{"id":221795,"date":"2026-03-16T08:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/221795\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T08:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:18:14","slug":"oaklands-ryan-coogler-wins-first-oscar-for-sinners-screenplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/221795\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland’s Ryan Coogler wins first Oscar, for ‘Sinners’ screenplay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSinners,\u201d the $369 million blockbuster directed by Oakland\u2019s Ryan Coogler, received a record 16 Academy Award nominations and won four Oscars tonight.<\/p>\n

Coogler won for Original Screenplay, his first Oscar.<\/p>\n

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the film\u2019s director of photography, became the first woman to win for Cinematography in Academy Awards history. She\u2019s also the first person of African American or Filipino descent to win in the category.<\/p>\n

Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor at tonight\u2019s Academy Awards for his dual roles as twins Stack and Smoke. The win was considered an upset, as Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet was widely expected to win<\/a> for his role in \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d until the race tightened in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

And \u201cSinners\u201d composer Ludwig G\u00f6ransson received the Oscar for Original Score.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod is good,\u201d Jordan said while accepting the award for Best Actor. He thanked Coogler for his vision and for \u201cbetting on the culture.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re an amazing, amazing person,\u201d he said of Coogler. \u201cI\u2019m so honored to call you a collaborator and a friend, and you gave me an opportunity and space for me to be seen. Love you too, bro. Love you to death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Jordan, winner of the award for actor in a leading role for \u201cSinners,\u201d in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Credit: Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

\"\"Coogler accepts the Oscar for original screenplay. Credit: AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello<\/p>\n

The vampire film set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta, explores Black culture and survival in the Jim Crow South. The film was written and directed by Coogler, and produced by Coogler, his wife Zinzi Coogler, and his longtime collaborator Sev Ohanian.<\/p>\n

The partnership between Jordan and the Oakland-born Coogler began in 2013 with Coogler\u2019s first feature film, \u201cFruitvale Station,\u201d with Jordan in the lead role as Oscar Grant, the young man shot and killed by a BART police officer in 2009. The two went on to collaborate on the \u201cBlack Panther\u201d films, and then \u201cSinners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan became only the sixth Black actor to win an Oscar for a leading role, joining Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, and Will Smith. Halle Berry remains the only Black woman to have ever won for best actress. Jordan mentioned all of them in his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the evening, the audience erupted when \u201cSinners\u201d was announced as the winner for Original Screenplay. This is only the second time in Oscar history a Black writer has won the category, after Jordan Peele for his 2017 film \u201cGet Out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease sit down because I\u2019m very nervous, and they\u2019re gonna play me off,\u201d Coogler told the crowd<\/a>, which included his parents. \u201cI grew up in Oakland and Richmond, California and we can talk a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Jordan, left, congratulates Coogler after he won an award for best original screenplay Academy Award for \u201cSinners.\u201d Credit: AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello<\/p>\n

Later on, there were lots of cheers and shouts of \u201cI love you\u201d from the audience for Arkapaw when she was named the Cinematography winner for \u201cSinners.\u201d Arkapaw, who like Coogler grew up in the East Bay<\/a>, was the first woman, first Black person, and first Filipino in Oscars history to have won for Cinematography. She was also the first woman of color ever nominated in the category.<\/p>\n

She called Coogler an \u201chonorable person\u201d during her acceptance speech, saying, \u201cthat\u2019s the kind of guy that I get to make films with.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also thanked all the women in the room. \u201cI felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign, and gotten to meet so many people,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I just feel like moments like this happen because of you guys. And I want to thank you for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When G\u00f6ransson received the Oscar for original score, he called Coogler one of the \u201cgreatest storytellers of our time.\u201d This was the second time he won the Oscar in this category for a collaboration with Coogler; the first win came in 2019 for \u201cBlack Panther.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Autumn Durald Arkapaw becomes the first woman, and first Black or Filipino cameraperson, to win for cinematography, for \u201cSinners.\u201d Credit: AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello Credit: AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello<\/p>\n

\"\"Zinzi Coogler, \u201cSinners\u201d actor Jack O\u2019Connell, Adam Arkapaw, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw cheer on as Coogler congratulates Ludwig G\u00f6ransson for winning the Oscar for best original score for \u201cSinners.\u201d Credit: AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello)<\/p>\n

\"\"G\u00f6ransson with his second Oscar for a collaboration with Coogler. Credit: Photo by Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

\"\"Coogler, G\u00f6ransson, Arkapaw, and Jordan with their Oscars for their work in \u201cSinners.\u201d Credit: Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

The 16 nominations \u201cSinners\u201d received was an Oscars record, surpassing the previous record of 14 nominations held by \u201cAll About Eve\u201d (1950), \u201cTitanic\u201d (1997), and \u201cLa La Land\u201d (2016).<\/p>\n

In the end, the film took home four trophies tonight:<\/p>\n

Original Screenplay, Ryan Coogler<\/p>\n

Original Score, Ludwig G\u00f6ransson<\/p>\n

Cinematography, Autumn Durald Arkapaw<\/p>\n

Actor in a Leading Role, Michael B. Jordan<\/p>\n

\u201cSinners\u201d had racked up a stack of honors at earlier awards ceremonies. The film received 13 BAFTA nominations and became the most-awarded film by a Black director in BAFTA history<\/a> with wins including Best Original Screenplay for Coogler, Best Supporting Actress for Wunmi Mosaku, and Best Original Score for G\u00f6ransson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSinners\u201d received 17 Critics\u2019 Choice Award nominations and won four, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting and Ensemble, Best Original Score, and Best Young Actor\/Actress (Miles Caton). At the Golden Globes, \u201cSinners\u201d received Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Original Score, and at the Actor Awards, presented by the Screen Actors Guild, the film won Outstanding Performance by a Cast and Jordan won Best Male Lead.<\/p>\n

The film also garnered 13 awards at the NAACP Image Awards including outstanding motion picture, director, lead actor, supporting actor (Delroy Lindo), supporting actress (Wunmi Mosaku), and breakthrough performance (Caton).\u00a0<\/p>\n

A history of Oakland\u2019s Oscar winners<\/p>\n

The Cooglers aren\u2019t the first Oakland filmmakers to be nominated for Academy Awards. George Stevens won for Best Director twice, in 1951 for \u201cA Place in the Sun,\u201d starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, and in 1956 for \u201cGiant,\u201d starring Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. Clint Eastwood won the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for both 1993\u2019s \u201cUnforgiven\u201d and 2005\u2019s \u201cMillion Dollar Baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Oakland artists with Oscar wins include Jo Van Fleet (Best Supporting Actress for \u201cEast of Eden\u201d), Tom Hanks (Best Actor for \u201cPhiladelphia\u201d and \u201cForrest Gump\u201d), and Mahershala Ali (Best Supporting Actor for \u201cMoonlight\u201d and \u201cGreenbook\u201d). Julian Brave NoiseCat was the first Indigenous director to be nominated for a filmmaking Oscar, for his 2025 documentary feature film, \u201cSugarcane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Ryan and Zinzi Coogler arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Credit: Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

Ryan and Zinzi Coogler were both born in Oakland<\/a>, and met as college athletes in the East Bay. In 2021, the duo founded Proximity Media<\/a> with Ohanian, who first joined Coogler as co-producer for the film \u201cFruitvale Station.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coogler\u2019s next project is the reboot of the 1990s sci-fi TV show \u201cThe X-Files.\u201d He will write, direct, and executive produce a pilot with Proximity Media that has already been picked up by Hulu<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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