NSW dominates the AACTA Awards
Director Warwick Thornton. Image courtesy of Matt Day.
In a big year for NSW screen stories, Sweet Country, Mystery Road, Riot, Ladies in Black, Warwick Thornton, Deborah Mailman were among the winners.
Leading the 2018 AACTA Awards season with a total of six Awards, Sweet Country won three Awards, including Best Film presented by Foxtel and Best Direction for Warwick Thornton, who also won Best Cinematography at Monday’s Industry Luncheon. This year’s Best Drama Series, Mystery Road and Riot swept the television categories, receiving three awards each including Best Drama Series and Best Telefeature or Mini Series, respectively.
NSW produced feature films, television programs, documentaries, and short forms received an overall total of 93 nominations with 24 Create NSW-supported projects vying for top honours across 54 awards.
Other winning productions supported by Create NSW include the feature films Ladies in Black and Peter Rabbit, television drama series The Letdown, Mr Inbetween, and Employable Me, documentary series Hawke: The Larrikin & The Leader, and online drama series Deadlock.
The 24 nominated productions supported by Create NSW took home an impressive 26 awards in total including the Best Actor and Best Actress Awards in the television drama categories. Damon Harriman received the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama for Riot, Kate Box received the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama also for Riot, while Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair won the Best Guest or Supporting Actor awards for their performances in Mystery Road. The AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a feature film went to Hamilton Morris for Sweet Country.
Bryan Brown accepted the AACTA Longford Lyell Award, Australia’s highest screen accolade.
Having hosted and supported the AACTAs since 2011, the NSW Government recognises the importance of creativity and remains committed to growing this vital industry
See the full list of nominees and winners.
Published: 6 December 2018