New Zealand film-makers won two big prizes at the BAFTA Film Awards in London, earning awards for visual effects and costume design. Wētā FX won the BAFTA for visual effects for its work on Avatar: Fire and Ash, and costume designer Kate Hawley won best costume design for Frankenstein.
Wētā FX was represented at the ceremony by Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett, who travelled from Wellington to attend. More than 1,200 Wētā FX artists worked on the project, creating over 90% of the film’s visual effects. The company said only about 11 seconds of the film did not include special effects.
The win was also a personal milestone for the leaders on stage. It was Joe Letteri’s sixth BAFTA win, while Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett each collected their second. The three have won before for Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022, and Letteri also won for Avatar in 2009.
Kate Hawley’s costume award recognised the detailed clothing designs she created for Frankenstein. She beat designs from Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Sinners and Wicked: For Good. Hawley, a former Massey University graduate, has also been nominated for an Oscar. In December, she was named the British Fashion Council’s first Costume Designer of the Year for the same film.
The awards show was hosted by Alan Cumming, who is known for presenting The Traitors. Other films earned many nominations too, including One Battle After Another, Sinners, Hamnet and Marty Supreme.
