CONGRATS, Mandy Walker! 12/7/2022, 12:00:00 AM

Mandy Walker made history at this year’s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Industry Awards. She’s become the first woman to win the award for Best Cinematography in Film.

Among all the lenses used for the film (all Panavision), the T series stands out, of which Panavision has made a special edition called "ELVIS" (it could not be otherwise), less sharp, and with more aberration, in order to grant the good old cinematic look of the seventies. Walker did her research together with Panavision in order to craft the perfect glass for the American culture presented in the movie. The results were two sets of lenses, one for the first half of Elvis’ life, and then the second was the T-Series anamorphic with a classic flare and aberrations on the edges. Walker emphasized that modern lenses should not perform a good fit for ELVIS, since they are too pristine and crisp.

Walker received the award for her work on frequent collaborator Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” a biopic about the pop music icon’s meteoric rise to stardom and his relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Elvis won 11 awards including best film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTAs), held over two days (December 5 and 7) in Sydney.

“I am honored to be the first woman to have won this award and I hope it’s opened the door to many more in the future,” Walker said in her acceptance speech. “A huge thank you to Baz Luhrmann for taking me on this amazing creative journey that has led to me standing up here accepting this award. I also have to say thanks to Catherine Martin, one of many inspiring collaborators — many of whom are here tonight, and to my incredibly hard working Australian crew.”