“Sinners,” “Zootopia 2” and “KPop Demon Hunters” took top honors at the Advanced Imaging Society Awards.
The Lumiere Awards recognized outstanding creative and technical achievements during its 16th annual celebration. The awards honor the artists, engineers and innovators whose work continues to push the boundaries of storytelling and cinematic technology.
“These Lumiere winners produced their brilliant stories by pushing the boundaries of what’s possible creatively and technically,” said Jim Chabin, president of the Advanced Imaging Society. “In these honorees we see our industry’s future – and that future is truly more exciting than ever.”
The Society awarded the best live action feature film Lumiere Award to “Sinners,” with best supporting actor nominee Delroy Lindo on hand to present the award to producer Sev Ohanian. The film’s sound team — Chris Welcker, Steve Boeddeker and Benny Burtt — were present to accept the Lumiere for best audio. Voters praised “Sinners,” calling it a “brilliant and meaningful story,” and noted that as a film, it was “perfectly executed.”
“Zootopia 2” won best animated feature. Actor and voice artist Patrick Warburton presented the award to director Byron Howard. Voters noted not only its stunning visuals, but its “unprecedented technical integration across every production dimension.”
“KPop Demon Hunters” took home two Lumiere awards, winning for best original song for “Golden” and best musical scene or sequence for “Golden.”
Picturehouse’s “The King of Color,” written and directed by Patrick Creadon, won best documentary. The film follows Larry Herbert, inventor of the Pantone Matching System, which established a universal worldwide standard for color. Creadon was there to accept the award and read a note of appreciation from 97-year-old Herbert. AIS commented, “We’re an organization spanning filmmaking, post-production, and technology, united by a commitment to educating audiences. ‘The King of Color’ tells our origin story.”
“Wicked: For Good” won best motion picture – musical. AIS honoree and director Jon M. Chu accepted the award. Voters commented on “the way it perfectly integrated difficult, high-production value VFX and imagery work into the musical storytelling throughout the film. The work in all departments was extraordinary in this film.”
The Lumiere for best theatrical scene or sequence was awarded to “Avatar: Fire and Ash” for the third act Flux Devil fire tornado battle sequence. Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor Eric Saindon of Wētā FX accepted the award on behalf of the VFX team that included Joe Letteri and Lightstorm’s Richard Baneham, who also attended. Voters unequivocally agreed that the unforgettable third-act sequence once again set a new benchmark for visual effects–driven storytelling.
Among the episodic winners was “Andor” Season 2, which received the Lumiere for best episodic – live action, accepted by executive producer John Gilroy, Meanwhile, the award for best episodic – animation went to “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” accepted by showrunner Jeff Trammell.
Other technical awards went to Apple TV’s “Severance” for best audio – episodic, accepted by scoring mixer Chris Fogel. “Stranger Things” Season 5 won the Lumiere for best use of high dynamic range – episodic and was accepted by colorist Jared Arkulary from Company 3, and “F1” won best use of high dynamic range – feature film, accepted by Company 3 colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld.
Google was presented with the Society’s annual Sir Charles Wheatstone Award for its innovations that include its VEO and Imagen models, Google Cloud and YouTube production tools. The award was accepted by Anil Jain, global managing director of strategic industries.
The awards also recognized five organizations for their “impact and innovation” in driving the media and entertainment ecosystem forward this year. Production Technology Lumiere Awards were presented to the following: AMD for their EPYC CPU’s and Threadripper PRO workstation tools; Conductor, by CoreWeave, was recognized for their desktop tools for cloud optimization; Flawless became the first AI company to be recognized for pioneering Assistive AI that preserves and supports human creativity; 6P Color was recognized for their “Full Color Range” format for electronic color imagery; DisneyResearch|Studios was honored with a Lumiere for its Artistically Controllable ML Stereo Conversion toolset.
In addition, VUE and CEO Tim Richards were honored with the Society’s Governor’s Award for Cinema Excellence for their new generation of premium EPIC screen cinemas, featuring state of the art laser projection and sound.
As previously announced, Ethan Hawke was honored with the 2026 Distinguished Artist Award for his performance in Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon.” Former president of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy presented Hawke with the award and said, “Whether he’s playing a young idealist, a tortured poet, or — most recently — Lorenz Hart in ‘Blue Moon,’ Ethan brings the same deep commitment to showing us the essence of what makes us human. His work invites us to feel more, understand more and care more. That honesty, that humanity, is at the heart of everything he does. Ethan doesn’t just step into the spotlight — he is the light.”
Chu was awarded the inaugural Judy Garland Legacy Award, which was introduced by Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft and presented by actor Josh Gad.
The Harold Lloyd Award was presented to Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer by Suzanne Lloyd, chairman of Harold Lloyd Entertainment.
See the complete list of winners below:
Best Feature Film – Live Action: “Sinners”
Best Feature Film – Animation: “Zootopia 2”
Best Documentary: “The King of Color”
Best Motion Picture – Musical: “Wicked: For Good”
Best Audio – Theatrical: “Sinners”
Best Audio – Episodic: “Severance”
Best Original Song: “Golden,” from “KPop Demon Hunters”
Best Use of High Dynamic Range – Feature Film: “F1”
Best Use of High Dynamic Range – Episodic: “Stranger Things” Season 5
Best Musical Scene or Sequence: “KPop Demon Hunters” – “Golden”
Best Theatrical Scene or Sequence: “Avatar: Fire and Ash” – “Flux Devil”
Best Episodic – Animation: “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”
Best Episodic – Live Action: “Andor” Season 2
Best International 3D Documentary: NHK for The Mark of Beauty Tokyo Imperial Palace
Best Use of VR: Dolphins of the Reef, Immotion
Production Technology Awards:AMD, DisneyResearch|Studios Flawless, 6P Color, CoreWeave
Governor’s Award for Cinema Excellence: VUE
Sir Charles Wheatstone Award: Google
Judy Garland Legacy Award: Jon M. Chu, “Wicked: For Good”
Harold Lloyd Award: Joseph Kosinski & Jerry Bruckheimer,” F1″
variety.com
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