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South Australian films clean up at 2026 AACTA Awards Industry Gala
05 February 2026
The South Australian screen industry was the star of the show at the 2026 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards Industry Gala, with SA screen creatives and SAFC supported films scooping an impressive 10 awards across the film categories.
More SA nominees are up for further awards to be announced at the AACTA Awards Ceremony on Friday 6 February.
SA made and SAFC supported horror Bring Her Back received seven awards: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Casting, Best Sound for a team including SA’s Nick Steele, Hamish Keen and Pete Smith, and Best Hair and Makeup for a team including SA’s Rebecca Buratto and Karen Gower. Bring Her Back is up for an additional five awards at Friday’s ceremony, including Best Film and Best Direction for SA’s Danny and Michael Philippou.
SA made and SAFC supported animated comedy Lesbian Space Princess won Best Indie Film for SA co-writers and directors Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese and SA producer Tom Phillips of We Made A Thing Studios, as well as Best Original Song for Here I Go, with Varghese, Gemma Chua-Tran and SA’s Michael Darren named in the honour.
With further nominations for Best Film and Best Direction still to be announced on Friday, the AACTAs recognition is the latest prestigious honour for Lesbian Space Princess, which was developed and produced through the Film Lab: New Voices initiative, funded by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) with financial assistance from Screen Australia and Adelaide Film Festival (AFF).
Leela Varghese also received the award for Best Short Film for I’m The Most Racist Person I Know, produced by SA’s Suriyna Sivashanker through The Mercury’s SAFC-supported Quicksilver Production Fund.
SA born and raised actor Sarah Snook was also honoured with the AACTA Trailblazer Award, highlighting the achievements, abilities and successes of an Australian screen practitioner who inspires others with their portfolio of work, while Adelaide Studios based Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton of Causeway Films received the Byron Kennedy Award, celebrating outstanding creative enterprise within the film and television industries.
South Australia shone in the nominations for the AACTAs this year, with 33 nominations across various categories for SA made and SAFC supported films. Other SA projects nominated in 2026 include Kelly Schilling’s With or Without You, Shalom Almond’s Songs Inside and Prime Video series Top End Bub. SA editor Sean Lahiff was also nominated for his work on horror Together, while SA actor Teresa Palmer is up for Best Lead Actress in a Drama.
View all the 2026 AACTA winners and nominees at aacta.org/aacta-awards/winners-and-nominees