South Australia takes top prizes at 2024 AACTAs

WHAT‘S HAPPENING

News & Events

South Australia takes top prizes at 2024 AACTAs

12 February 2024

Simon Baker in Limbo, Sophie Wilde in Talk To Me, and Aswan Reid in The New Boy.

The South Australian screen industry was the star of the show at the 2024 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, with SA screen creatives and SAFC supported films scooping 14 awards.

Held over two nights last week in Brisbane, the AACTAs are Australia’s highest honours for film and television production.

SA made and SAFC supported feature film Talk To Me from Causeway Films led the film categories with eight wins, including Best Film and Best Direction for first time feature directors, SA’s Danny and Michael Philippou. Talk to Me also took home Best Screenplay for writers Danny Philippou and SA’s Bill Hinzman, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound for a team including SA’s Pete Smith and Nick Steele, Best Hair and Makeup for a team including SA’s Rebecca Buratto and Best Lead Actress for rising star Sophie Wilde. It’s the latest in a slew of prestigious accolades for the box office smash film, which was supported by the SAFC and Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and premiered at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival.

SA made and SAFC supported feature The New Boy from Scarlett Pictures and Dirty Films picked up four awards, winning Best Lead Actor for young newcomer Aswan Reid, Best Supporting Actress for Deborah Mailman, Best Cinematography for writer/director and cinematographer Warwick Thornton and Best Production Design for SA’s Amy Baker.

SAFC supported feature Limbo from Bunya Productions, written and directed by Ivan Sen and filmed in Coober Pedy, won Best Indie Film.

SA filmmakers Michael and Danny Philippou accepting their AACTA for Best Direction for Talk to Me. Credit @jenlouise_photography-@gettyentertainment

SAFC Kate Croser with The New Boy director, writer and cinematographer Warwick Thornton.

The action-packed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny won the AACTA for Best Visual Effects or Animation, with Julian Hutchens and Ian Cope of SA PDV company Rising Sun Pictures named in the honours for Walt Disney Pictures. Post production on the film was supported by the SAFC’s SA PDV Rebate.

Additionally, SA born and raised producer Bruna Papandrea AM was honoured with the Byron Kennedy Award, celebrating outstanding creative enterprise within the film and television industries, SA actor Sarah Snook won the AACTA International Award for Best Actress in a Drama for her role in Succession, and Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) Board member Hugo Weaving won two awards for Best Lead Actor in a Drama for Love Me and Best Supporting Actor in Film for The Rooster.

(L-R) The Monolith team Matt Vesely, Lucy Campbell, Lily Sullivan, Bettina Hamilton and SAFC CEO Kate Croser.

(L-R) SA Production Manager Carly Maple, The Royal Hotel director Kitty Green and SAFC CEO Kate Croser.

South Australia swept the nominations for the AACTAs this year, with 50 nominations across various categories for SA made and SAFC supported films, including three out of the six nominations in each of the Best Film and Best Indie Film categories. Other SA films nominated in 2024 included The Royal Hotel, The Survival of Kindness, Monolith, Run Rabbit Run, documentary The Last Daughter, and TV series Beep and Mort and Gold Diggers, with nominations also given to SA sound practitioner Tom Heuzenroeder for Black Snow, SA actor Teresa Palmer for The Clearing and SA actor Shantae Barnes-Cowan for Sweet As.

View all the 2024 AACTA winners and nominees at aacta.org/aacta-awards/winners-and-nominees