Mark Ziobro

I don’t usually have a lot of patience for television. That’s not a badge of honor, nor some curmudgeonly critic stance I’ve chosen to preserve for dramatic effect. It’s mostly a pacing problem. So many shows begin with a strong idea, find an audience, then move like someone afraid the party will end if they stop talking. Episodes stretch. Seasons multiply. Characters repeat the same emotional beats with slightly different lighting.

Disagreements and misunderstandings are a part of everyday life, and most of us learn to deal with them and move on. It’s only when ideas about who is right and wrong, combined with ignorance, overwhelm the mind that they turn into psychological torment—making revenge or satisfaction feel necessary. By disregarding logic and acting irrationally, these situations can escalate, leading to imprisonment or even death.

History has been, let us say, reluctant to let women run the camera department. For the longest time, cinematography remained one of the most male-dominated crafts in filmmaking. This, then, makes the breakthrough of Autumn Durald Arkapaw feel less like a novelty and more like a long overdue correction. For her camerawork in Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” she received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Arkapaw’s victory at the recently concluded 98th Academy Awards marked history.