Past Winners

1980-1989

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AACTA Winners & Nominees

AFI Past winners

The first feature film backed by the South Australian Film Commission (Sunday Too Far Away) was named Best Film at the 1974/5 AFI Awards, and Newsfront, which was the first feature from the New South Wales Film Commission, had had the same success in 1978. The first features from Film Victoria (The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith) and Screen Tasmania (Manganinnie) were both finalists in their years. There was a certain serendipity about 1984’s Best Film coming out of the renamed Film Australia.

The four finalists for Best Film in 1984 were Annie’s Coming Out, My First Wife, Silver City and Strikebound. Leading the nominations was Silver City, produced by Joan Long and directed by Sophia Turkiewicz from a screenplay by her and Thomas Keneally. The film won Best Costume Design for Jan Hurley and scored well in the performance categories. Anna Maria Monticelli (then Anna Jemison–Monticelli) was named Best Supporting Actress. Steve Bisley won Best Supporting Actor in a strong field that included another of his own performances (Fast Talking). Peter Hehir (also in Fast Talking) was making a brilliant debut and David Argue (BMX Bandits) had been previously nominated for Going Down.

Strikebound had one success in Best Production Design. It marked the feature producing debut of Tim White. It was also a strong debut for writer-director Richard Lowenstein.

As well as winning the Best Film Award, Annie’s Coming Out captured the award for Best Adapted Screenplay and won Angela Punch-McGregor her third AFI award. She was named Best Lead Actress over Wendy Hughes (My First Wife), Gosia Dobrowolska (Silver City) and Carol Burns (Strikebound).

Paul Cox had won a Documentary Silver Award in 1977 for We Are All Alone My Dear. Having been nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Direction in the two previous years (Lonely Hearts and Man Of Flowers), he won in both categories for My First Wife. The Best Original Screenplay award was shared with Bob Ellis, giving Ellis his third success from five nominations. The strong field for Best Original Screenplay included not only Thomas Keneally and Sophia Turkiewicz, but also Ken Cameron (Fast Talking). Cameron had won the Short Fiction Gold Award in 1978 for Temperament Unsuited.

Street Hero gave Bruce Smeaton his third AFI award for Best Original Music and Gary Wilkins his fourth for Best Sound. Razorback also took two prizes, with William Anderson, not unexpectedly, winning his fourth AFI Award for Best Editing from six nominations. Cinematographer Dean Semler had won a Bronze Kodak Award for Photography in 1974/5 for the short film A Steam Train Passes. He had been nominated in 1982 for Mad Max 2 and in 1983 for Undercover. This year, his work on Razorback gave him his first award for a feature film.

The non-feature awards uncovered a lot of strong early work. Tom Zubrycki had attracted some attention in 1981 with his 48-minute documentary Waterloo. In 1984, he won his first AFI award in this category for Kemira: Diary Of A Strike.

In 1983, Jane Campion had received her first two nominations for her work on PEEL. In 1984, she would win prizes with two films. Passionless Moments was named Best Experimental Film. Campion shared that award with Gerard Lee. She also won the awards for Best Direction in a Non-Feature Film and Best Screenplay in a Non-Feature Film with A Girl’s Own Story. That film also won the award for Best Cinematography in a Non-Feature for Sally Bongers.

The talented Lee Whitmore had been nominated for her production design work on Stir in 1980. This year, she would win the Best Animation award for Ned Wethered. The awards for Best Short Fiction and Best Editing in a Non-Feature Film both went to Paul J. Hogan for his debut film Getting Wet. Hogan would be back in the 90s with a major international success.

The inaugural Byron Kennedy Award went to Roger Savage for his innovative work in sound. His debut feature Mad Max was mixed using synchronised video picture and multi track sound, a pioneering technique at the time. His company Soundfirm would become Australia’s largest sound post-production company.

The Raymond Longford Award was given to Distributor David Williams, a tireless supporter of the industry, who had championed Picnic At Hanging Rock, Caddie, My Brilliant Career and For Love Alone, among many others.

1984 Winners & Nominees

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FEATURE FILM

  • Best Feature Film

  • Winner:

    Annie's Coming Out Don Murray

    Nominees:

    My First Wife Jane Ballantyne, Paul Cox
    Silver City Joan Long
    Strikebound Miranda Bain, Timothy White

  • Best Achievement in Direction

  • Winner:

    My First Wife Paul Cox

    Nominees:

    Annie's Coming Out Gilbert J. Brealey
    Fast Talking Ken Cameron
    Silver City Sophia Turkiewicz

  • Best Screen Play (Original)

  • Winner:

    My First Wife Paul Cox, Bob Ellis

    Nominees:

    Fast Talking Ken Cameron
    Silver City Sophia Turkiewicz, Thomas Keneally
    Streethero Jan Sardi

  • Best Screen Play (Adaption)

  • Winner:

    Annie's Coming Out John Patterson, Chris Borthwick

    Nominees:

    BMX Bandits Patrick Edgeworth
    Razorback Everett De Roche
    Strikebound Richard Lowenstein

  • Best Achievement in Cinematography

  • Winner:

    Razorback Dean Semler

    Nominees:

    My First Wife Yuri Sokol
    Silver City John Seale
    Strikebound Andrew de Groot

  • Best Achievement in Editing

  • Winner:

    Razorback William Anderson

    Nominees:

