'Godzilla-1.0' has been honored with the Visual Effects Award at the Academy Awards, marking the first time a Japanese work and also a work from the Asian region has won this accolade. Director Takashi Yamazaki, speaking at a press conference immediately after returning from the award ceremony held on March 10th local time, said, "The Visual Effects Award is considered sacred ground, usually awarded to the best among productions with elaborate work and significant budgets. Until now, we didn't even have the opportunity to challenge for this award. However, I believe our work was appreciated for being an interesting case with a small team and limited budget, and for how the VFX contributed to the storytelling."

Why was Director Yamazaki able to achieve this historic feat?

'Godzilla-1.0' is the 30th live-action Godzilla film produced in Japan. It portrays the appearance of the colossal monster Godzilla, which emerges suddenly in post-war Japan and ruthlessly destroys the city still in recovery, and the people who stand up to face Godzilla. The film utilizes VFX (Visual Effects) to create compelling and powerful imagery.

"Congratulations on winning the Academy Award for Visual Effects."

[Yamazaki] "Thank you very much. I am happy to receive congratulatory messages from everyone. It's truly an honor. Participating in this global competition and having a 'We did it!' moment has been an incredible experience."

"This incredible journey began when, on December 21st last year (local time), 'Godzilla-1.0' was selected as one of the 10 works in the 'shortlist,' also known as the preliminary candidates for the 'Visual Effects Award' at the '96th Academy Awards'...”

[Yamazaki] "The process progresses through stages like the longlist, shortlist, nomination, and then the award ceremony. It felt like a student waiting for exam results. There was a 'Bake Off' where the remaining 10 works in the shortlist present about VFX, and we also participated in screening Q&As and did quite a bit of lobbying. At times, we did ordinary things like going out for lunch (laughs). There's a traditional event called the 'Oscar Nominees Luncheon' where nominees gather and network over lunch. I was grateful to even meet Steven Spielberg there, but traveling back and forth between Japan and America five times by the ceremony was quite something (laughs)."