The awards season showdown hits Kiwi screens on Monday, March 3 (NZT), with the 97th Academy Awards set to celebrate the best of the best in the film industry.
But where can you watch this year’s Oscars? And how do our talented
Academy Awards 2025: The Kiwis off to Hollywood’s biggest night, and how to watch the Oscars from NZ
Subscribe to listen
Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
Wētā FX VFX supervisor Erik Winquist is part of the Kiwi contingent heading to Hollywood for the Oscars on Monday (NZT) Photo / Getty, Wētā FX.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Amid the battle for Best Picture, The Brutalist, Conclave and Emilia Perez are looking like the frontrunners considering their slew of other award wins, and the Best Actress contest could easily be clinched by The Substance actress Demi Moore.
Timothée Chalamet’s portrayal of singer Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown could also put him in the running for taking out the Best Actor gong after a surprise win at the SAG Awards last week.
New Zealand talent will also be front and centre, with Wellington’s Wētā FX nabbing three visual effects nominations, the most individual for the company’s history.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
People can watch the action at The Dolby Theatre unfold on air from about midday on Monday March 3, with Kiwis able to stream the event on Disney+ if they have a subscription with the service.
The Herald will also be live blogging the event and red carpet.
Erik Winquist, a VFX supervisor, will be one of the lucky Kiwis from the Wētā FX contingent at the theatre’s hallowed halls come Monday.
Winquist and his colleagues have a record three films nominated in the Best Visual Effects category, which recognises excellence in technical and visual effects.
While he is there representing his work on blockbuster Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, other Weta FX colleagues will be championing their work on Better Man and Alien: Romulus, the other two nominated in the category.
It’s not Winquist’s first rodeo either, having attended the ceremony 10 years ago for his work on another Apes film: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
“It’s been quite a ride so far, with all of the accolades Kingdom has garnered for its visual effects work,“ he said of this awards season, with the film also nominated for a coveted Bafta nomination a few weeks ago.
“Going into the Oscars is, of course, quite a thrill given the calibre of visual effects on display this year.
“We’re up against some films which were huge hits at the box office, so the competition is formidable”.
Another big part of the event is networking with other film industry colleagues, and Winquist hopes he’ll get the chance to meet the filmmakers behind Nickel Boys, which is nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
"If you haven’t caught up with that one yet, I highly recommend it. It is a challenging watch at times, but a deeply human and beautiful film."
Winquist said whatever the outcome, it was “humbling and a privilege” to represent the work of the 1000-strong Wētā FX crew and New Zealand as a whole.
“I am enormously proud to be representing Aotearoa,” he said.
“I originally came to New Zealand for what I thought was going to be six months of work on The Lord of the Rings.
“Twenty-three years later, I’m still here and loving it. And it’s because of the talent I’m surrounded by every day at Wētā FX”.
The fact that more than 300 films were nominated for the Visual Effects Oscar - and Wētā FX worked on three of the five nominated films - was a testament to Kiwi creativity and hard work, Winquist said.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
“Good things happen when we support the arts in Aotearoa.”
Matt Aitken, the head of VFX at Wētā FX, shared a similar sentiment and encouraged the rest of Aotearoa to tune in and show their support.
“Whether we win or lose, we hope the country joins us in celebrating the incredible feats our entire Wētā FX crew has achieved by being recognised with multiple Oscar and Bafta nominations this year.”
While this year there are no Kiwis nominated for acting, directing or producing nominations, there have been plenty of notable past nominees and winners.
Jane Campion and Sir Peter Jackson both have Best Directing Oscars to their name (for Power of the Dog and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King respectively), and Taika Waititi won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Jojo Rabbit.
FULL LIST OF 2025 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEES
Best Picture
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
- Anora
- The Brutalist
- A Complete Unknown
- Conclave
- Dune: Part Two
- Emilia Pérez
- I’m Still Here
- Nickel Boys
- The Substance
- Wicked.
Best Director
- Sean Baker, Anora
- Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
- James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
- Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
- Coralie Fargeat, The Substance.
Actor in a Leading Role
- Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
- Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
- Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
- Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
- Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice.
Actress in a Leading Role
- Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
- Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
- Mikey Madison, Anora
- Demi Moore, The Substance
- Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here.
Actor in a Supporting Role
- Yura Borisov, Anora
- Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
- Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
- Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
- Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice.
Actress in a Supporting Role
- Monica Barbaro, Complete Unknown
- Ariana Grande, Wicked
- Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
- Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
- Zoe Saldana, Emilia Pérez.
Animated Feature Film
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
- Flow
- Inside Out 2
- Memoir of a Snail
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
- The Wild Robot.
Cinematography
- The Brutalist
- Dune: Part Two
- Emilia Pérez
- Maria
- Nosferatu.
Animated Short Film
- Beautiful Men
- In the Shadow of Cypress
- Magic Candies
- Wander to Wonder
- Yuck!
- Memoir of a Snail.
Documentary Feature Film
- Black Box Diaries
- No Other Land
- Porcelain War
- Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
- Sugarcane.
Documentary Short Film
- Death by Numbers
- I Am Ready, Warden
- Incident
- Instruments of a Beating Heart
- The Only Girl in the Orchestra.
Film Editing
- Anora
- The Brutalist
- Conclave
- Emilia Pérez
- Wicked.
International Feature Film
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
- I’m Still Here
- The Girl with the Needle
- Emilia Pérez
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- Flow.
Costume Design
- A Complete Unknown
- Conclave
- Gladiator II
- Nosferatu
- Wicked.
Live Action Short Film
- A Lien
- Anuja
- I’m Not a Robot
- The Last Ranger
- The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent.
Makeup and Hairstyling
- A Different Man
- Emilia Pérez
- Nosferatu
- The Substance
- Wicked.
Original Score
- The Brutalist
- Conclave
- Emilia Pérez
- Wicked
- The Wild Robot.
Original Song
- El Mal from Emilia Pérez
- The Journey from The Six Triple Eight
- Like a Bird from Sing Sing
- Mi Camino from Emilia Pérez
- Never Too Late from Elton John: Never Too Late.
Adapted Screenplay
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
- A Complete Unknown
- Conclave
- Emilia Pérez
- Nickel Boys
- Sing Sing.
Original Screenplay
- Anora
- The Brutalist
- A Real Pain
- September 5
- The Substance.
Production Design
- The Brutalist
- Conclave
- Dune: Part Two
- Nosferatu
- Wicked.
Sound
- A Complete Unknown
- Dune: Part Two
- Emilia Pérez
- Wicked
- The Wild Robot.
Visual Effects
- Alien: Romulus
- Better Man
- Dune: Part Two
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
- Wicked.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.
