Fruitvale Station cinematographer Rachel Morrison has been chosen by Ryan Coogler to lens Black Panther. Where does this information come from? I read Morrison's CV! Morrison is an accomplished DP in both film and television, having recently worked on both Dope and Confirmation for The Flash director Rick Famuyiwa. This year, she was nominated for an Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming Emmy after shooting part of What Happened, Miss Simone?, a Nina Simone documentary.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the lack of female leads in big budget studio films, and yet the situation is even more dire behind the camera. It's great to see talented artists like Morrison and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) get these high-profile gigs.
Coogler has long been a vocal proponent of diverse film crews, having once said "I feel like women are better filmmakers than men... In film school, life, whatever, they’re equipped to do this job, in many ways, better than us. They’re infinitely more complex than we are. Stronger and sharper. So, you know, we’re going to get better movies [if we have more female filmmakers]. The industry would improve. That’s the best thing I could say about that. They’ve got to be given the opportunity."