After earning a staggering 58 nominations across 27 categories, AFTRS alumni have received 11 awards at this year’s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, across a range of categories including feature film, television, miniseries, and more. AACTA’s annual industry luncheon was held on Friday 27 November and the official ceremony on Monday 30 November.
Babyteeth, the Venice Film Festival-winning, critically acclaimed feature debut of alumna Shannon Murphy (Graduate Diploma in Directing, 2013), produced by alumna Alex White (Graduate Certificate in Producing, 2011), made a clean sweep, claiming a total of nine prizes. In addition to receiving Best Feature Film, Babyteeth earned Shannon Murphy the award for Best Direction, and composer Amanda Brown (Graduate Certificate in Screen Composition, 1999) the award for Best Original Score. The feature also received Best Screenplay for Rita Kalnejais, Best Lead Actress for Eliza Scanlen, Best Lead Actor for Toby Wallace, Best Supporting Actor for Ben Mendelsohn, Best Supporting Actress for Essie Davis, and Best Casting for Kirsty McGregor and Stevie Ray. In the top feature film category, Babyteeth beat heavy hitters, Unjoo Moon’s (Bachelor of Arts: Film and Television Producing, 1991) I Am Woman, Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, Leah Whannell’s The Invisible Man and Natalie Erika James’ Relic and John Sheedy’s H is For Happiness.
Composer Amanda Brown was also recognised this year for her original score for Catherine Dwyer’s Brazen Hussies, which was executive produced by AFTRS alumna Sue Maslin (Master of Screen Arts and Business, 1993).
Stateless, produced by Sheila Jayadev, and co-directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, dominated this year’s television categories, winning a total 13 of its 18 nominated categories. The series won the AACTA Award for Best Telefeature or Mini Series and earned Bonnie Elliott (Master of Arts: Film, Television and Digital Media Cinematography, 2006) the award for Best Cinematography in Television, and Melinda Doring (Master of Arts (Film & Television) Design, 1997) the award for Best Production Design in Television – both for the series’ first episode, The Circumstances in Which They Come.
Also recognised in the craft categories were Larissa Behrendt (Graduate Diploma in Documentary, 2013; Graduate Diploma in Screenwriting, 2012), who won Best Direction in Nonfiction Television for Maralinga Tjarutja, and Andy Canny (Master of Arts (Film and Television) Editing, 2000), who’s work on The Invisible Man won him Best Editing in Feature Film.
The AACTA Award for Best Drama Series was awarded to the highly acclaimed second season of AFTRS alumni-run Bunya Productions/ABC’s Mystery Road – recognising producer Greer Simpkin (Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Creative Industries), 2010), who worked on the series alongside co-directors Warwick Thornton Bachelor of Arts (Film & Television) Cinematography, 1995) and Wayne Blair (Andrew Myer Fellowship Recipient, 2007).
Steven Vidler’s Standing Up For Sunny, executive produced by Michael Pontin (Graduate Diploma in Producing & Screen Business, 2011), was awarded Best Indie Film, beating Lucy Coleman’s (Graduate Certificate in Screenwriting Fundamentals, 2014) Hot Mess, Serhat Caradee’s (Graduate Diploma of Arts (Film & Television) Directing, 1999) A Lion Returns, Ian Watson’s (Graduate Certificate Screen: Creative Producing, 2018) Unsound, and Koko: A Red Dog Story co-produced by Isabel Perez (Master of Arts (Film and Television) Producing, 1999) for the prize.
The AACTA Industry Awards, presented online as part of AACTA’s first-ever ScreenFest event, and the ceremony, held at The Star Sydney, are available to watch on AACTA’s YouTube channel.
See the full list of winners at the Industry Luncheon here and at the AACTA Awards here.
ALUMNI WINNERS: AACTA INDUSTRY LUNCHEON AWARDS
Best Cinematography in Television: Bonnie Elliott (Master of Arts: Film, Television and Digital Media Cinematography, 2006) – Stateless, Episode 1 – The Circumstances in Which They Come)
Best Direction in Nonfiction Television: Larissa Behrendt (Graduate Diploma in Documentary, 2013; Graduate Diploma in Screenwriting, 2012) – Maralinga Tjarutja
Best Editing: Andy Canny (Master of Arts (Film and Television) Editing, 2000) – The Invisible Man
Best Original Score: Amanda Brown (Graduate Certificate in Screen Composition, 1999) – Babyteeth
Best Original Score in a Documentary: Amanda Brown (Graduate Certificate in Screen Composition, 1999) – Brazen Hussies
Best Production Design in Television: Melinda Doring (Master of Arts (Film & Television) Design, 1997) – Stateless, Episode 1 – The Circumstances in Which They Come
ALUMNI WINNERS: AACTA AWARDS
Best Telefeature or Mini Series: Stateless – Cate Blanchett, Elise McCredie, Tony Ayres, Sheila Jayadev, Paul Ranford, Liz Watts, Andrew Upton
Best Drama Series: Mystery Road – David Jowsey, Greer Simpkin (Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Creative Industries), 2010)
Best Film presented by Foxtel: Babyteeth – Alex White (Graduate Certificate in Producing, 2011)
Best Indie Film: Standing Up For Sunny – Steve Vidler (Dir), Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin (Graduate Diploma in Producing & Screen Business, 2011), Drew Bailey
Best Direction in Film: Shannon Murphy (Graduate Diploma in Directing, 2013) – Babyteeth
