AFI AWARDS 2009 – NOMINATIONS

"box office is a measure of popularity and that’s a good thing"

The inaugural winner will be announced at the awards presentation on December 12. If the award were for the 2009 calendar year, the winner would be Mao’s Last Dancer, which at October 25 had grossed $10.8 million. Australia has grossed $10.6 in the 2009 year – after its opening takings in 2008 (opened November 26, 2008) of some $27 million. Given the AFI Awards year is not a calendar year, it will be Australia’s producers, Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown and Catherine Knapman, who will be walking up to accept the award.

The notion of rewarding box office success is terrific and perhaps the AFI should have introduced such an award earlier, signalling more clearly to filmmakers that box office is a measure of popularity and that’s a good thing. Every filmmaker wants their film to be popular – to be seen by as many people as possible. Box office takings measure that. The award will inevitably be won by big budget films like Australia, features which also have marketing muscle behind them.

"a diverse menu of films"

If this helps encourage higher budget productions and also promotes the notion that our films need to connect with audiences that’s good. But it shouldn’t overshadow the fact that we need a diverse industry with a diverse menu of films, including some that do not appeal to huge mainstream audiences. This new award celebrates the achievement of films at the ‘big’ end of movie town; the great majority of Australian films continue to be in the art house category, despite the fact that they are in English.

With expanded nominations slots [up from 4 to 6] in the top two awards, Members’ Choice and Best Film, there are a total of eight features nominated across these two categories, with Baz Luhrmann’s Australia featuring in the Members’ Choice list but replaced by Blessed in the Best Film category; the other four nominated films appear in both lists: Balibo, Beautiful Kate, Mao’s Last Dancer, Mary and Max, Samson & Delilah.

Two debuting directors (Warwick Thornton and Rachel Ward) and two experienced directors (Bruce Beresford and Robert Connolly) are nominated for direction, and three debuting feature writers Adam Elliot (Mary and Max), Serhat Caradee and Thornton join Sarah Watt (My Year Without Sex, her second feature) in the Original Screenplay nominations.

Not surprisingly, the adapted screenplay category also features nominees from the top awards: Robert Connolly and David Williamson for Balibo; Rachel Ward for Beautiful Kate; Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves, Patricia Cornelius, Christos Tsiolkas for Blessed; and Jan Sardi for Mao’s Last Dancer.

Beautiful Kate is the platform for no less than five acting nominations: one each in male and female leads and male support, and two in female support roles. Balibo cast score three nominations, Samson & Delilah two.

Of the most popular films at the box office (takings over $1 million to date), only Disgrace and Charlie & Boots have not received a nomination. The lowest grossing feature to be nominated for any award is Cedar Boys, which has grossed a little over $200,000.

INTERNATIONAL AWARD NOMINEES
AFI INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
* Russell Crowe. State of Play
* Martin Henderson. House. Network Ten
* Anthony LaPaglia. Without a Trace. Nine Network
* Guy Pearce. Bedtime Stories

AFI INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
* Rose Byrne. Damages. Foxtel
* Toni Collette. United States of Tara. ABC1
* Melissa George. In Treatment. Foxtel
* Mia Wasikowska. In Treatment. Foxtel

FEATURE FILM NOMINEES
AFI MEMBERS’ CHOICE AWARD
* Australia. Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown, Catherine Knapman
* Balibo. John Maynard, Rebecca Williamson
* Beautiful Kate. Leah Churchill-Brown, Bryan Brown
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Jane Scott
* Mary and Max. Melanie Coombs
* Samson & Delilah. Kath Shelper

SAMSUNG MOBILE AFI AWARD FOR BEST FILM
* Balibo. John Maynard, Rebecca Williamson
* Beautiful Kate. Leah Churchill-Brown, Bryan Brown
* Blessed. Al Clark
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Jane Scott
* Mary and Max. Melanie Coombs
* Samson & Delilah. Kath Shelper

AFI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
* Balibo. Robert Connolly
* Beautiful Kate. Rachel Ward
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Bruce Beresford
* Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

MACQUARIE AFI AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
* Cedar Boys. Serhat Caradee
* Mary and Max. Adam Elliot
* My Year Without Sex. Sarah Watt
* Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

MACQUARIE AFI AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
* Balibo. Robert Connolly, David Williamson
* Beautiful Kate. Rachel Ward
* Blessed. Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves, Patricia Cornelius, Christos Tsiolkas
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Jan Sardi

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTOR
* Anthony LaPaglia. Balibo
* Ben Mendelsohn. Beautiful Kate
* Hugo Weaving. Last Ride
* Rowan McNamara. Samson & Delilah

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTRESS
* Sophie Lowe. Beautiful Kate
* Frances O’Connor. Blessed
* Sacha Horler. My Year Without Sex
* Marissa Gibson. Samson & Delilah

