List of New Zealand Academy Award winners and nominees
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This is a list of New Zealand Academy Award winners and nominees.
| Year | Name | Status | Milestone/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Andrew van Straten | Won | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Technical Achievement Award for the design and development of Ziva VFX., a system for constructing and simulating muscles, fat, fascia, and skin for digital characters. Andrew is from Nelson. |
Best Actor
| Best Leading Actor | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Russell Crowe | The Insider | Nominated | Crowe was born in New Zealand, but has lived in Australia since his childhood. |
| 2000 | Gladiator | Won | ||
| 2001 | A Beautiful Mind | Nominated | ||
Best Actress
| Best Leading Actress | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Keisha Castle-Hughes | Whale Rider | Nominated | Debut performance. First indigenous person (Māori) ever nominated in this category. Second youngest nominee (age 13) ever in this category. |
Best Supporting Actress
| Best Supporting Actress | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Anna Paquin | The Piano | Won | Dual New Zealand-Canadian citizen. Debut performance. Second youngest winner (age 11) in Academy Award history. |
Best Animated Short Film
| Best Animated Short Film | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Bob Stenhouse | The Frog, the Dog and the Devil | Nominated | New Zealand-made film made by the National Film Unit |
| 1994 | Erica Russell | Triangle | Nominated | |
Best Animated Film
| Best Animated Feature | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Andrew Adamson | Shrek 2 | Nominated | |
Best Costume Design
| Best Costume Design | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Ngila Dickson Richard Taylor |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Nominated | |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Won | First time that featured two New Zealanders costume designers in the Best Costume Design category (in different nominations) within the same year. | |
| Ngila Dickson | The Last Samurai | Nominated | ||
| 2025 | Kate Hawley | Frankenstein | Won | |
Best Director
| Best Director | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Jane Campion | The Piano | Nominated | Second woman ever to be nominated in this category. |
| 1997 | James Cameron | Titanic | Won | James Cameron is a Canadian born filmmaker who obtained New Zealand citizenship in 2025. |
| 2001 | Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Nominated | |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Won | ||
| 2009 | James Cameron | Avatar | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog | Won | First woman ever to be nominated twice in this category. |
Best Documentary Feature Film
| Documentary (Feature) | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Michael Firth | Off the Edge | Nominated | |
Best Film Editing
| Best Film Editing | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | James Cameron | Titanic | Won | Shared with Conrad Buff IV and Richard A. Harris |
| 2001 | John Gilbert | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Nominated | |
| 2002 | Michael Horton | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Nominated | |
| 2003 | Jamie Selkirk | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Won | |
| 2009 | James Cameron | Avatar | Nominated | Shared with Stephen E. Rivkin and John Refoua |
| 2016 | John Gilbert | Hacksaw Ridge | Won | |
| 2019 | Tom Eagles | Jojo Rabbit | Nominated | |
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
| Best Makeup and Hairstyling | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Richard Taylor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Won | Shared with Peter Owen. |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Won | Shared with Peter King. | |
| 2015 | Lesley Vanderwalt | Mad Max: Fury Road | Won | New Zealand-born Australian citizen. Shared with Elka Wardega and Damian Martin. |
Best Original Song
| Best Original Song | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Song | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Fran Walsh | The Return of the King | "Into the West" | Won | Shared with Annie Lennox and Howard Shore. |
| 2011 | Bret McKenzie | The Muppets | "Man or Muppet" | Won | |
Best Picture
Best Production Design
| Best Production Design | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Grant Major Dan Hennah |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Nominated | |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Nominated | Shared with Alan Lee. | |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Won | ||
| 2005 | Grant Major Dan Hennah Simon Bright |
King Kong | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Kim Sinclair | Avatar | Won | Shared with Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg. |
| 2012 | Dan Hennah Ra Vincent Simon Bright |
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | Nominated | |
| 2019 | Ra Vincent | Jojo Rabbit | Nominated | Shared with Nora Sopková. |
| 2021 | Grant Major Amber Richards |
The Power of the Dog | Nominated | |
Best Short Film - Live Action
| Live Action Short Film | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Brian Brake | Snows of Aorangi | Nominated | First New Zealand film nominated in any category. |
| 1980 | Lloyd Phillips | The Dollar Bottom | Won | First New Zealander to win in any category. |
| 2004 | Taika Waititi Ainsley Gardiner |
Two Cars, One Night | Nominated | |
| 2014 | James Lucas | The Phone Call | Won | Dual British-New Zealand citizen. Shared with Mat Kirkby. |
Best Sound Editing
| Sound Editing | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Mike Hopkins | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Won | Shared with Ethan Van der Ryn. |
| 2005 | King Kong | Won | ||
| 2007 | Transformers | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | Brent Burge Chris Ward |
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Brent Burge | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Nominated | Shared with Jason Canovas. |
Best Sound Mixing
| Best Sound Mixing | ||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Gethin Creagh Hammond Peek |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Nominated | Shared with Christopher Boyes, and Michael Semanick. |
| 2002 | Michael Hedges Hammond Peek |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Nominated | |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Won | ||
| 2005 | King Kong | Won | ||
| Tony Johnson[1] | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Nominated | Shared with Terry Porter, and Dean A. Zupancic. | |
| 2009 | Avatar | Nominated | Shared with Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, and Andy Nelson. | |
| 2013 | Michael Hedges Tony Johnson |
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | Nominated | Shared with Christopher Boyes, and Michael Semanick. |
Best Visual Effects
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay
| Best Adapted Screenplay | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Source Material | Status | Milestone / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Jonathan Hardy | Breaker Morant | The play Breaker Morant by Kenneth G. Ross | Nominated | Shared with David Stevens and Bruce Beresford. |
| 2001 | Philippa Boyens Peter Jackson Fran Walsh |
The Fellowship of the Ring | The novel The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien | Nominated | |
| 2003 | The Return of the King | The novel The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien | Won | ||
| 2014 | Anthony McCarten | The Theory of Everything | The book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen Hawking by Jane Hawking | Nominated | |
| 2019 | Taika Waititi | Jojo Rabbit | The novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens | Won | First indigenous person (Māori) ever to win this category. Second time that two different nominations in the same year and category were for New Zealanders. |
| Anthony McCarten | The Two Popes | The play by Anthony McCarten | Nominated | Second time that two different nominations in the same year and category were for New Zealanders. | |
| 2021 | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog | The novel The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage | Nominated | |
