Glenn here, letting readers know that they should probably get to know Sarah Snook. If you’re like me then you probably missed her in Julia Leigh’s unsettling Sleeping Beauty, but as recently as 2012 she was hailed as Australia’s Emma Stone (just google "sarah snook australia's emma stone") for her excessively charming performance in the (otherwise terrible) local rom-com Not Suitable for Children and last year impressed in a small role in the apocalyptic rave thriller These Final Hours. Her biggest role yet, however, came in the form of the Spierig Brothers' Predestination and at last night's “Australian Oscars”, the AACTA Awards, she won the coveted Best Lead Actress prize, stealing it from the grip of two mightily formidable contenders.
The big winners + Cate Blanchett without her shoes (!!!) after the jump...
Who me?
Considering the organization gave The Babadook it's Best Film prize (a first for a horror film) alongside Jennifer Kent for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, one would think the lauded performance of Essie Davis would be an obvious choice for voters to tick, but neither she nor even Mia Wasikowska for Tracks could take down Snook whose role as an intersex time-traveller in the Ethan Hawke vehicle was just too flashy to ignore. And, might I add, too good. Even though I wouldn't have voted for her, Snook is incredible in the role and it’s just Davis’ and Wasikowska’s (and Kate Box, a nominee for The Little Death, which I have not seen) misfortune that the category was so strong this year. Predestination is currently on VOD right now in America and you could do worse than giving it a try, especially since Snook has just been cast in Steve Jobs, Danny Boyle’s biopic of the Apple genius that’s written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet. Get to know her, she’s great!
The aforementioned The Babadook actually tied for Best Film Russell Crowe’s box office smash The Water Diviner. It strikes me as awfully suspicious and corporately convenient as if making a desperate plea for ol’ Rusty to make another movie here since his WWI drama proved local audiences will pay to go and see local films in the cinema. Somewhat ironically, Crowe was not at the ceremony, but was beamed in from the set of The Nice Guys. Earlier in the evening he was joined by Ryan Gosling to awkwardly present an award via satellite.
Nice joke about being an honorary Australian due to having "lived in New Zealand for two years", Baby Goose.
When announcing the tie, co-host Cate Blanchett - yes, the Cate Blanchett - pulled an Emma Thompson and threw her shoes off and asked for a dance-off. Blessed Cate, how we love her so. The awards were actually held over two nights with the technical awards across film, TV, and documentary presented earlier in thw week, and the bigger ones at last night's glitzy ceremony in Sydney. Blanchett co-hosted with another Aussie acting legend, Deborah Mailman.
David Gulpilil, that titan of the industry, was justly rewarded the Best Lead Actor prize for Charlie’s Country for which he also won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes. He received a standing ovation for his win in the semi-autobiographic drama from Rolf de Heer. Other acting prizes went to Susan Prior for her role as a protective doctor in David Michôd’s The Rover, Yilmaz Erdogan as a Turkish general in The Water Diviner, and The Railway Man snagged the Adapted Screenplay prize. Kitty Green's excellent Ukraine is Not a Brothel won best documentary to sit alongside her Sundance prize from earlier in the week for her short film The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oskana Baiul. On the TV side I was happy to see multiple wins for Carlotta, about the famed Les Girls performer, and for Please Like Me, which took home a pair of awards for writing and Debra Lawrence’s performance. Lawrence, an industry stalwart, is perhaps most famous here for playing Australia’s favourite mum Pippa Fletcher on Home & Away, the show that helped bring Isla Fisher, Chris Hemsworth, Guy Pearce, Heath Ledger, Melissa George, Naomi Watts, and Ryan Kwanten into our worlds.
top: David Gulpilil, Essie Davis; bottom: Mia Wasikowska, Debra Lawrence
The full list of film winners are…
Best Film: THE BABADOOK and THE WATER DIVINER (tie)
Best Director: Jennifer Kent, THE BABADOOK
Best Lead Actor: David Gulpilil, CHARLIE'S COUNTRY
Best Lead Actress: Sarah Snook, PREDESTINATION
Best Supporting Actor: Yilmaz Erdogan, THE WATER DIVINER
Best Supporting Actress: Susan Prior, THE ROVER
Best Original Screenplay: Jennife Kent, THE BABADOOK
Best Adated Screenplay: Frank Cotrell Boyce and Andy Paterson, THE RAILWAY MAN
Best Cinematography: Ben Nott, PREDESTINATION
Best Editing: Matt Villa, PREDESTINATION
Best Production Design: Matthew Putland, PREDESTINATION
Best Costume Design: Tess Schofield, THE WATER DIVINER
Best Original Music Score: David Hirschfelder, THE RAILWAY MAN
Best Sound: Sam Petty et al, THE ROVER
Best Documentary: UKRAINE IS NOT A BROTHEL
Best Direction in a Documentary: Eddie Martin, ALL THIS MAYHEM
Best Cinematography in a Documentary: Aaron Gully and Maxx Corkindale, SONS & MOTHERS
Best Editing in a Documentary: Chris King, ALL THIS MAYHEM
Best Sound in a Documentary: Des Kenneally et al, SONS & MOTHERS
Best Original Score in a Documentary: Jed Kurzel, ALL THIS MAYHEM
Best Visual Effects of Animation: THE LEGO MOVIE
Byron Kennedy Award: Amiel Courtin-Wilson
Congrats to everyone!
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Images shamelessly cribbed from AACTA's Instagram.