The 4th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (generally known as AACTA Awards) are a series of awards which includes the 4th AACTA Awards Luncheon, the 4th AACTA Awards ceremony and the 4th AACTA International Awards. The former two events will be held at The Star Event Centre, in Sydney, New South Wales in late January 2015.[3] Presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), the awards will celebrate the best in Australian feature film, television, documentary and short film productions of 2014. The AACTA Awards ceremony will be televised on Network Ten for the third year running. The 4th AACTA Awards are a continuum of the Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards), established in 1958 and presented until 2010 after which it was rebranded the AACTA Awards when the Australian Film Institute (AFI) established AACTA in 2011.[4]

4th AACTA Awards
Date27 January 2015 and
29 January 2015
SiteThe Star Event Centre
Sydney, New South Wales
Hosted byCate Blanchett and Deborah Mailman[1]
Highlights
Best FilmThe Babadook
The Water Diviner
Most awardsPredestination (4)
Most nominationsFilm: Predestination (9) & The Water Diviner (9)
TV: The Code (10)
Television coverage
NetworkNetwork Ten
Arena
Ratings297,000[2]

The nominees were announced during a press conference on 2 December 2014 at The Star hotel in Sydney.[5] Predestination and The Water Diviner received the most feature-film nominations with nine, earning a nomination in most of the categories, except for Best Sound. In television, The Code gained the most nominations with ten. Ukraine is Not a Brothel earned six nominations in the documentary field.[6]

Background

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Entry and eligibility

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On 20 May 2014, AACTA made its first call for entrants in short film and feature film prizes for 2015, also mentioning that, unlike previous years, only AACTA members are allowed to submit material for nomination in all categories (documentary, feature film, short film and television).[7][8] Feature film eligibility was also broadened for the 4th AACTA Awards, to accept entries for films released on video on demand (VOD) and direct-to-DVD platforms, as well as films that have had one film festival screening in at least three Australian states. Films meeting the aforementioned criteria were eligible to compete alongside those that have the traditional 2–4 capital city release.[8] Entries for the documentary categories opened on 18 June 2014 and closed on 18 July 2014.[9]

Social Shorts

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At the call for entry announcement, the Academy also revealed a new short film initiative called "Social Shorts". The program allowed the films not nominated in any of the short film categories to be seen by the public via the AACTA website. It also aimed to draw attention to future filmmakers through this initiative. The shorts were split into comedy, drama and independent categories, and received acknowledgements and certifications as chosen by the general public, and AFI and AACTA members. In addition to this, the Academy announced that it the lowering of the entry fee into the official awards from A$396 in the previous year, to A$100 for shorts.[8]

Categories

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A new documentary category for Best Original Music Score was given for the first time, having previously been judged with the Best Sound in a Documentary award.[10] The award for Best Television Comedy or Light Entertainment Series was once again split into separate prizes, for Best Television Comedy Series and Best Light Entertainment Television Series, after the two categories were merged for the 3rd AACTA Awards.[11] The Best Visual Effects award was renamed Best Visual Effects or Animation.[12] Additionally, this category is now open to any film, television or documentary production, regardless of geography, which has had 100% of its visual effects and animation made in Australia.[13]

Ceremonies

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The AACTA Awards were held over two events: the AACTA Awards Luncheon and AACTA Awards Ceremony on the 27 and 29 of January, respectively.[14] Both presentations took place at The Star Event Centre, the latter of which was broadcast on free-to-air Network Ten for the third year running, with an encore screening on subscription television channel Arena on 31 January.[15] The luncheon was to be presented by Angus Sampson,[16] however, due to filming commitments he had to pull out from hosting duties and replaced by Australian actor Adam Zwar.[17] The ceremony was presided over by Australian actresses Cate Blanchett and Deborah Mailman.[18]

The Channel Ten broadcast was seen as a flop, rating just 297,000 viewers in a primetime slot.[19]

Nominees and winners

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The first round of nominees were announced on 3 September for Best Short Animation and Best Short Fiction Film.[20] Six days later, the nominees for Best Feature Length Documentary were revealed.[10] The feature-films in contention were announced on 17 September with 25 films competing in the 4th AACTA Awards. The number of films in competition are up from the previous year where only 15 features competed.[21]

The nominees for feature-films and Television were announced during a press conference on 2 December 2014 in Sydney.[22] The nominations event was hosted by Rob Carlton and announced by Susie Porter and Dan Wyllie.[5] Of the nominees, Peter Spierig, and Michael Spierig's sci-fi thriller Predestination and Russell Crowe's The Water Diviner received the most feature-film nominations with nine, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.[23] In television, The Code received the most nominations with ten. These include Best Drama Series, Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy, Best Screenplay in Television, Best Cinematography in Television, Best Lead Actor – Drama (double nomination) for Dan Spielman and Ashley Zukerman, and Best Guest or Supporting Actress – Drama for Chelsie Preston-Crayford, Best Editing in Television, Best Sound in Television, Best Production Design in Television and Best Original Music Score in Television.[23]

Feature film

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Winners will be listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Film Best Direction
Best Original Screenplay Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Lead Actor Best Lead Actress
Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress
Best Cinematography Best Editing
Best Original Music Score Best Sound
Best Production Design Best Costume Design