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
* Brandon Walters. Australia
* Damon Gameau. Balibo
* Oscar Isaac. Balibo
* Bryan Brown. Beautiful Kate

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
* Bea Viegas. Balibo
* Maeve Dermody. Beautiful Kate
* Rachel Griffiths. Beautiful Kate
* Mitjili Gibson. Samson & Delilah

AFI YOUNG ACTOR AWARD
* Brandon Walters. Australia
* Sebastian Gregory. Beautiful
* Tom Russell. Last Ride
* Toby Wallace. Lucky Country
* Marissa Gibson. Samson & Delilah
* Rowan McNamara. Samson & Delilah

AFI AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
* Balibo. Tristan Milani ACS
* Beautiful Kate. Andrew Commis
* Last Ride. Greig Fraser
* Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

AFI AWARD FOR BEST EDITING
* Balibo. Nick Meyers ASE
* Blessed. Jill Bilcock ACE, ASE
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Mark Warner
* Samson & Delilah. Roland Gallois

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SOUND
* Australia. Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Wayne Pashley MPSE, Guntis Sics
* Balibo. Sam Petty, Emma Bortignon, Phil Heywood, Ann Aucote
* Mao’s Last Dancer. David Lee, Andrew Neil, Yulia Akerholt, Mark Franken, Roger Savage
* Samson & Delilah. Liam Egan, David Tranter, Robert Sullivan, Tony Murtagh,
Yulia Akerholt, Les Fiddess

AFI AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
* Australia. David Hirschfelder, Felix Meagher, Baz Luhrmann, Angela Little
* Balibo. Lisa Gerrard
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Christopher Gordon
* Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

AFI AWARD FOR BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
* Australia. Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy, Beverley Dunn
* Balibo. Robert Cousins
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Herbert Pinter
* Mary and Max. Adam Elliot

AFI AWARD FOR BEST COSTUME DESIGN
* Australia. Catherine Martin, Eliza Godman
* Balibo. Cappi Ireland
* Lucky Country. Mariot Kerr
* Mao’s Last Dancer. Anna Borghesi

AFI VISUAL EFFECTS AWARD
* Australia. Chris Godfrey, James E. Price, Andy Brown, Rob Duncan
* Death of the Megabeasts. Matt Drummond, Mike Dunn
* Plastic. Sandy Widyanata, Eric So, Matthew Mackereth, Christopher Jackson
* Scorched. Bertrand Polivka, Soren Jensen. Nine Network

NON-FEATURE FILM NOMINEES
AFI AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
* Bastardy. Philippa Campey, Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Lynn-Maree Milburn, Andrew de Groot
* The Choir. Chris Hilton, Michael Davie
* Glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts. Scott Hicks, Susanne Preissler
* Lionel. Lizzette Atkins

AFI AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY UNDER ONE HOUR
* The Love Market. Shalom Almond. National Geographic
* Salt. Michael Angus. ABC
* Solo. Jennifer Peedom. ABC1
* Tackling Peace. Marc Radomsky. Network Ten

AFI AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY SERIES
* Beyond Kokoda. Stig Schnell, Shaun Gibbons. Foxtel
* First Australians. Darren Dale, Rachel Perkins, Helen Panckhurst. SBS
* Once Bitten. Beth Frey, Janette Howe. SBS
* Voices From The Cape. David Selvarajah Vadiveloo, Anna Kaplan. ABC1

AFI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION IN A DOCUMENTARY
* Bastardy. Amiel Courtin-Wilson
* The Choir. Michael Davie
* First Australians (Episode 4, There Is No Other Law). Rachel Perkins. SBS
* The Love Market. Shalom Almond. National Geographic

AFI AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A DOCUMENTARY
* Beyond Kokoda (Buying Time). Stig Schnell, Shaun Gibbons, Brett Murphy, Ben Nunney. Foxtel
* Cracking the Colour Code (Episode 2, Making Colours). Ian Batt, Vincent Fooy. SBS
* My Asian Heart. David Bradbury
* Salt. Murray Fredericks. ABC

AFI AWARD FOR BEST EDITING IN A DOCUMENTARY
* Bastardy. Bill Murphy, Jack Hutchings, Richard Lowenstein
* Cracking the Colour Code (Episode 2, Making Colours). Lawrie Silvestrin. SBS
* How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer. Zen Rosenthal. ABC
* Yes Madam, Sir. Megan Doneman, Annie Collins

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SOUND IN A DOCUMENTARY
* The Choir. Sam Hayward, Phil Judd, Felicity Fox, Alli Heynes, Phil Vail, David White
* Glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts. Stephen R. Smith, Peter Smith
* Intangible Asset Number 82. Matthew Ferris, Michael Gissing, Andrew McGrath
* Lionel. Nick Batterham, Keith Thomas, Cezary Skubiszewski

