Oscars 2026: Kiwi artists win major awards as One Battle After Another wins Best Picture
New Zealand creatives dominated two of the biggest categories in this year’s Academy Awards, while comedy thriller One Battle After Another took out Best Picture and the most awards of the night.
Both Kiwi costume designer Kate Hawley and the team from Wellington’s Wētā FX won in their respective categories – Costuming and Visual Effects.
Hawley snagged one of the early winsat the 98th Academy Awards for her work on monster movie Frankenstein, receiving a standing ovation.
Hawley previously won the Bafta weeks earlier, and this was her first nomination and win for an Academy Award.
“We are so grateful to the Academy for recognising our craft,” an emotional Hawley said, while on stage accepting the award.
Wētā FX’s Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett also accepted the Best Visual Effects award on behalf of the Wētā FX team for their work on Avatar: Fire and Ash.
It was the eighth Oscar win for Wētā FX, the group long considered to be at the forefront of visual effects in the industry for work on the Avatar and Lord Of The Rings series.
“We are overwhelmed with gratitude and deeply honoured to receive the Visual Effects award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for our work on Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the group said.
“To be recognised by the Academy is something we never take lightly. This award represents years of passion, risk, collaboration, and an unwavering belief in what cinema can achieve when artistry and technology move together in service of story.”
It was widely thought that Timothée Chalamet would win his first Oscar for playing a ping pong hustler in Marty Supreme, but the Best Actor award ended up going to Michael B. Jordan for playing twin brothers battling vampires in the prohibition era in Sinners. While touted as a late front-runner, Sinners was ultimately beaten by One Battle After Another, which gained six awards.
First-time nominee Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her work in the horror film Weapons, and Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for playing Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare, in Hamnet.
The night was not short of heartfelt and historic moments either. KPop Demon Hunters song Golden became the first K-Pop song to win an Oscar, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw the first woman to win Best Cinematography for Sinners.
And, for only the seventh time in Oscars history, there was also a tie, which came in the Best Live Action Short category. The joint winners were The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva.
When Harry Met Sally star Billy Crystal paid special tribute to his friends, the director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, who were killedlast year.
Barbara Streisand also sang a short verse from the song The Way We Were, in tribute to the late Robert Redford.
Comedian Conan O’Brien hosted the event, which was held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
The Herald captured all the action and documented the winners below.
Winners and Nominees (Updated live)
Best Picture
- Bugonia
- F1
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another - WINNER
- The Secret Agent
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
- Train Dreams
Actor in a Leading Role
- Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
- Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
- Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
- Michael B. Jordan – Sinners - WINNER
- Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
Actor in a Supporting Role
- Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another
- Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
- Delroy Lindo – Sinners
- Sean Penn – One Battle After Another - WINNER
- Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value
Actress in a Leading Role
- Jessie Buckley – Hamnet - WINNER
- Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
- Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
- Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
- Emma Stone – Bugonia
Actress in a Supporting Role
- Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
- Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan – Weapons – WINNER
- Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
- Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
Directing
- Hamnet – Chloé Zhao
- Marty Supreme – Josh Safdie
- One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson - WINNER
- Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier
- Sinners – Ryan Coogler
Animated Feature Film
- Arco – Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
- Elio – Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
- KPop Demon Hunters – Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong Ý WINNER
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain – Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
- Zootopia 2 – Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino
Animated Short Film
- Butterfly – Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens
- Forevergreen – Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
- The Girl Who Cried Pearls – Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski – WINNER
- Retirement Plan – John Kelly and Andrew Freedman
- The Three Sisters – Konstantin Bronzit
Casting
- Hamnet - Nina Gold
- Marty Supreme - Jennifer Venditti
- One Battle After Another – Cassandra Kulukundis – WINNER
- The Secret Agent – Gabriel Domingues
- Sinners – Francine Maisler
Cinematography
- Frankenstein – Dan Laustsen
- Marty Supreme – Darius Khondji
- One Battle After Another – Michael Bauman
- Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw - WINNER
- Train Dreams – Adolpho Veloso
Costume Design
- Avatar: Fire and Ash – Deborah L. Scott
- Frankenstein – Kate Hawley – WINNER
- Hamnet – Malgosia Turzanska
- Marty Supreme – Miyako Bellizzi
- Sinners – Ruth E. Carter
Documentary Feature Film
- The Alabama Solution – Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
- Come See Me in the Good Light – Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
- Cutting through Rocks – Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
- Mr Nobody against Putin – David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Helle Faber and Alžběta Karásková – WINNER
- The Perfect Neighbor – Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee
Documentary Short Film
- All the Empty Rooms – Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones – WINNER
- Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud – Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
- Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” – Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins
- The Devil Is Busy – Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
- Perfectly a Strangeness – Alison McAlpine
Film Editing
- F1 – Stephen Mirrione
- Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
- One Battle After Another – Andy Jurgensen - WINNER
- Sentimental Value – Olivier Bugge Coutté
- Sinners – Michael P. Shawver
International Feature Film
- The Secret Agent
- It Was Just an Accident
- Sentimental Value - WINNER
- Sirāt
- The Voice of Hind Rajab
Live Action Short Film
- Butcher’s Stain – Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
- A Friend of Dorothy – Lee Knight and James Dean
- Jane Austen’s Period Drama – Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
- The Singers – Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt – TIED WINNER
- Two People Exchanging Saliva – Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata – TIED WINNER
Makeup and Hairstyling
- Frankenstein – Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey – WINNER
- Kokuho – Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
- Sinners - Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
- The Smashing Machine - Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
- The Ugly Stepsister - Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg
Music (Original Score)
- Bugonia - Jerskin Fendrix
- Frankenstein - Alexandre Desplat
- Hamnet - Max Richter
- One Battle After Another - Jonny Greenwood
- Sinners – Ludwig Goransson – WINNER
Music (Original Song)
- Dear Me - from Diane Warren: Relentless; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
- Golden - from KPop Demon Hunters; Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park - WINNER
- I Lied To You - from Sinners; Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
- Sweet Dreams Of Joy - from Viva Verdi!; Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
- Train Dreams – from Train Dreams; Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave
Production Design
- Frankenstein – Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau – WINNER
- Hamnet – Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
- Marty Supreme – Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
- One Battle After Another – Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
- Sinners – Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne
Sound
- F1 – Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta - WINNER
- Frankenstein – Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
- One Battle After Another – José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
- Sinners – Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
- Sirāt – Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas
Visual Effects
- Avatar: Fire and Ash – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett – WINNER
- F1 – Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
- Jurassic World Rebirth - David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
- The Lost Bus – Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
- Sinners – Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
- Bugonia – Will Tracy
- Frankenstein – Guillermo del Toro
- Hamnet – Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
- One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson – WINNER
- Train Dreams - Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
Writing (Original Screenplay)
- Blue Moon – Robert Kaplow
- It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators - Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
- Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
- Sentimental Value – Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
- Sinners – Ryan Coogler – WINNER