This is a list of New Zealand Academy Award winners and nominees.
Technical Achievement Award Year NameStatusMilestone/Notes2025Andrew van StratenWonAcademy 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 ActorYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1999 Russell Crowe The Insider Crowe was born in New Zealand, but has lived in Australia since his childhood. 2000 Gladiator 2001 A Beautiful Mind
Best Actress Best Leading ActressYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2003 Keisha Castle-Hughes Whale Rider 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 ActressYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1993 Anna Paquin The Piano Dual New Zealand-Canadian citizen.Debut performance.Second youngest winner (age 11) in Academy Award history.
Best Animated Short Film Best Animated Short FilmYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1986 Bob Stenhouse The Frog, the Dog and the Devil New Zealand-made film made by the National Film Unit 1994 Erica Russell Triangle
Best Animated Film Best Animated FeatureYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2004 Andrew Adamson Shrek 2
Best Costume Design Best Costume DesignYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2001Ngila DicksonRichard Taylor The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 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 2025Kate HawleyFrankenstein
Best Director Best DirectorYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1993 Jane Campion The Piano Second woman ever to be nominated in this category. 1997 James Cameron Titanic 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 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2009 James Cameron Avatar 2021 Jane Campion The Power of the Dog First woman ever to be nominated twice in this category.
Best Documentary Feature Film Documentary (Feature)YearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1977 Michael Firth Off the Edge
Best Film Editing Best Film EditingYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1997 James Cameron Titanic Shared with Conrad Buff IV and Richard A. Harris 2001 John Gilbert The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2002 Michael Horton The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2003 Jamie Selkirk The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2009 James Cameron Avatar Shared with Stephen E. Rivkin and John Refoua 2016 John Gilbert Hacksaw Ridge 2019 Tom Eagles Jojo Rabbit
Best Makeup and Hairstyling Best Makeup and HairstylingYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2001 Richard Taylor The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Shared with Peter Owen. 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Shared with Peter King. 2015 Lesley Vanderwalt Mad Max: Fury Road New Zealand-born Australian citizen.Shared with Elka Wardega and Damian Martin.
Best Original Song Best Original SongYearNameFilmSongStatusMilestone / Notes 2003 Fran Walsh The Return of the King "Into the West" Shared with Annie Lennox and Howard Shore. 2011 Bret McKenzie The Muppets "Man or Muppet"
Best Picture Best PictureYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1997 James Cameron Titanic Shared with Jon Landau. 1998 Tim Bevan Elizabeth New Zealand-born British producer.Shared with Alison Owen and Eric Fellner. 2001 Peter JacksonFran Walsh The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Shared with Barrie M. Osborne. 2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2007 Tim Bevan Atonement Shared with Eric Fellner and Paul Webster. 2009 James Cameron Avatar Shared with Jon Landau. Peter Jackson District 9 Shared with Carolynne Cunningham. 2012 Tim Bevan Les Misérables Shared with Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, and Cameron Mackintosh. 2014 Tim BevanAnthony McCarten The Theory of Everything Shared with Lisa Bruce and Eric Fellner. 2017 Darkest Hour Shared with Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, and Douglas Urbanski. 2019 Carthew NealTaika WaititiChelsea Winstanley Jojo Rabbit 2021 Jane Campion The Power of the Dog Shared with Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, and Roger Frappier 2022 James Cameron Avatar: The Way of Water Shared with Jon Landau.
Best Production Design Best Production DesignYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2001 Grant MajorDan Hennah The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Shared with Alan Lee. 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2005 Grant MajorDan HennahSimon Bright King Kong 2009 Kim Sinclair Avatar Shared with Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg. 2012 Dan HennahRa VincentSimon Bright The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2019 Ra Vincent Jojo Rabbit Shared with Nora Sopková. 2021 Grant MajorAmber Richards The Power of the Dog
Best Short Film - Live Action Live Action Short FilmYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1958 Brian Brake Snows of Aorangi First New Zealand film nominated in any category. 1980 Lloyd Phillips The Dollar Bottom First New Zealander to win in any category. 2004 Taika WaititiAinsley Gardiner Two Cars, One Night 2014 James Lucas The Phone Call Dual British-New Zealand citizen.Shared with Mat Kirkby.
Best Sound Editing Sound EditingYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2002 Mike Hopkins The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Shared with Ethan Van der Ryn. 2005 King Kong 2007 Transformers 2013 Brent BurgeChris Ward The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 2014 Brent Burge The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Shared with Jason Canovas.
Best Sound Mixing Best Sound MixingYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2001 Gethin CreaghHammond Peek The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Shared with Christopher Boyes, and Michael Semanick. 2002 Michael HedgesHammond Peek The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2005 King Kong Tony Johnson The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Shared with Terry Porter, and Dean A. Zupancic. 2009 Avatar Shared with Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, and Andy Nelson. 2013 Michael HedgesTony Johnson The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Shared with Christopher Boyes, and Michael Semanick.
Best Visual Effects Best Visual EffectsYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2001 Richard Taylor The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Shared with Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, and Mark Stetson. 2005 Christian RiversRichard Taylor King Kong Shared with Joe Letteri, and Brian Van't Hul. 2009 Matt Aitken District 9 Shared with Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers and Robert Habros 2011 Dan Lemmon Rise of the Planet of the Apes Shared with Joe Letteri, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett. 2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Shared with Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, and Erik Winquist. 2016 The Jungle Book Shared with Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, and Andrew R. Jones. 2017 War for the Planet of the Apes Shared with Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, and Joel Whist. 2019 Matt Aitken Avengers: Endgame Shared with Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick. 2020 David Lee Tenet Shared with Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley, and Scott Fisher. 2021 Sean Noel Walker Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Shared with Joe Farrell, Dan Oliver, and Christopher Townsend.
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay Best Adapted ScreenplayYearNameFilmSource MaterialStatusMilestone / Notes 1980 Jonathan Hardy Breaker Morant The play Breaker Morant by Kenneth G. Ross Shared with David Stevens and Bruce Beresford. 2001 Philippa BoyensPeter JacksonFran Walsh The Fellowship of the Ring The novel The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien 2003 The Return of the King The novel The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien 2014 Anthony McCarten The Theory of Everything The book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen Hawking by Jane Hawking 2019 Taika Waititi Jojo Rabbit The novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens 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 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
Best Writing – Original Screenplay Best Original ScreenplayYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1993 Jane Campion The Piano 1994 Peter JacksonFran Walsh Heavenly Creatures
Nominations and Winners No. of winsNo. of nominations 31 75
References