The Fellowship Of The Ring’s 13 Oscar Nominations A Great Day For New Zealand
“It’s a great day for New Zealand,” said Judith Tizard today after the announcement of thirteen nominations in the 74th
Annual Academy Awards for the first instalment of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
“Peter Jackson has shown that with the right support, New Zealand’s creative and technical people can be up there with
the best in the world,” said the Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.
“All New Zealanders should congratulate themselves on this success. With the Film Commission’s investment over the
years, Peter Jackson has been able to develop his skills on quirky splatter films and historical New Zealand tales to a
point where he has made, on-budget and on-time, one of the greatest films in the world.
“The making of this film trilogy shows that film is a high-tech industry that can deliver an enormous amount of
prosperity to New Zealand. The Labour-Alliance Government has a huge amount of confidence in the potential of the
creative industries to contribute to New Zealand’s growth.”
Judith Tizard said Peter Jackson’s use of highly skilled and creative people has resulted in many of them also being
nominated for the Academy Awards.
“Richard Taylor of Weta is nominated in three categories, which shows how important Weta SPFX Workshop and Weta Digital
Effects have been to the film.
“As a director, Peter Jackson’s fellow nominees are Ridley Scott, David Lynch, Robert Altman and Ron Howard. He has
grown up with the work of these directors and now he is nominated alongside them. That’s a remarkable achievement.
“I wish Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, all the nominees, Newline, Weta and everyone else involved in the trilogy all the
best at the awards. I think they’ve already done us proud by having the highest number of nominations this year, but a
win at the Oscars would be the icing on the cake.
“We’ve got two films still to come, and I hope everyone else is looking forward to them as much as I am. I’m a huge
fan,” said Judith Tizard.
The thirteen nominations are:
- Best Picture - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- Best Director - Peter Jackson
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Sir Ian McKellan
- Best Art Direction - Grant Major (Art Direction), Dan Hennah (Set Decoration)
- Best Visual Effects - Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor and Mark Stetson
- Best Cinematography - Andrew Lesnie
- Best Costume Design - Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor
- Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson (from JRR Tolkien’s The Fellowship
of the Ring)
- Best Film Editing - John Gilbert
- Best Makeup - Peter Owen and Richard Taylor
- Best Music (Score) - Howard Shore
- Best Music (Song) - “May It Be”, Music and Lyric by Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan
- Best Sound - Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh and Hammond Peek
It is the second time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have received nominations for the Academy Awards. Heavenly Creatures
was nominated for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) in 1994.
Judith Tizard said she was also pleased to hear that New Zealand-born actor Russell Crowe had earned his third Academy
Award nomination - Actor in a Leading Role - for his role as mathematician John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. Russell Crowe
won this award in 2000 for Gladiator.
The 74th Annual Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday 24 March (Monday 25 March in New Zealand).
Ends