Avatar: Fire and Ash Dominates VES Awards with Seven Wins

The 2026 VES Awards, held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, celebrate the year’s most innovative visual-effects achievements across 25 categories, covering film, television, animation, special venues, technological innovation and immersive media.

Avatar: Fire and Ash won the following awards:

1. Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

2. Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature – Varang, Leader of the Ash Clan

3. Outstanding Environment in a Photoreal Feature – Bridgehead Industrial City

4. Outstanding CG Cinematography

5. Outstanding Model in a Photoreal Project – Windtraders’ Gondola

6. Outstanding Effects Simulations – Pandora Environments

7. Emerging Technology Award – Weta FX’s Kora Fire Toolset

Visual effects supervisor Richard Baneham credited the achievement to the massive effort of nearly 1,200 artists at Weta FX, who contributed to the film’s groundbreaking visual effects. He also paid tribute to producer Jon Landau, describing him as the “heart and soul” behind the creativity of the Avatar franchise.

In other categories, KPop Demon Hunters dominated the animation segment, winning three trophies, including Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature. Meanwhile, Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age secured the top two awards for episodic photoreal VFX, while Andor won two awards for episodic environments and practical effects.

F1: The Movie and Sinners also secured recognition in technical feature categories, with Sinners winning the award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature.

Avatar: Fire and Ash entered the ceremony with 10 nominations and ultimately walked away with seven top honors, reinforcing its status as one of the year’s most technologically advanced productions.

Other nominees in the top VFX category included Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus, How to Train Your Dragon, IT: Welcome to Derry, Sphere’s presentation of The Wizard of Oz, and The Residence. Animated contenders also included Zootopia 2 and Elio.

The ceremony, hosted by comedy duo Randy Sklar and Jason Sklar of the Sklar Brothers, honored the year’s best visual-effects work from across the globe. Special honors included the Lifetime Achievement Award for Jerry Bruckheimer and the Visionary Award for Richard Taylor, co-founder of Weta Workshop.

Kim Davidson, chair of the Visual Effects Society board, congratulated the winners for their extraordinary craftsmanship and technological innovation across genres.

The VES Awards are widely considered one of the most accurate predictors of the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, as the winners are chosen exclusively by working visual-effects professionals rather than the broader academy.

With its sweeping victory at the VES Awards, Avatar: Fire and Ash has reaffirmed the Avatar franchise’s dominance in the rapidly evolving world of digital filmmaking.

This article was written by Aditya Kumar Singh, an intern from Loyola Academy.