AFI Awards winner Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom. The Australian Film Institute Best Actress winner has been nominated for several critics awards in the United States and is a likely Academy Award contender – in the Best Supporting Actress category. Weaver’s previous AFI Award win took place more than three decades ago, when she shared the Best Supporting Actress Award for her work in Caddie.
AFI Awards: Criminal family values widely appreciated
Dec. 11 update: David Michôd’s crime family drama Animal Kingdom bagged 10 AFI Awards – that’s the Australian Film Institute – at a ceremony held on Dec. 11 in Melbourne.
Among Animal Kingdom‘s ten trophies were those for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress (Jacki Weaver), Best Actor (Ben Mendelsohn), Best Supporting Actor (Joel Edgerton), and Best Original Screenplay (Michôd).
Other AFI winners included Best Supporting Actress Deborah Mailman for her carefree flirt in Bran Nue Dae (Mailman also won the supporting/guest television actress award for Offspring) and Best Adapted Screenplay for Tomorrow When the War Began (Stuart Beattie), based on the first of John Marsden’s seven books about a group of teenage guerrilla fighters attempting to fend off foreign invaders in a fictitious Australian town.
The AFI International Awards for successful Australians abroad went to Avatar star Sam Worthington and Alice in Wonderland actress Mia Wasikowska.
At an “industry” ceremony held on Dec. 10, Jane Campion’s period romantic drama Bright Star won three AFI Awards: Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design.
Jacki Weaver for the Oscars?
Animal Kingdom Best Actress AFI winner Jacki Weaver, whose previous AFI win took place 34 years ago* – and who, at this year’s ceremony, thanked everyone she has ever married – recently took home the 2010 National Board of Review‘s Best Supporting Actress Award.
In that same category, Weaver has also received nominations from both the Washington, D.C., and the Detroit Film Critics.
It’s one of those things: supporting become lead performances (and vice versa) once films cross some ocean or other. In fact, at times all they need to cross are national borders or even mere state lines.
And finally, even though Melissa Leo (The Fighter) seems unbeatable at this early stage, Weaver is a likely contender for the 2011 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award.
* Jacki Weaver and Melissa Jaffer tied for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for their work in Donald Crombie’s Caddie (1976).
AFI Awards: ‘Animal Kingdom’ & ‘Bright Star’ shine at ‘industry’ ceremony
Dec. 10: David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom tied with Jane Campion’s Bright Star at the Australian Film Institute’s “industry awards,” which were announced Dec. 10. The “top” awards will be announced tomorrow.
Animal Kingdom received trophies for Best Editing (Luke Doolan) and Best Original Music (Antony Partos and Sam Petty), in addition to the AFI members’ Choice Award – a sort of “side” Best Picture award.
Bright Star, which was screened in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, won AFI Awards for Best Cinematography (Greig Fraser), Best Production Design (Janet Patterson), and Best Costume Design (also Patterson). Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider, and Kerry Fox star.
Other AFI Award feature film winners: Best Sound for Stuart Beattie’s Tomorrow When the War Began, and Best Visual Effects for Peter and Michael Spierig’s Daybreakers.
Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing, a semi-finalist for the 2011 Academy Award in the Best Animated Short category, won for Best Animation.
AFI Awards winner Bright Star, with Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish. A romantic drama about British Romantic poet John Keats’ final years and his relationship with Fanny Brawne, Jane Campion’s Bright Star won three “technical” Australian Film Institute Awards, but was completely bypassed in the “top” categories – film, acting, direction, writing.
AFI Awards: Winners & nominations
BEST FILM
* Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts.
Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach.
Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac.
Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt.
The Tree. Sue Taylor, Yaël Fogiel.
Tomorrow When the War Began. Andrew Mason, Michael Boughen.BEST DIRECTOR
* Animal Kingdom. David Michôd.
Beneath Hill 60. Jeremy Hartley Sims.
Bright Star. Jane Campion.
The Tree. Julie Bertuccelli.BEST ACTOR
Brendan Cowell. Beneath Hill 60.
