Sinners and Frankenstein Highlight American Cinematheque’s Annual Celebration of Honored Craftspeople

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein have emerged as the leading honorees for the American Cinematheque’s 5th annual Tribute to the Crafts. The awards ceremony is scheduled for January 16, 2026, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Sinners will be recognized for Francine Maisler’s casting and Ludwig Göransson’s musical score, while Frankenstein will receive awards in the categories of Hair & Makeup and Production Design/Set Decoration/Prop Master.

Tributes to the Crafts celebrates the essential contributions of filmmaking artisans who have demonstrated exceptional work behind the camera over the past year. The event will highlight excellence across 13 key categories that influence the quality of film, with honorees selected by a jury comprising journalists, film historians, and cinephiles.

This year’s additional honorees include One Battle After Another, Train Dreams, Wicked: For Good, Hedda, KPop Demon Hunters, F1, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Weapons, and Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Oscar-nominated production designer Jack Fisk will receive the Career Achievement Award, recognizing his five-decade-long body of work. Fisk’s extensive collaborations with directors including Terrence Malick, David Lynch, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Martin Scorsese have resulted in contributions to iconic films such as There Will Be Blood, The Revenant, and Mulholland Drive.

The January event will also posthumously honor Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. with the Unsung Hero Award. Kuehn, often referred to as the “Godfather of Movie Trailers,” revolutionized the film trailer industry during his 43-year career. In recognition of his impact, the American Cinematheque has established a new category for Best Trailer, selected by a jury of experts in film marketing.

Film producers and American Cinematheque board members Stephanie Allain and Paula Wagner will co-host the ceremony. “It was an incredible year at the movies, and there is no better place to watch the essential work of the artisans and craftspeople that shaped this year’s films than in the cinema,” stated Grant Moninger, the American Cinematheque’s artistic director.

The honorees for the Tribute to the Crafts include:

• Casting: Sinners (Francine Maisler) – Warner Bros
• Cinematography: Train Dreams (Adolpho Veloso) – Netflix
• Choreography: Wicked: For Good (Christopher Scott) – Universal
• Costume Design: Hedda (Lindsay Pugh) – Amazon MGM Studios
• Editing: One Battle After Another (Andy Jurgensen) – Warner Bros
• Hair and Makeup: Frankenstein (Mike Hill, Cliona Furey & Jordan Samuel) – Netflix
• Production Design/Set Decoration/Prop Master: Frankenstein (Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau & Christopher Geggie) – Netflix
• Score: Sinners (Ludwig Göransson) – Warner Bros
• Song: “Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters (EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, IDO, 24, & TEDDY) – Netflix
• Sound: F1 (Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary Rizzo, Juan Peralta & Gareth John) – Apple Original Films
• Stunts: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Wade Eastwood) – Paramount
• Trailer: Weapons (John Stanford & Susie Shen on behalf of Warner Bros; Jared Sapolin, Joel Walden, James Edgington, Greg Brotherton, John Salazar & Nate Rowe on behalf of Mark Woollen and Associates) – Warner Bros
• Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash (Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon & Daniel Barrett) – 20th Century Studios

The fifth annual Tribute to the Crafts event is being produced by Madelyn Hammond and Javier Infante of Hammond Infante Productions.