'Salut Montreal': sound editor Sylvain Bellemare wins Oscar for 'Arrival'

Sofia Boutella, right, presents Sylvain Bellemare with the award for best sound editing for "Arrival" at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES -- Montreal's Sylvain Bellemare has won the best sound editing Oscar for "Arrival."

He won in a field that also included teams from "Deepwater Horizon," "Hacksaw Ridge," "La La Land" and "Sully."

Quebec's Denis Villeneuve directed "Arrival," which stars Amy Adams as a linguistics expert who tries to communicate with aliens that have landed on Earth.

Jeremy Renner plays theoretical physicist Ian in the Quebec-shot film, which also stars Forest Whitaker as a military leader.

Earlier this month, Bellemare -- along with two "Arrival" sound mixers -- won a trophy from the British Academy Film Awards.

Bellemare's previous credits include Villeneuve's 2010 drama "Incendies," which was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign-language film.

His other films include "It's Not Me, I Swear!" and "Monsieur Lazhar" by Quebec director Philippe Falardeau.

For the heptapod aliens in "Arrival," he found inspiration in Pink Floyd's music.

He said echoes and other noises from the psychedelic rock era helped him create the sound of alien movements.

Bellemare was also a contributor to the creation of the aliens' language, which was inspired partly by a melange of animal sounds.