Vancouver visual effects supervisors among team to win Oscar for “Dune: Part Two”

By Canadian Press on March 2, 2025.

Vancouver’s Stephen James and Rhys Salcombe are part of a team that won the best visual effects Oscar for work on “Dune: Part Two.”

They accepted the award during Sunday’s bash along with England’s Paul Lambert and Germany’s Gerd Nefzer.

The film sees Quebec director Denis Villeneuve continue his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed science fiction novel.

The sequel, which features mind-bending visuals of giant sandworms and otherworldy desert landscapes, follows Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides as he seeks revenge against those who destroyed his family.

James and Salcombe, both of DNEG Vancouver, worked as visual effects supervisors on the film.

“Dune: Part Two” beat out the teams behind “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Better Man,” “Alien: Romulus” and “Wicked.”

Earlier in the night, nominated Canadians came up short several creative categories, including best costume design, and production design.

In the best documentary category, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie were in the running for their film “Sugarcane,” which investigates abuses at a B.C. residential school, but they lost to “No Other Land.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2025.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press