The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts has set its nominations for Oz’s highest honors in both fields. Leading in the film races is Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge. The pacifist World War II action drama scored 13 nods including Best Film, Best Director, and a mention in each of the acting categories. Simon Stone’s The Daughter follows with 10 nominations including Best Film, and Supporting Actor for Sam Neill. Rounding out the Best Film category are Ivan Sen’s Goldstone, Martin Butler and Bentley Dean’s Tanna and Rosemary Myers’ Girl Asleep. Gods Of Egypt also picked up some nods.
AACTA prizes in previous years have gone to some of the more high-profile fare with Gibson’s Mad Max helmer George Miller scooping Best Film and Director for 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner and Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook shared the top award the year prior.
Gibson’s Hacksaw marks a return to directing after 10 years and has been heaped with praise since it first bowed at the Venice Film Festival to strong reviews and a 10-minute standing ovation. The story of real-life conscientious objector Desmond T Doss is equal parts faith-based film and horrors-of-war action drama. It tells how Doss (Andrew Garfield) saved 75 men in Okinawa without ever carrying a gun. It was filmed on a relatively low budget in Australia, and, as Pete Hammond noted yesterday, also received a sustained ovation at Monday’s Academy screening in Los Angeles. Gibson will receive the Hollywood Film Awards’ Director Award on November 6 and will also appear at Deadline’s The Contenders event November 5 at the DGA. The film releases internationally beginning November 3 and goes to the States on November 4.
On the television side, ABC miniseries The Beautiful Lie leads nominations with nine and The Kettering Incident for Foxtel Showcase follows with eight including for Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager) as lead actress.
Below is the list of AACTA nominees. Prizes will be handed out at two ceremonies in Sydney on December 5 and December 7.
FEATURE FILM NOMINEES
BEST FILM
The Daughter – Jan Chapman Nicole O’Donohue
Girl Asleep – Jo Dyer
Goldstone – Greer Simpkin, David Jowsey
Hacksaw Ridge – Bill Mechanic, David Permut, Paul Currie, Bruce Davey
Tanna Martin Butler, Bentley Dean, Carolyn Johnson
BEST DIRECTION
Rosemary Myers – Girl Asleep
Ivan Sen – Goldstone
Mel Gibson – Hacksaw Ridge
Martin Butler & Bentley Dean – Tanna
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Abe Forsythe – Down Under
Ivan Sen – Goldstone
Andrew Knight & Robert Schenkkan – Hacksaw Ridge
Damian Hill – Pawno
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Stone – The Daughter
Matthew Whittet – Girl Asleep
BEST LEAD ACTOR
John Brumpton – Pawno
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
Damian Hill – Pawno
Ewen Leslie – The Daughter
BEST LEAD ACTRESS
Maeve Dermody – Pawno
Maggie Naouri – Joe Cinque’s Consolidation
Teresa Palmer – Hacksaw Ridge
Odessa Young – The Daughter
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mark Coles Smith – Pawno
Damion Herriman – Down Under
Sam Neill – The Daughter
Hugo Weaving – Hacksaw Ridge
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kerry Armstrong – Pawno
Rachel Griffiths – Hacksaw Ridge
Miranda Otto – The Daughter
Anna Torv – The Daughter
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Andrew Commis – Girl Asleep
Simon Duggan – Hacksaw Ridge
Bonnie Elliot – Spear
