4 Minutes
Lights, tech, and storytelling: a new wave at the Lumiere Awards
The Advanced Imaging Society unveiled the winners of the 16th Lumiere Awards in Beverly Hills, celebrating filmmakers, engineers and visual innovators who push the boundaries of cinematic storytelling. This year's ceremony put a spotlight on both narrative ambition and technical craft, with Sinners, Zootopia 2, Wicked: For Good and The King of Color emerging as the headline winners.
Winners and standout moments
Sinners took home the prize for Best Live-Action Feature and also won Best Sound for a feature, underscoring how immersive soundscapes are increasingly central to modern cinema. Delroy Lindo, an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor, presented the live-action award to producer Su Ohanian in what many attendees called a gracious moment for an intense, character-driven film.
Zootopia 2 won Best Animated Feature, a noteworthy achievement for the studio that needs to balance family-friendly storytelling with sharper social satire — a tricky line that the original Zootopia navigated successfully. Wicked: For Good claimed Best Musical Feature, while The King of Color was named Best Documentary, demonstrating the Lumiere jury's appetite for diverse formats and ambitious visual work.
Other technical and creative winners included:
- Best Sound for a Series: Severance
- Best Original Song: "Golden" by KPop Demon Hunters (also awarded Best Musical Scene)
- Best HDR in a Feature: F1 (also honored with a Harold Lloyd award for director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer)
- Best HDR in a Series: Stranger Things, Season 5
- Best Live-Action Series: Andor, Season 2
- Best Animated Series: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
The ceremony also honored production-tech achievements: AMD, DisneyResearch|Studios Flawless, 6P Color and CoreWeave were recognized for pushing production workflows. Special honors included the Governor's Award for Cinema Excellence to VUE, the Sir Charles Wheatstone award to Google, and a Judy Garland Legacy award to John M. Chu for Wicked: For Good.
Why these choices matter
The Lumiere Awards are unique because they bridge the creative and the technical. Whereas many awards focus solely on narrative or acting, the Advanced Imaging Society explicitly rewards innovations in imaging, HDR, spatial audio, VR and production pipelines. This explains why a motorsports epic like F1 could be celebrated for HDR alongside narrative winners.
Comparatively, Zootopia 2’s win reflects an appetite for sequels that expand worldbuilding rather than just repeat old beats — similar to strong follow-ups like Toy Story 3 or Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. And Sinners’ dual recognition for storytelling and sound highlights how indie-esque character dramas can compete with spectacle when craft is high.
Trivia and behind-the-scenes notes: the KPop Demon Hunters’ "Golden" became an early fan favorite after a viral marketing clip showcased its choreography and HDR color grading, which likely helped its musical scene win.
Film critic Anna Kovacs offered perspective: 'The Lumiere Awards have become a bellwether for where cinema tech meets bold storytelling. This year's slate signals that studios and indie creators alike are investing in immersive tools to deepen emotional impact.'
The ceremony leaves a clear message: great modern cinema is both an aesthetic and a technical achievement. For viewers and creators, that's an exciting crossroads where sound design, HDR imaging and narrative ambition all compete for attention — and awards.
Leave a Comment