The team behind Sweet Country, directed and shot by Warwick Thornton (Bachelor of Arts (Film & Television) Cinematography, 1995), have more than enough reason to celebrate after last week’s 8th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, where the film lead the night with six feature film award wins, five of which went to our alumni in the categories of Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Film.
In the Television categories the Rachel Perkins (Specialist Extension Course Certificate Producing, 1995)-directed Mystery Road, based on the film by Ivan Sen (Bachelor of Arts (Film & Television) Directing, 1997) earned Best Drama Series for series producer and fellow alumni Greer Simpkin (Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Creative Industries), 2010). The series also picked up a Best Original Music Score in Television trophy for alum Matteo Zingales (Graduate Diploma (Film and Television) Screen Composition, 2003), and Best Guest or Supporting Actor for the multi-talented Wayne Blair (AFTRS Andrew Myer Fellowship, 2007).
Elsewhere, Bradley Slabe (Master of Screen Arts 2014) won Best Short Animation for his Lost & Found. The award comes off the back of the film’s run at major international film festivals, and awards at the 2018 Sydney Film Festival and the 51st Australian Writer’s Guild Awards. The film was developed as part of Slabe’s studies at AFTRS.
Congratulations to all alumni winners and nominees at the 8th AACTA Awards. A full list of alumni winners is below, including those they shared their awards with. A list of alumni nominees can be found here.
Feature Film
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST FILM
Sweet Country – Greer Simpkin (Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Creative Industries), 2010), David Jowsey, David Tranter
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
Warwick Thornton (Bachelor of Arts (Film & Television) Cinematography, 1995) – Sweet Country
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Steven McGregor (Master of Arts (Film & Television) Directing, 2001), David Tranter – Sweet Country
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Warwick Thornton (Bachelor of Arts (Film & Television) Cinematography, 1995) – Sweet Country
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST EDITING
Nick Meyers (Specialist Extension Certificate Editing, 1991) – Sweet Country
Television
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST DRAMA SERIES
Mystery Road – Greer Simpkin (Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Creative Industries), 2010), David Jowsey
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST GUEST OR SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA
Wayne Blair (Graduate Certificate in Editing Drama, 2013) – Mystery Road
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY IN TELEVISION
Belinda Chayko (Bachelor of Arts (Film & Television) Scriptwriting, 1989) for Safe Harbour – Episode 1
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE IN TELEVISION
Matteo Zingales (Graduate Diploma (Film and Television) Screen Composition, 2003), Antony Partos – Mystery Road – Episode 4: Silence
Documentary
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST EDITING IN A DOCUMENTARY
Karen Johnson (Specialist Extension Course Certificate Editing, 1995) – Ghosthunter
Short Form
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SHORT ANIMATION
Lost & Found – Bradley Slabe (Master of Screen Arts 2014), Lucy Hayes, Andrew Goldsmith