Bentley Dean – Tanna
BEST EDITING
Veronika Jenet – The Daughter
Karyn de Cinque – Girl Asleep
Ivan Sen – Goldstone
John Gilbert – Hacksaw Ridge
BEST SOUND
The Daughter – Liam Egan, Nick Emond, Tony Murtagh, James Andrews, Yulia Akerholt, Robert Sullivan
Gods Of Egypt – Wayne Pashley, Peter Grace, Derryn Pasquill, Fabian Sanjurjo, Greg P. Fitzgerald, Peter Purcell
Hacksaw Ridge – Andrew Wright, Robert Mackenzie, Kevin O’Connell, Mario Vaccaro, Tara Webb, Peter Grace
Tanna – Emma Bortignon, James Ashton, Martin Butler
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
Boys In The Trees – Darrin Verhagen
Gods Of Egypt – Marco Beltrami
Tanna – Antony Partos
Teenage Kicks – David Barber
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Daughter – Steven Jones-Evans
Girl Asleep – Jonathan Oxlade
Goldstone – Matt Putland
Hacksaw Ridge – Barry Robison
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Girl Asleep – Jonathan Oxlade
Gods Of Egypt – Liz Palmer
Hacksaw Ridge – Lizzy Gardiner
Spear – Jennifer Irwin
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS OR ANIMATION (combined with television)
Game Of Thrones – Sept Wildfire Destruction (Foxtel – Showcase) – Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Sam Conway, Hubert Maston, Anthony Smith
Game Of Thrones – Battle Of The Bastards, Season 6, Episode 9 (Foxtel – Showcase) – Glenn Melenhorst, Ineke Majoor
Gods Of Egypt – Andrew Hellen, James Whitlam, Julian Dimsey
X-Men: Apocalypse (Quicksilver Extraction) – John Dykstra, Matt Sloan, Blondel Aidoo, Cameron Waldbauer
BEST HAIR AND MAKE-UP (combined with television)
A Place To Call Home (Foxtel) – Wizzy Molineaux
Cleverman (ABC) – Kath Brown, Simon Joseph, Troy Follington
Gods Of Egypt – Lesley Vanderwalt, Lara Jade Birch, Adam Johansen
Hacksaw Ridge – Shane Thomas, Larry Van Duynhoven
MAJOR TELEVISION CATEGORIES
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Black Comedy (ABC) – Kath Shelper, Mark O’Toole
The Family Law (SBS) – Sophie Miller, Julie Eckersley, Debbie Lee, Tony Ayres
Please Like Me (ABC) – Todd Abbott, Josh Thomas, Lisa Wang, Kevin Whyte
Upper Middle Bogan (ABC) – Robyn Butler, Wayne Hope, Ben Grogan
BEST REALITY SERIES
First Dates (Seven) – Geraldine Orrock, Bikkie Proost, Brad Gustafson
Masterchef Australia (Ten) – Marty Benson, Tim Toni, Rob Wallace
My Kitchen Rules (Seven) – Matt Apps, Joe Herdman, Rikkie Proost
The Recruit (Foxtel – Fox8) – Lara Hopkins, Frances O’Riordan, Duane Hatherly S.P.A, Josie Mason Campbell
BEST DRAMA SERIES
The Code (ABC) – David Maher, David Taylor, Shelley Birse, Diane Haddon
Jack Irish (ABC) – Ian Collie, Andrew Knight
Rake (ABC) – Ian Collie, Peter Duncan, Richard Roxburgh
Wentworth (Foxtel – SoHo) – Pino Amenta, Jo Porter
BEST TELEFEATURE OR MINISERIES
Barracuda (ABC) – Tony Ayres, Amanda Higgs
The Beautiful Lie (ABC) – John Edwards, Imogen Banks
The Kettering Incident (Foxtel – Showcase) – Vincent Sheehan, Victoria Madden, Andrew Walker
Molly (Seven) – John Molloy
BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Samuel Johnson – Molly
Matt Nable – Barracuda
Richard Roxburgh – Rake
Ashley Zukerman – The Code
BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Danielle Cormack – Wentworth
Elizabeth Debicki – The Kettering Incident
Pamela Rabe – Wentworth
Sarah Snook – The Beautiful Lie
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY
Alison Bell – ABC Comedy Showroom – The Letdown
Patrick Brammall – No Activity (Stan)
Fiona Choi – The Family Law
Leah Purcell – Black Comedy
