Past Winners

1980-1989

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AACTA Winners & Nominees

AFI Past winners

22 feature films were entered in the 1985 AFI Awards, of which 11 received one or more nominations. The four finalists for Best Film were Bliss, with a record-equalling 13 nominations, Fran (6), Unfinished Business (5) and A Street To Die (4). Each of these films was also nominated in the Direction and Screenplay categories. Other multiple nominees were Rebel (9), The Coca-Cola Kid (7), Frog Dreaming (4), The Boy Who Had Everything (3) and An Indecent Obsession (3).

As the night wore on and Bliss was defeated in ten of eleven categories, only taking Best Adapted Screenplay for Peter Carey and Ray Lawrence, it seemed that the film might be somewhat overlooked. Then Lawrence, making his feature debut with this film, won Best Direction. Follwing this success, Bliss provided the New South Wales Film Corporation with a great last hurrah by winning Best Film. This gave the Corporation its fourth win from seven nominations in an eight-year period. It was also a triumph for producer Anthony Buckley, who had been previously nominated for Caddie.

Fran succeeded in three categories. Writer-director Glenda Hambly won the AFI Award for her original screenplay. Noni Hazlehurst received her second AFI award as Best Lead Actress and Annie Byron won in the supporting actress category.

Chris Haywood, who had been previously nominated for Newsfront and Strikebound, was named Best Lead Actor for his performance in A Street To Die.

Rebel had an extremely successful night. Director of Photography Peter James won the Best Cinematography award with his first nomination. The film also won the Best Original Music Award (shared by five composers) and the Best Sound Award, which amongst others went to Mark Lewis, who would go on to enjoy great success as a documentary maker (Cane Toads: An Unnatural History). The award for Best Production Design was given to Brian Thomson, who had been previously nominated for Starstruck and Street Hero. Lastly Roger Kirk, making his feature film debut, won the Best Costume Design award.

Two other features received awards. Nique Needles, acting in his first feature, won in the Best Supporting Actor category for The Boy Who Had Everything. The Best Editing award went to Brian Kavanagh for Frog Dreaming. Kavanagh had four previous nominations for The Devil’s Playground, The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith, The Odd Angry Shot and Maybe This Time. Kavanagh had also done brilliant work on Long Weekend.

In the non-feature categories, Robert Marchand made a memorable debut, winning the Best Short Fiction and Best Direction in a Non-Feature Film awards for The Cellist and the Best Screenplay in a Non-Feature Film award for Danny.

Andrew Pike received the Byron Kennedy Award. His services to the Australian film community through exhibition and distribution are noteworthy. His efforts brought great success to documentary makers in particular. He has also co-authored a major work, Australian Film, 1900-1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production.

The Raymond Longford Award went to Don Crosby for his body of acting work and his tireless efforts on behalf of the acting community.

1985 Winners & Nominees

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FEATURE FILM

  • Best Feature Film

  • Winner:

    Bliss Anthony Buckley

    Nominees:

    A Street To Die Bill Bennett
    Fran David Rapsey
    Unfinished Business Rebel Penfold-Russell

  • Best Achievement in Direction

  • Winner:

    Bliss Ray Lawrence

    Nominees:

    A Street To Die Bill Bennett
    Fran Glenda Hambly
    Unfinished Business Bob Ellis

  • Best Screen Play (Original)

  • Winner:

    Fran Glenda Hambly

    Nominees:

    A Street To Die Bill Bennett
    The Boy Who Had Everything Stephen Wallace
    Unfinished Business Bob Ellis

  • Best Screen Play (Adapted)

  • Winner:

    Bliss Peter Carey, Ray Lawrence

    Nominees:

    An Indecent Obsession Denise Morgan
    Rebel Michael Jenkins, Bob Herbert
    The Coca-Cola Kid Frank Moorhouse

  • Best Achievement in Cinematography

  • Winner:

    Rebel Peter James

    Nominees:

    Bliss Paul Murphy
    The Coca-Cola Kid Dean Semler
    Wrong World Ray Argall

  • Best Achievement in Editing

  • Winner:

    Frog Dreaming Brian Kavanagh

    Nominees:

    Bliss Wayne LeClos
    Rebel Michael Honey
    The Coca-Cola Kid John Scott

  • Best Achievement in Sound

  • Winner:

    Rebel Mark Lewis, Penn Robinson, Julian Ellingworth, Jim Taig

    Nominees:

    Bliss Dean Gawen, Peter Fenton, Phil Heywood, Gary Wilkins, Helen Brown, Ron Purvis
    Frog Dreaming Mark Lewis, Craig Carter, Ken Sallows, Tim Chau, Rex Watts, Roger Savage
    The Coca-Cola Kid Mark Lewis, Gethin Creagh, Martin Oswin, Dean Gawen, Helen Brown

  • Best Original Music Score

  • Winner:

