As Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has started filming this week, DiscussingFilm has learned that Loki, director of photography, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, will be serving as cinematographer for Ryan Coogler’s sequel.
She will be replacing Rachel Morrison, a longtime collaborator of Coogler, who worked on the first film.
Morrison was set to return as a cinematographer but cannot due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing scheduling conflicts and multiple delays for her directorial debut Flint Strong, starring Ryan Destiny, Ice Cube, and Judy Greer, based on Claressa Shields’ training for the 2012 London Olympics. In an interview, she mentioned the devastating effect of shooting Flint Strong during COVID and the fact that she would not be able to participate in Wakanda Forever’s shoot:
“If we had gone back in September, I think we could make it, but now it’s a bit of a moment of truth for everyone to realize if my movie is definitely going back in January that I probably won’t be able to do [Wakanda Forever] which is devastating to me.”
Aside from Loki, Durald has collaborated with Gia Coppola with her films Palo Alto and, most recently, Mainstream, starring Andrew Garfield and Maya Hawke. She has also worked on Emma Forrest’s Untogether, Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit, and Ry Russo-Young’s The Sun Is Also A Star. She has also collaborated on music videos with SZA, The Weeknd, and Travis Scott.
As a fan of Loki‘s visually dynamic cinematography, this is excellent news, particularly coming fresh off episode three’s climax, which was a beautifully staged tracking shot as Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) was looking for a way to get on Lamentis-1’s “Ark,” and Mainstream, which put Andrew Garfield front and center of Durald’s extensive lens. It’ll be fun to see what she will come up next with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever when it hits theatres on July 8, 2022.
