BAFTA nomination for work by Vancouver visual effects company, Image Engine.

Vancouver, BC. Canada. January 21, 2010 - In a week of awards buzz for the film, it was announced today that District 9 has been nominated for the Special Visual Effects award at this year's Orange British Academy Film Awards.

 

Image Engine continue to accumulate reasons to celebrate this week, as their work for District 9 makes it to the shortlist of five films to be up for the prestigious BAFTA award.

 

This news follows the announcement earlier this week that Image Engine are also nominated in three categories at the industry VES Awards this year, and their inclusion on the shortlist for the coveted Oscar^® nomination, to be announced in February.

 

 

Image Engine CEO, Greg Holmes spoke on behalf of the company today:

 

 "It was a pleasure to work with Neill Blomkamp in bringing his aliens to life and we are all very proud of the results that we achieved together. I am delighted with today's news and thrilled that District 9 continues to impress audiences around the world."

 

District 9 and Image Engine will be vying with Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek and The Hurt Locker for the award for ' Special Visual Effects' at the ceremony on Sunday 21^st February 2010.

 

Peter Muyzers, COO said today:

"We are very grateful to Neill Blomkamp for the opportunity to work on this film.  This nomination is a testament to everybody at Image Engine who has raised the bar on this project and helped to put the company and the Vancouver visual effects industry on the world map."

 

District 9 Director, Neill Blomkamp, made the call to bring the majority of the visual effects work to Image Engine where he could rely on the focus and passion that the dedicated team would bring.

 "Image Engine's work (on District 9) ... is by far the best visual effects work that has ever been produced in Vancouver". Says Blomkamp. "...I think Image Engine has done absolutely top tier brilliant work that far exceeded my expectations!"

The greatest visual effects challenge was to create believable creature animation, which would seamlessly blend with District 9's critically acclaimed documentary style of filming.

Shawn Walsh, Visual Effects Executive Producer explains how Image Engine and Blomkamp worked together to create the director's unique vision.

"The key aspect was how Neill simply wanted the audience to 'accept' these bizarre intrusions into human life in Johannesburg. In a way, he wanted the visual effects to be invisible to the audience. Image Engine met this daunting challenge to put alien creatures in a real world setting to tell an incredible story in a credible way."

 

 

 

About Image Engine:

 

Image Engine provides world-class visual effects for feature films.

With over 15 years in the industry, several award wins and an impressive list of feature film credits including the recent District 9, Law Abiding Citizen, 2012, Watchmen, Orphan & currently The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, they are leading the growing feature film visual effects industry in Canada.

Image Engine is a privately owned and run company, based in Vancouver, BC.