The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) today announced the Feature Films in Competition for this year’s AACTA Awards – Australia’s highest screen acknowledgement. AACTA also today launched the 6th AACTA Awards presented by Presto | Official Screenings Program, a four week program that brings Australia’s leading screen professionals together with screen fans to watch, discuss and judge the Feature Films in Competition, and the nominees in the Short Film and Feature Length Documentary categories.
AFI & AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella explained that a total of 24 Feature Films will compete for the 6th AACTA Awards presented by Presto: A few less men, A Month of Sundays, Beast, Boys in the trees, Down Under, Early Winter, Embedded, Girl Asleep, Gods of Egypt, Goldstone, Hacksaw Ridge, Joe Cinque’s Consolation, Looking for Grace, Pawno, Red Billabong, Scare Campaign, Spear, Spin Out, Spirit of the Game, Sucker, Tanna, The Daughter, The Menkoff Method and Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead.
“A highlight of each AACTA Awards season is the wide-ranging showcase of the latest Australian filmmakers and performers competing alongside industry luminaries,” Mr. Trewhella commented.
Mr. Trewhella said that this year’s mix of Feature Films in Competition reflects a strong year in Australian filmmaking, particularly for women in film with 19 female producers vying for an Award, up from nine last year. These include past AFI and AACTA Award winners Jan Chapman (THE DAUGHTER) and Julie Ryan (SCARE CAMPAIGN). There are also two female composers, a field that is generally dominated by men, in competition this year: Amy Bastow (EARLY WINTER) and AFI Award winner Elizabeth Drake (LOOKING FOR GRACE). Trewhella added that it is also exciting to see some of our top home-grown film actors returning to Australian screens, including Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Miranda Otto and Anna Torv (THE DAUGHTER), Aaron Pedersen, David Wenham and Jacki Weaver (GOLDSTONE), Radha Mitchell and Richard Roxburgh (LOOKING FOR GRACE) and Oscar winner Mel Gibson’s HACKSAW RIDGE, with Sam Worthington, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving and Rachael Griffiths.
“The feature films in competition showcase an extensive rostrum of exciting new talent, with directorial debuts for almost half of the competing directors. These include Rosemary Myers who arrives at this year’s Awards with international festival hit Girl Asleep (Winner Grand Jury Prize Seattle Film Festival), and Nicholas Verso, who just two years ago received the AACTA Award for Best Short Fiction Film, with his feature film debut Boys in the Trees – a career path we’re delighted to see and help support. These emerging directors are competing alongside past AFI and AACTA Best Director nominees and winners including Sue Brooks (Looking For Grace), Ivan Sen (Goldstone), Matthew Saville (A Month Of Sundays) and Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge).” Mr. Trewhella commented.