Winners of the Advanced Imaging Society Lumiere Awards 2026
‘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 recognize the artists, engineers and innovators whose work continues to push the boundaries of storytelling and film technology.
“These Lumiere winners produced their brilliant stories by pushing the boundaries of what is creatively and technically possible,” said Jim Chabin, president of the Advanced Imaging Society. “In these awards we see the future of our industry – and that future is truly more exciting than ever.”
The Society awarded the Lumiere Award for Best Live-Action Feature Film 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 on hand to accept the Lumiere for best audio. Voters praised “Sinners,” calling it a “brilliant and meaningful story” and noting that as a film it was “perfectly executed.”
“Zootopia 2” won the award for best animated film. Actor and voice artist Patrick Warburton presented the award to director Byron Howard. Voters noted not only the stunning visuals, but also the “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 global standard for color. Creadon was on hand to accept the award and read a thank you note from 97-year-old Herbert. AIS noted: “We are 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 the award for best film – musical. AIS honoree and director Jon M. Chu accepted the award. Voters commented on “the way the difficult VFX and footage with high production value integrated perfectly into the musical stories 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, which also included Lightstorm’s Joe Letteri and Richard Baneham, who were also in attendance. Voters unequivocally agreed that the unforgettable third act sequence once again set a new benchmark for visual effects-driven storytelling.
Among the episode winners was Season 2 of “Andor,” 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. Season 5 of “Stranger Things” won the Lumiere for Best Use of High Dynamic Range – Episodic and was accepted by colorist Jared Arkulary of Company 3, and “F1” won Best Use of High Dynamic Range – Feature Film, accepted by colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3.
Google received the Society’s annual Sir Charles Wheatstone Award for its innovations, including the VEO and Imagen models, Google Cloud and YouTube production tools. The award was received by Anil Jain, Global Managing Director of Strategic Industries.
The awards also recognized five organizations for their “impact and innovation” in advancing the media and entertainment ecosystem this year. Production Technology Lumiere Awards were presented to the following individuals: AMD for their EPYC CPUs and Threadripper PRO workstation tools; CoreWeave’s Conductor was recognized for their cloud optimization desktop tools; 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 images; 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 cinemas, featuring state-of-the-art laser projection and sound.
As previously announced, Ethan Hawke was honored with the Distinguished Artist Award in 2026 for his performance in Richard Linklater’s ‘Blue Moon’. Presenting Hawke with the award, former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy 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 — it’s him light.”
Chu received 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, president of Harold Lloyd Entertainment.
View the full list of winners below:
Best Feature Film – Live Action: “Sinners”
Best Feature Film – Animation: “Zootopia 2”
Best Documentary: “The King of Color”
Best Film – 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 Scene: “KPop Demon Hunters” – “Golden”
Best Theatrical Scene or Scene: “Avatar: Fire and Ash” – “Flux Devil”
Best Episode – Animation: “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”
Best Episode – 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
Manufacturing Technology Awards: AMD, DisneyResearch|Studios Flawless, 6P Color, CoreWeave
Governor’s Award for Outstanding Cinema: VUE
Sir Charles Wheatstone Prize: Google
Judy Garland Legacy Award: Jon M. Chu, “Wicked: For Good”
Harold Lloyd Award: Joseph Kosinski & Jerry Bruckheimer,” F1″