    BMX Bandits Alan Lake
    My First Wife Tim Lewis
    Strikebound Jill Bilcock

  • Best Achievement in Sound

  • Winner:

    Streethero Gary Wilkins, Mark Wasiutak, Roger Savage, Bruce Lamshed, Terry Rodman, David Harrison

    Nominees:

    BMX Bandits Andrew Steuart, John Patterson, Robyn Judge, Phil Judd, Gethin Creagh
    Razorback Tim Lloyd, Ron Purvis, Peter Fenton, Phil Heywood, Greg Bell, Helen Brown, Ashley Grenville
    Strikebound Dean Gawen, Gethin Creagh, Frank Lipson, Martin Oswin, Rex Watts

  • Best Original Music Score

  • Winner:

    Streethero Garth Porter, Bruce Smeaton

    Nominees:

    Annie's Coming Out Simon Walker
    Razorback Iva Davies
    Silver City William Motzing

  • Best Achievement in Production Design

  • Winner:

    Strikebound Tracy Watt, Harry Zettel, McGregor Knox, Neil Angwin

    Nominees:

    Razorback Bryce Walmsley
    Silver City Igor Nay
    Streethero Brian Thomson

  • Best Achievement in Costume Design

  • Winner:

    Silver City Jan Hurley

    Nominees:

    One Night Stand Ross Major
    Street Hero Norma Moriceau
    Strikebound Jennie Tate

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

  • Winner:

    My First Wife John Hargreaves

    Nominees:

    Annie's Coming Out Drew Forsythe
    Silver City Ivar Kants
    Strikebound Chris Haywood

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

  • Winner:

    Annie's Coming Out Angela Punch-McGregor

    Nominees:

    My First Wife Wendy Hughes
    Silver City Gosia Dobrowolska
    Strikebound Carol Burns

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Winner:

    Silver City Steve Bisley

    Nominees:

    BMX Bandits David Argue
    Fast Talking Peter Hehir
    Fast Talking Steve Bisley

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Winner:

    Silver City Anna Jemison-Monticelli

    Nominees:

    Annie's Coming Out Monica Maughan
    Street Hero Peta Toppano
    Street Hero Sandy Gore

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NON-FEATURE FILM

  • Best Documentary sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Kemira: Diary Of A Strike Tom Zubrycki (Producer / Director)

    Nominees:

    Antartic Man: 'This Is Not A Place For Humans' ABC Natural History Unit (Production Company), David Parer (Producer / Director)
    Celso And Cora Gary Kildea (Producer / Director)
    For Love Or Money Margot Oliver, Megan McMurchy, Jeni Thornley (Producer), Megan McMurchy, Jeni Thornley (Director), Margot Nash (Editor)

  • Best Sponsored Documentary sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    One Last Chance Terry Jennings (Producer)

    Nominees:

    No Man's Land Edwin Scragg (Producer)

  • Best Animated Film sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Ned Wethered Lee Whitmore (Director)

    Nominees:

    Anatomy Of A Businessman Bruce Currie (Director)
    The Thief Of Sydney Toby Zoates (Director)
    Waltz Mambo Andrew Quinn (Director)

  • Best Experimental Film sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Passionless Moments Australian Film & Television School (Production Company), Jane Campion, Gerard Lee (Producer / Director)

    Nominees:

    Brick And Tile Paul Winkler (Producer / Director)
    Holzwege: Wood Roads/Wrong Ways Swinburne Film & Television School (Production Company), Georgia Wallace-Crabbe (Director)
    Fear Of Life Australian Film & Television School (Production Company), Sally Bongers (Producer / Director)

  • Best Short Fiction Film sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Getting Wet Australian Film & Television School (Production Company), P. J. Hogan (Director)

    Nominees:

    A Girl's Own Story Australian Film & Television School (Production Company), Jane Campion (Director)
    Every Day, Every Night Swinburne Film & Television School (Production Company), Kathy Mueller (Director)
    Skipping Class Chris Warner (Producer / Director)

  • Best Achievement in Direction sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    A Girl's Own Story Jane Campion

    Nominees:

    Celso And Cora Gary Kildea
    Every Day, Every Night Kathy Mueller
    Industrial Park Paul Elliott

  • Best Achievement in Screenplay sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    A Girl's Own Story Jane Campion

    Nominees:

    For Love Or Money Megan McMurchy, Margot Oliver, Jeni Thornley
    Heads 'N Tails Janis Balodis, Ken Cameron, Jane Oehr, Pamela Van Amstel
    One Last Chance Rob George

  • Best Achievement in Cinematography sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    A Girl's Own Story Sally Bongers

    Nominees:

    Antartic Man: 'This Is Not A Place For Humans' David Parer
    Every Day, Every Night Jaems Grant
    Industrial Park Paul Elliott

  • Best Achievement in Editing sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Getting Wet Paul J. Hogan

    Nominees:

    Heads 'N Tails Henry Dangar
    No Man's Land Edwin Scragg
    Teno Diana Priest

  • Best Achievement in Sound sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Every Day, Every Night Neill Bell, Kathy Mueller

    Nominees:

    All That Glitters Syd Butterworth, George Hart
    Heads 'N Tails John Franks, Ken Hammond, Alasdair Macfarlane
    Something Old Something New Lloyd Carrick, George Hart, Ian Wilson

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