    Rebel Ray Cook, Chris Neal, Peter Best, Billy Byers, Bruce Rowland

    Nominees:

    Bliss Peter Best
    Frog Dreaming Brian May
    The Coca-Cola Kid William Motzing, Tim Finn

  • Best Achievement in Production Design

  • Winner:

    Rebel Brian Thomson

    Nominees:

    Bliss Owen Paterson, Wendy Dickson
    Frog Dreaming Jon Dowding
    The Coca-Cola Kid Graham Walker

  • Best Achievement in Costume Design

  • Winner:

    Rebel Roger Kirk

    Nominees:

    Bliss Helen Hooper
    The Boy Who Had Everything Ross Major
    The Coca-Cola Kid Terry Ryan

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

  • Winner:

    A Street To Die Chris Haywood

    Nominees:

    An Indecent Obsession Richard Moir
    Bliss Barry Otto
    Unfinished Business John Clayton

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

  • Winner:

    Fran Noni Hazlehurst

    Nominees:

    Bliss Lynette Curran
    Rebel Debbie Byrne
    Unfinished Business Michele Fawdon

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Winner:

    The Boy Who Had Everything Nique Needles

    Nominees:

    An Indecent Obsession Mark Little
    Bliss Jon Ewing
    Rebel Bryan Brown

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Winner:

    Fran Annie Byron

    Nominees:

    Bliss Kerry Walker
    Emoh Ruo Genevieve Mooy
    Fran Narelle Simpson

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NON-FEATURE FILM

  • Best Documentary sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Raoul Wallenberg: Between The Lines Bob Weis (Producer)

    Nominees:

    Collum Calling Canberra Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (Production Company), David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall (Producer / Director)
    I'll Be Home For Christmas Brian McKenzie (Producer / Director)
    Munda Nyuringu: He's Taken The Land, He Believes It Is His, He Won't Give It Back Robert Bropho, Jan Roberts (Producer / Director)

  • Best Sponsored Documentary sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Timber Craft (Artisans Of Australia) Film Australia (Production Company), Pamela Paddon (Producer)

    Nominees:

    Women Of Utopia Film Australia (Production Company), Elisabeth Knight (Producer)
    Image Makers Ursula Kolbe (Producer)

  • Best Animated Film sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Waltzing Matilda South Australian Film Corporation (Production Company), Michael Cusack, Richard Chataway (Director)

    Nominees:

    Cut Out Animation Australian Film & Television School (Production Company), David Johnson (Director)
    Kitchen Sync Swinburne Film & Television School (Production Company), Maree Woolley (Director)
    Pianoforte Julia Overton (Producer), Antoinette Starkiewicz (Director)

  • Best Short Fiction Film sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    The Cellist Australian Film & Television School (Production Company), Robert Marchand (Director)

    Nominees:

    After Hours Women's Film Unit, Film Australia (Production Company), Jane Campion (Director)
    Public Knowhow Margaret Wertheim, John Evan Hughes (Producer)
    Tarzan's South Yarra Adventure Swinburne Film & Television School (Production Company), Ray Boseley (Director)

  • Best Experimental Film sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    The Lead Dress Virginia Murray (Producer / Director)

    Nominees:

    Keep Moving Rohesia Hamilton-Metcalfe (Producer / Director)
    The Letters Of Sylvia Plath - A Film Australian Film & Television School (Production Company), Nicolette Freeman (Director)
    No Dance Rod Bishop (Producer), Philip Brophy (Director)

  • Best Achievement in Direction sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    The Cellist Robert Marchand

    Nominees:

    Collum Calling Canberra David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
    I'll Be Home For Christmas Brian McKenzie
    Jess George Karpathakis

  • Best Achievement in Screenplay sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Danny Robert Marchand

    Nominees:

    Raoul Wallenberg: Between The Lines Karin Altmann
    Public Knowhow John Evan Hughes
    The Cellist Robert Marchand

  • Best Achievement in Cinematography sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Hunters Of The Skies: The Fishing Hunters Lindsay Cupper, Jack Cupper, Roger Whittaker

    Nominees:

    Image Makers Fabio Cavadini
    Lost Love Jane Castle
    Taking A Look Martha Ansara

  • Best Achivement in Editing sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    Nicaragua: No Pasaran Stewart Young

    Nominees:

    Cold Chisel: Last Stand Tony Stevens
    Tarzan's South Yarra Adventure Ray Boseley
    Tripe Nicholas Beauman

  • Best Achievement in Sound sponsored by Kodak (Australasia)

  • Winner:

    The Lead Dress George Worontschak, Rex Watts, Peter Watson Jnr, Stuart Beatty

    Nominees:

    Bronco Kathryn Fenton, Averil Nicholl, Miriana Marusic, Annie Cocksedge
    Collum Calling Canberra Judith MacDougall, Peter Fenton
    Death, Destiny: A Journey Into Ancient Egypt Max Hensser, Julian Ellingworth, Liz Goldfinch

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