Rachel Morrison made history as the first woman to earn a Best Cinematography Oscar nomination, as well as an ASC nomination, for her work on 2017’s Mudbound. Her career behind the lens also includes the history-making Black Panther plus Fruitvale Station, Dope, Cake and Some Girls along with such groundbreaking television shows as The Mandalorian, American Crime Story and The Morning Show, as well as Emmy-nominated work on What Happened, Miss Simone?
Now she is breaking new ground in graduating from cinematographer to director as her first feature film in that position, The Fire Inside, opened Christmas Day in wide theatrical release. It is the true story of female boxer Claressa Shields, who rose from a tough background to become an Olympic gold medalist not just once but twice and setting records for women in that sport, just as Morrison has done in her profession. Oscar winner Barry Jenkins produced and wrote the screenplay for the film, which is 94% fresh on the Rotten Tomatoes aggregated critics site and received an “A” Cinemascore from audiences upon its opening last week.
Watch on Deadline
Morrision joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens to talk about all of this and the long road she has traveled to get to this turning point in her career, including working with director Ryan Coogler on his breakout film Fruitvale Station as well as Black Panther.
To watch our conversation and to go “Behind the Lens” with Rachel Morrison, just click on the link above.
Join me every Monday during Oscar season for another episode of Behind the Lens.