VFX Supervisors on ‘Eiffel,’ ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ Among Winners at Genie Awards
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“Eiffel,” “Around the World in 80 Days” and “The Last Duel” were among the winners at the Digital Creation Genie Awards announced at an awards ceremony held Wednesday in the Centre des Arts in Enghien-les-Bains, Paris. The awards were held as part of the 8th edition of PIDS Enghien, which runs Jan. 26-29.
Best visual effects for a feature film was awarded to VFX supervisor Olivier Cauwet and VFX producer Justine Paynat-Sautivet of Pierre Buffin’s Paris-based visual effects powerhouse BUF for their work on “Eiffel,” directed by Martin Bourboulon.
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Starring Romain Duris (“Mood Indigo”) and Emma Mackey (“Sex Education”), the visually spectacular historic epic about Gustave Eiffel is co-produced and repped by Pathé, which distributed it in France, garnering more than 1 million admissions. Blue Fox Entertainment has nabbed U.S. rights. BUF has also recently provided VFX work on “The Matrix Resurrections,” and the TV series “Foundation” and “The Nevers.”
Best visual effects in the TV fiction category was awarded to Hugues Namur, Delphine Lasserre, Nicolas Borens, Florian Wolff and Christophe Courgeau of MPC Film & Episodic for their work on the TV series “Around the World in 80 Days,” co-created by Ashley Pharoah and Caleb Ranson, produced by Peter McAleese, with Steve Barron as lead director. Commissioned by the European Alliance of France Télévisions, ZDF and RAI, the series, starring David Tennant, is sold by Federation Entertainment.
Best environment went to Yann Blondel, Kristina Prilukova, Romain Bavent, Christophe Courgeau and Mark Robinson of MPC Film & Episodic for their work on Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel.”
The pic was one of the first projects to benefit from the 2020 upgrade to France’s Tax Rebate for International Production (TRIP) program that now offers a 40% rebate on all eligible expenses – including for live action spends that are not VFX related – for international projects whose VFX expenses surpass €2 million ($2.27 million) spent on local soil.
Best visual effects for a commercial was awarded to Mhamed Elmezoued and Tony Dugard of Capsule Studio for the Farming Simulator 22 Cinematic Trailer.
The title sequence for France 3’s “The Chicken” won best character, awarded to Benjamin Laborde, Olivier Osotimehin and Cédric Herbet of Fix Studio.
Golaem snagged best innovation of the year award for Golaem 8, a real-time crowd simulator for Unreal Engine.
Golaem won an engineering Emmy award in 2021 for its contribution to the television industry, and has been used on shows such as “Game of Thrones,” “The Walking Dead” and “Lovecraft Country.”
Best student film was awarded to ArtFX for “Green.”
Career tributes went to veteran VFX supervisor Rob Legato (“Titanic,” “Hugo”), who provided a masterclass at PIDS Enghien, and to Xavier Nicolas and Jerzy Kular, founders of the pioneering VFX studio Ex Machina, which disappeared 20 years ago, but played a major role in putting French VFX on the map.
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