Eric Saindon, Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett and Joe Letteri accept the Best Visual Effects award for "Avatar: The Way of Water" onstage. Photo / Getty Images
Avatar: The Way of Water has taken out the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 95th Academy Awards.
New Zealand’s Wētā FX is the studio behind the visuals for James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar sequel and the team behind the film were overjoyed as they accepted the award on the Oscars stage today.
Avatar wasn’t the only film from the Kiwi studio to be nominated in this category, with The Batman and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also up for the award.
It’s the fifth Oscar win for the studio’s senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, originally from the US.
In a statement shared by Wētā, Letteri said he was “incredibly proud” of his team’s achievements.
“Eric, Dan, and I are honoured to represent the 1,700 Wētā FX crew that contributed to Avatar: The Way Of Water,” he said.
“This recognition is a testament to the artistry and creativity of our entire crew, and to our partnership with James Cameron, Jon Landau, and the entire Lightstorm team”.
Earlier this week Letteri told the Herald it’s “always exciting” to be nominated.
Coming off the back of a Bafta win for the film last month, Letteri noted he’s been lucky enough to be nominated for an Oscar as part of the Wētā FX team a few times already during his career.
“Our focus is on what we can add to a film to support the director’s story, but it’s always nice to be recognised by your peers,” he said.
“The film industry that has been created here in New Zealand is exceptional, with talented people working across all aspects of film creation at a world-class level. New Zealand has shown great support for the industry and that commitment shines through in the quality of the work that is produced here.”
So, which film was the most challenging to create visuals for? Letteri admitted that every film comes with its own unique challenges.
“Awards season is presented as a competition, one film against another, but every year there are many films that are excellent examples of the craft,” he said.
“It’s almost impossible to say one is clearly better than any other across the board. We’re happy that Wētā's work has been recognised with three films nominated this year.”
But as he’s been focusing on Avatar “for years”, that’s the film he would be most proud of if it were to scoop up an award on the night - and now that dream has come true.
While Wētā has “over a dozen” shows currently in production, Letteri added that he’s already in discussions about getting into Avatar 3.
All of Wētā’s nominees have travelled to the US to attend the awards ceremony in person and Letteri says it’s a “fantastic experience” to be there.
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