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT ANIMATION
* The Cat Piano. Jessica Brentnall, Eddie White, Ari Gibson
* Chicken of God. Jodi Satya, Frank Woodley
* The Not-So-Great Eugene Green. Melanie Brunt, Michael Hill
* Reach. Luke Randall

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FICTION FILM
* Burn. Anna Kaplan, David Selvarajah Vadiveloo
* Liebermans In The Sky. Jessica Redenbach, Richard Vilensky
* Miracle Fish. Drew Bailey, Luke Doolan
* Water. Sarah Shaw, Corrie Jones

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY IN A SHORT FILM
* Boxer. Michael Latham
* Liebermans In The Sky. Richard Vilensky
* Miracle Fish. Luke Doolan
* Water. Corrie Jones, Sarah Shaw, Ian Meadows


TELEVISION NOMINEES
AFI AWARD FOR BEST CHILDREN’S TELEVISION DRAMA
* The Elephant Princess. Jonathan M. Shiff, Joanna Werner. Network Ten
* Time Trackers. Sue Taylor. Seven Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST CHILDREN’S TELEVISION ANIMATION
* The Adventures of Charlotte and Henry. Paige Livingston. Seven Network
* Classic Tales. Noel Price. ABC
* Figaro Pho. Luke Jurevicius. ABC1
* Zeke’s Pad. Avrill Stark, Delna Bhesania, Liz Scully, Leonard Terhoch. Seven Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST TELEVISION COMEDY SERIES
* Chandon Pictures. Rob Carlton. Movie Network
* Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure. Nathan Earl, Andy Nehl. ABC1
* Review With Myles Barlow. Dean Bates. ABC
* Very Small Business. Wayne Hope, Robyn Butler. ABC1

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION SERIES
* The Gruen Transfer, Series 2. Andrew Denton, Anita Jacoby, Jon Casimir, Debbie Cuell. ABC
* RocKwiz. Brian Nankervis, Ken Connor, Peter Bain-Hogg, Joe Connor. SBS
* Spicks and Specks. Anthony Watt. ABC

AFI AWARD FOR BEST TELEVISION DRAMA SERIES
* East West 101, Season 2. Kristine Wyld, Steve Knapman. SBS
* Packed to the Rafters. Jo Porter. Seven Network
* Satisfaction, Season 2. Andrew Walker, Roger Simpson. Showcase
* Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. Greg Haddrick, Brenda Pam. Nine Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST TELEFEATURE, MINI SERIES OR SHORT RUN SERIES
* 3 Acts of Murder. Sue Taylor. ABC1
* False Witness. Greg Haddrick, Peter Andrikidis. UKTV
* The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce. Nial Fulton. ABC1
* Saved. Michael McMahon, Tony Ayres. SBS

AFI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION IN TELEVISION
* East West 101, Season 2 (Episode 13, Atonement) Peter Andrikidis. SBS
* False Witness (Episode 1) Peter Andrikidis. UKTV
* Review With Myles Barlow (Episode 1) Trent O’Donnell. ABC
* Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Episode 11, The Brotherhood) Grant Brown. Nine Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY IN TELEVISION
* 30 Seconds (Episode 4, Invisible Fault Lines) Tim Bullock, Justin Drape, Scott Nowell. Foxtel
* East West 101, Season 2 (Episode 13, Atonement) Michael Miller, Kristen Dunphy. SBS
* Review With Myles Barlow (Episode 1) Trent O’Donnell, Phil Lloyd. ABC
* Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Episode 11, The Brotherhood) Kris Mrksa. Nine Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA
* Robert Menzies. 3 Acts of Murder. ABC1
* Don Hany. East West 101, Season 2. SBS
* Dougray Scott. False Witness. UKTV
* Roy Billing. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. Nine Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA
* Susie Porter. East West 101, Season 2. SBS
* Rachael Blake. False Witness. UKTV
* Rebecca Gibney. Packed to the Rafters. Seven Network
* Asher Keddie. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. Nine Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST GUEST OR SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA
* Bille Brown. 3 Acts of Murder. ABC1
* Jeremy Lindsay Taylor. False Witness (Episode 2). UKTV
* Richard Roxburgh. False Witness (Episode 2). UKTV
* Damian de Montemas. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Episode 11, The Brotherhood). Nine Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST GUEST OR SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA
* Anni Finsterer. 3 Acts of Murder. ABC1
* Claire Forlani. False Witness (Episode 1). UKTV
* Kathryn Beck. Scorched. Nine Network
* Kate Ritchie. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Episode 4, Business As Usual). Nine Network

AFI AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TELEVISION COMEDY
* Robyn Butler. The Librarians, Series 2. ABC
* Phil Lloyd. Review With Myles Barlow. ABC
* Kim Gyngell. Very Small Business. ABC1
* Wayne Hope. Very Small Business. ABC1

Published 1pm Wednesday October 28, 2009