The Advanced Imaging Society attributed this past Friday the Lumiere Awards to the movies and TV series that distinguished themselves in 2021 for their technical and artistic achievements. The 12th ceremony of the event took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel and had for its theme this year the idiom “larger than life.”
DirectorDenis Villeneuve’sepic sci-fiDunereceived the honor of Best Live-Action Feature Film — a category that the film is also contending for at this year’s Academy Awards — and Best Use of High Dynamic Range.Steven Spielberg’sremake ofWest Side Story—also in the running for the Best Picture Oscar — was awarded Best Musical. Best documentary was awarded toPeter Jackson’sThe Beatles: Get Back, which employed innovative film restoration techniques, much like the director’s 2018 WWI documentaryThey Shall Not Grow Old. Another music-centric film that emerged victorious was Disney’sEncanto, winning Best Animation Feature and Best Original Song for “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
On the TV side of the awards,Hwang Dong-hyuk’sSquid Game, which has broken multiple records as a non-English series since its debut in September 2021, won Best Episodic – Live-Action. Riot Games’Arcane, the series based on the popular MOBALeague of Legends, won Best Episodic – Animation.
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In addition to the main awards, four other special awards were given out. The inaugural Gene Kelly Visionary Award was given by Kelly’s widow,Patricia Ward Kelly, toNightmare AlleydirectorGuillermo Del Torofor the filmmaker’s innovative vision. The box-office record-breakerSpider-Man: No Way Homealso received the Governor’s Cinema Award for how well the film captured the cinematic experience and how it managed to blend multiple franchises and universes into one movie.
The third special award, the Sir Charles Wheatstone Award, given to an organization for its support of the film and TV creative industries, went to Epic Games for its 3D creation tool Unreal Engine. Lastly, Villeneuve received The Harold Lloyd Award forDune’simpressive use of technology to complement its narrative.
The complete list of Lumiere Awards winners is as follows:
Best Documentary:The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Best Audio – Episodic:WandaVision (Disney+)
Best Use of AR:Expo Dubai Xplorer
Best Use of VR:Machu Picchu and the Spirit of the Condor
Best Original Song:Encanto/We Don’t Talk About Bruno (Disney Animation)
Governor’s Cinema Award:Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony / Marvel)
Best Use of High Dynamic Range – Live Action: Dune (Warner Bros.)
Best Use of High Dynamic Range – Episodic: Foundation (Apple TV+)
Best 2D to 3D Conversion:Shang Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings (Disney)
Best Musical Scene or Sequence:West Side Story, “The Dance at the Gym” (20th Century Studios)
Best Episodic – Animated:Arcane (Netflix)
Best Motion Picture - Musical:West Side Story (20th Century Studios)
Sir Charles Wheatstone Award:Epic Games' Unreal Engine
Best Episodic – Live Action:Squid Game (Netflix)
Best Feature Film – Animated:Encanto (Disney)
Voices For The Earth Award:Adam McKay/Don’t Look Up
Gene Kelly Visionary Award:Guillermo del Toro
Best Audio – Theatrical:Nightmare Alley (Searchlight)
Harold Lloyd Award:Denis Villeneuve
Best Feature Film - Live Action:Dune (Warner Bros.)
Best Scene or Sequence in a Feature Film:No Time To Die (MGM/UA Releasing)
