THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS picked up three BAFTA awards Sunday, February 23, 2003, during the Orange British Academy Film Awards held at the Odeon Leicester Square in the heart of London's West end. The VFX epic motion picture received Orange Film of the Year (voted by the public, whereas THE PIANIST won for Best Film, voted by members British Academy of Film and Television Arts). RINGS also won for Achievement in Special Visual Effects, singling out Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke for recognition. Costumers Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor also picked up BAFTAs for Best Costume Design for RINGS. Winning for best Short Animation was Gäelle Denis for his FISH NEVER SLEEP. Cellular phone company Orange sponsored the awards for the sixth year running. The BAFTAs are the British equivalent of the Academy Awards in the U.S. Awards for television are given out later in the year, and are similar to the U.S. Emmy awards.
