Oscar candidate: “monkeys as competition” – Nefzer could get third Oscar

Gerd Nezfer is in the Oscar end sprint. Just from filming in Budapest back to Schwäbisch Hall, on Friday the tuxedo ironing and packing suitcases, on Saturday – with his wife Regina – to Los Angeles Jetten. “I hope the plane has no delay,” says the 59-year-old between the door and Angel on the phone of the dpa.

And on Sunday he could stand on the Oscar stage. He already knows the feeling. The special effects artist has already won two Oscar trophies. In 2018, Nefzer and three colleagues with their work on “Blade Runner 2049” “the favorite” planet of the monkeys: Survival “. The science fiction epic “Dune” brought the next Oscar in 2022.

Now after the third collaboration with director Denis Villeneuve he is back in the race for his cooperation in “Dune: Part Two”. Just two weeks ago, Nefzer and Co. won the coveted BAFTA trophy for the best visual effects in London.

Industry experts also admit the team at the Oscar’s top chances. “Yes, it looks very good for us, but a lot can still happen”. After all, they “have many monkeys as a competition,” says Nefzer with a laugh. “Planet of the monkey: New Kingdom” is among the five nominees.

Five chances of winning for “Dune: Part Two”

The native Swabian looks at his third Oscar appearance a little more relaxed, because now you know what a “wrong experience” awaits one on the red carpet and at the gala. “Of course, that was overwhelming the first time and you also felt a bit lost or anxious,” he admits. Now he is particularly looking forward to meeting Danny (Villeneuve) and the team.

“Dune: Part Two” has five chances of winning, including the best film. The visual science fiction epic with lead actor Timothée Chalamet (as Paul Areides) plays on the desert planet Arrakis, where good and bad powers fight for the valuable substance Spice. The film was shot in the desert in Jordan, Abu Dhabi and Studios in Budapest. Nefzer and his crew were responsible for special effects, not on the computer, but real at the filming location with tricky manual work.

Huge artificial dune made of tons of sand built

As the biggest challenge, he describes the action scenes around a huge sandworm on which chalamet rides through the desert. To do this, they would have opened an artificial dune over four huge tubes in order to bring them to the collapse when filming, exactly the moment the actor or stunted people ran over the Sandberg. Villeneuve it was very important that it looks credible, says Nefzer.

That “worked great”, but the actors and the stunt people would have got a lot of dust. On a day of shooting, for example, they would have blown a whole ton of sand, reports Nefzer.

The trained agricultural technician has been in the film business for over 30 years. He joined the company of his father -in -law, which started as a rental of film cars and other props, later Special Effects were added. It is still a family business “with the best team in the world,” says the father of two.

Nefzer is on the road without a non -stop – between the headquarters in Schwäbisch Hall, the branch on the site of the Potsdam studio Babelsberg and film set all over the world. He has currently closed his two Oscars in a safe. He would occasionally get them out and still get goose bumps if he holds them in his hand.

“At some point they will be on our tiled stove. There is still a little space on it,” jokes the Oscar candidate. It could get narrower there if the third gold boy is added on Sunday.