Television

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Best Drama Series Best Comedy Series
Best Children's Series Best Light Entertainment Series
Best Reality Series Best Telefeature, Mini Series or Short Run Series
Best Direction in a Drama or Comedy Best Direction in a Television Light Entertainment or Reality Series
Best Lead Actor – Drama Best Lead Actress – Drama
Best Guest or Supporting Actor – Drama Best Guest or Supporting Actress – Drama
Best Comedy Performance Best Screenplay in Television
Best Cinematography in Television Best Editing in Television
Best Sound in Television Best Original Music Score in Television
  • Tom Heuzenroeder, Des Kenneally, Belinda Trimboli, and Pete BestANZAC Girls (Episode 6: Courage) (ABC)
    • John McKerrow – The Broken Shore (ABC)
    • Gerry Duffy, Danielle Wiessner, Robert Sullivan and Grant Shepherd – The Code (Episode 1) (ABC)
    • John Wilkinson and Simon Rosenberg – Please Like Me (Episode 2/07: Scroggin) (ABC2)
Best Production Design in Television Best Costume Design in Television

Documentary

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Best Feature Length Documentary Best Documentary Television Program
  • Kath ShelperTender (ABC)
    • Margie Bryant, Dan Goldberg, and Adam Kay – Brilliant Creatures: Germaine, Clive, Barry & Bob (ABC)
    • Eva OrnerThe Network (SBS)
    • Simon Steel and Debbie Cuell – Taking on the Chocolate Frog (Foxtel – STUDIO)
Best Direction in a Documentary Best Cinematography in a Documentary
  • Sons & MothersAaron Gully and Maxx Corkindale
    • Deepsea Challenge 3D – Jules O'Loughlin and John Stokes
    • Ukraine is Not a Brothel – Michael Latham
    • The Waler: Australia's Great War Horse – Torstein Dyrting
Best Editing in a Documentary Best Sound in a Documentary
  • Sons & MothersDes Kenneally, Will Sheridan, Pete Best, and Scott Illingworth
    • Deepsea Challenge 3D – Chris Goodes, Steve Burgess, Andy Wright, James Ashton, and Helen Field
    • Tender (ABC) – Liam Egan, Sam Hayward, and Mark Cornish
    • Ukraine is Not a Brothel – Jed Palmer and Doron Kipen
Best Original Music Score in a Documentary

Short film

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Best Short Animation Best Short Fiction Film
  • Grace Under Water – Anthony Lawrence
    • God Squad – Nicholas Kempt and Troy Zafer
    • Love in the Time of March Madness – Robertino Zambrano and Melissa Johnston
    • The Video Dating Tape of Desmondo Ray, Aged 33 & 3/4 – Steve Baker
  • Florence Has Left the Building – Mirrah Foulkes and Alex White
    • Grey Bull – Khoby Rowe and Eddy Bell
    • The iMom – Ariel Martin and Anna Fawcett
    • Welcome to Iron Knob – Dave Wade and Alexandra Blue

Other

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Best Visual Effects or Animation

Productions with multiple nominations

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Feature film

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The following feature films received multiple nominations.

Television

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The following television shows received multiple nominations.

Documentaries

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The following documentaries received multiple nominations.

References

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  1. ^ "IF Magazine".
  2. ^ Schembri, Jim (2 February 2015). "Opinion:AACTA awards proved two things about Australian film and television". 3AW (Radio 3AW Melbourne Pty Ltd (Fairfax Media)). Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  3. ^ "AACTA invites sponsors for 2015". mUmBRELLA (Focal Attractions). 5 May 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Awarding screen excellence in Australia". Australian Film Institute. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  5. ^ a b Groves, Don (3 December 2014). "Predestination, The Code lead AACTA noms". If.com.au. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  6. ^ "AACTA AWARDS 2014: All the nominees". SBS Movies. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  7. ^ Bodey, Michael (21 May 2014). "Names sign on for access to NFSA review". The Australian. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  8. ^ a b c "Australian Academy Calls for AACTA Award entrants and announces a new short film initiative" (PDF). Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). 20 May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  9. ^ "AACTA calls for entries in documentary categories". Inside Film (IF). 18 June 2014. Archived from the original on 16 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  10. ^ a b Groves, Don (9 September 2014). "Hot docs for AACTA Awards". Inside Film (IF). Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  11. ^ Bodey, Michael (9 July 2014). "AACTA carves comedy into league of its own". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  12. ^ "AACTA Awards Introduce New Visual Effects & Animation Category". Film Ink. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  13. ^ "4th AACTA Awards Rule Book – Visual Effects and Animation" (PDF). 4th AACTA Awards Rule Book. Australian Film Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  14. ^ Frater, Patrick (2 December 2014). "'Predestination' Narrowly Heads Australian Awards Nominations". Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Australian Academy releases ticket sales for 4th AACTA Awards, announces Angus Sampson as host of Awards Luncheon". Film Ink. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  16. ^ Bodey, Michael (19 November 2014). "Angus Sampson to host Australian cinema and television awards". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  17. ^ Groves, Don (12 January 2015). "Another villainous turn for Sampson". Inside Film (IF). Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  18. ^ Domjen, Briana (11 January 2015). "Deborah Mailman and Cate Blanchett to co-host the AACTA Awards". The Daily Telegraph. News Limited. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  19. ^ "Historic tie for best film at the AACTAs". Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  20. ^ Bodey, Michael (3 September 2014). "Tim Minchin gets a little creative Larrikin time". The Australian. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  21. ^ Groves, Don (17 September 2014). "Big jump in features vying for AACTA Awards". Inside Film (IF). Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  22. ^ Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson are among the acting nominees, Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  23. ^ a b "4th AACTA Nominees by Production" (PDF). AACTA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-03. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
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