James Frecheville. Animal Kingdom.
* Ben Mendelsohn. Animal Kingdom.
Clive Owen. The Boys Are Back.BEST ACTRESS
Abbie Cornish. Bright Star.
Morgana Davies. The Tree.
Charlotte Gainsbourg. The Tree.
* Jacki Weaver. Animal Kingdom.BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
* Joel Edgerton. Animal Kingdom.
Guy Pearce. Animal Kingdom.
Kodi Smit-McPhee. Matching Jack.
Sullivan Stapleton. Animal Kingdom.BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Julia Blake. The Boys Are Back.
Kerry Fox. Bright Star.
* Deborah Mailman. Bran Nue Dae.
Laura Wheelwright. Animal Kingdom.BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
* Animal Kingdom. David Michôd.
Beneath Hill 60. David Roach.
Bright Star. Jane Campion.
Daybreakers. Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig.BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Bran Nue Dae. Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, Jimmy Chi.
The Boys Are Back. Allan Cubitt.
The Tree. Julie Bertuccelli.
* Tomorrow When the War Began. Stuart Beattie.AFI MEMBERS’ CHOICE AWARD
* Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts.
Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach.
Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac.
Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt.
The Boys Are Back. Greg Brenman, Tim White.
Tomorrow When the War Began. Andrew Mason, Michael Boughen.BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Animal Kingdom. Adam Arkapaw.
Beneath Hill 60. Toby Oliver ACS.
* Bright Star. Greig Fraser.
The Waiting City. Denson Baker ACS.BEST EDITING
* Animal Kingdom. Luke Doolan.
Beneath Hill 60. Dany Cooper ASE.
Bright Star. Alexandre de Franceschi ASE.
Tomorrow When the War Began. Marcus D”Arcy.BEST SOUND
Animal Kingdom. Sam Petty, Rob Mackenzie, Philippe Decrausaz.
Beneath Hill 60. Liam Egan, Alicia Slusarski, Mark Cornish, Tony Murtagh.
Bran Nue Dae. Andrew Neil, Steve Burgess, Peter Mills, Mario Vaccaro, Blaire Slater, David Bridie, Scott Montgomery.
* Tomorrow When the War Began. Andrew Plain, David Lee, Gethin Creagh, Robert Sullivan.BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
* Animal Kingdom. Antony Partos, Sam Petty.
Beneath Hill 60. Cezary Skubiszewski.
Bran Nue Dae. Cezary Skubiszewski, Jimmy Chi, Patrick Duttoo Bin Amat, Garry Gower, Michael Manolis Mavromatis, Stephen Pigram.
Bright Star. Mark Bradshaw.BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Animal Kingdom. Jo Ford.
Beneath Hill 60. Clayton Jauncey.
* Bright Star. Janet Patterson.
Tomorrow When the War Began. Robert Webb, Michelle McGahey, Damien Drew, Bev Dunn.BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Animal Kingdom. Cappi Ireland.
Beneath Hill 60. Ian Sparke, Wendy Cork.
Bran Nue Dae. Margot Wilson.
* Bright Star. Janet PattersonBEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
* Contact. Martin Butler, Bentley Dean. ABC1.
Inside the Firestorm. Lucy Maclaren, Alex West. ABC.
The Snowman. Rachel Landers, Dylan Blowen.
Strange Birds in Paradise – A West Papuan Story. Jamie Nicolai, John Cherry.BEST DOCUMENTARY UNDER ONE HOUR
A Thousand Encores: The Ballets Russes In Australia. Sharyn Prentice, Marianne Latham, Lavinia Riachi. ABC.
Rudely Interrupted. Susie Jones, Benjamin Jones. ABC1.
Surviving Mumbai. Andrew Ogilvie, Andrea Quesnelle. ABC.
* You Only Live Twice – The Incredibly True Story of the Hughes Family. Ruth Cullen. ABC1BEST DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Addicted to Money. Andrew Ogilvie, Andrea Quesnelle. ABC.
Disable Bodied Sailors. Karina Holden, Nick Robinson. SBS.
