) as nominees.
“Whenever I say ‘thank you’ to Ryan, he says ‘No, thank you for believing in me, thank you for trusting me,’ and that’s the kind of guy I get to make films with,” Durald Arkapaw said. “He’s a really honorable man, and he means it.”
Danville-raised Autumn Durald Arkapaw poses in the press room with the Oscar for best cinematography for “Sinners.”
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Göransson previously won Academy Awards for Coogler’s “Black Panther” (2018) and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” (2023). He first worked with Coogler on a 2009 short film, “locks,” made at USC.
Göransson, who is from Sweden, credited his father for buying a blues record in 1964 and devoting his life to music. He gave his son a guitar when he turned 7.
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“It was the guitar eventually that led me to one the greatest storytellers of our time, Ryan Coogler,” Göransson said. “Ryan, thank you for your vision and making a movie that resonated with the whole world.”
Elsewhere, Oakland resident Delroy Lindo, nominated in the best supporting actor category, lost out to Penn, the fourth male actor to win three Academy Awards after Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson and Walter Brennan.
Penn also won for “Mystic River” (2003) and for portraying Harvey Milk in the San Francisco-shot “Milk.”
Wunmi Mosaku, like Lindo nominated for the first time, lost best supporting actress to Amy Madigan for “Weapons.”
Ryan Coogler, winner of the Writing (Original Screenplay) award, poses with Paul Thomas Anderson, winner of the Writing (Adapted Screenplay) award for “One Battle After Another” backstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 15, 2026 in Hollywood.
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Still, even if it was not quite magical, it was an impressive night for “Sinners” and its creatives.
“Memories are all we have,” Coogler said in a message to his children. “I hope I’ll give you some great ones. And when y’all blessed to live a long life, and that becomes just a memory, I want y’all to remember this one thing: I love y’all more than anything.”