Kokoda. Andrew Wiseman. ABC1.
* Liberal Rule- The Politics That Changed Australia. Nick Torrens, Frank Haines. SBSBEST DIRECTION IN A DOCUMENTARY
A Thousand Encores: The Ballets Russes In Australia. Amanda Chang. ABC.
Contact. Martin Butler, Bentley Dean. ABC1.
* Inside The Firestorm. Jacob Hickey. ABC.
Strange Birds In Paradise – A West Papuan Story. Charlie Hill-Smith.BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A DOCUMENTARY
Disable Bodied Sailors – Episode 3. Nick Robinson. SBS.
* Miracles – Episode 1, “Miracle in the Storm”. Tony Oliver ACS. ABC1.
Strange Birds In Paradise – A West Papuan Story. Angus Kemp.
Surviving Mumbai. Jim Frater. ABCBEST EDITING IN A DOCUMENTARY
A Thousand Encores: The Ballets Russes In Australia. Karin Steininger. ABC.
Contact. Tania Nehme. ABC1.
* Inside The Firestorm. Steven Robinson. ABC.
Surviving Mumbai. David Fosdick. ABCBEST SOUND IN A DOCUMENTARY
A Thousand Encores: The Ballets Russes In Australia. Brett Aplin, Andrew McGrath, Erin McKimm. ABC.
* Inside The Firestorm. Jock Healy, Tristan Meredith. ABC.
Kokoda – Episode 1, “The Invasion”. David Bridie, Chris Goodes, Ian Grant, Patrick Slater. ABC1.
Strange Birds In Paradise – A West Papuan Story. Mik la Vage, Doron Kipen, David Bridie.BEST SHORT ANIMATION
* The Lost Thing. Sophie Byrne, Andrew Ruhemann, Shaun Tan.
Zero. Christopher Kezelos, Christine Kezelos.BEST SHORT FICTION FILM
Deeper Than Yesterday. Ariel Kleiman, Benjamin Gilovitz, Sarah Cyngler, Anna Kojevnikov.
* The Kiss. Sonya Humphrey, Ashlee Page.
The Love Song of Iskra Prufrock. Lucy Gaffy, Lyn Norfor.
Suburbia. Antonio Oreña-Barlin, Richard Halsted.BEST SCREENPLAY IN A SHORT FILM
A Parachute Falling In Siberia. Sarah Shaw, Ian Meadows.
* Deeper Than Yesterday. Ariel Kleiman.
Glenn Owen Dodds. Trent Dalton.
The Kiss. Ashlee PageOUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT FILM SCREEN CRAFT
* Nick Matthews. The Kiss, CinematographyINTERNATIONAL BEST ACTOR
Simon Baker. The Mentalist, Season 2. Nine Network.
Ryan Kwanten. True Blood, Season 3. Showcase.
Kodi Smit-McPhee. The Road.
* Sam Worthington. AvatarINTERNATIONAL BEST ACTRESS
Toni Collette. United States of Tara, Season 2. ABC1.
Bojana Novakovic. Edge of Darkness.
* Mia Wasikowska. Alice in Wonderland.
Naomi Watts. Mother and ChildYOUNG ACTOR AWARD
Ashleigh Cummings. Tomorrow When The War Began.
Morgana Davies. The Tree.
James Frecheville. Animal Kingdom.
* Harrison Gilbertson. Beneath Hill 60VISUAL EFFECTS AWARD
* Daybreakers. Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig, Rangi Sutton, James Rogers, Randy Vellacott.
The Tree. Dave Morley, Felix Crawshaw, Claudia Lecaros, Tim Walker.
Tinglewood. Wil Manning.
Tomorrow When The War Began. Chris Godfrey, Sigi Eimutis, Dave Morely, Tony ColeRaymond Langford Award
Reg Grundy
Chief source for this post: The Australian‘s Michael Bodey’s Twitter page.
Australian Film Institute (AFI) / Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts website.
“AFI Awards: Criminal Family Values Worth 10 Trophies + Jacki Weaver for the Oscars?” last updated in May 2018.