AACTA Awards Hail Mel Gibson, Tanna and... Gods of Egypt?
Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 10:00AM
Glenn Dunks in Australia, Gods of Egypt, Hacksaw Ridge, Ivan Sen, Mel Gibson, Odessa Young, Tanna

by Glenn Dunks

Mel Gibson certainly won’t object to waking up to 13 nominations from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (the AACTA Awards) for his directorial comeback, Hacksaw Ridge. This canny bit of career rehabilitation for the former Oscar winner began, by association, with the revival of Mad Max. Even if Hacksaw Ridge doesn't ultimately pan out in terms of Oscar success, it should at least go some way to redeeming him in the eyes of many who have been turned off by his personal dramas and increasingly violent movies. I have not seen the film which leads today’s AACTA announcement, but a big-budget international co-production with a big name at its helm is catnip to this group --it’s not surprising to see it nominated in every category possible except one (Best Original Score).

The pleasure in these nominations is the swathe of nominations for much smaller, unique titles like the desert noir Goldstone, the quirky coming-of-age fantasy Girl Asleep, and Australia’s foreign language Oscar entry the Vanuatu-set romance Tanna that in any other year (er, one with bigger hits) would have likely been left with scraps. These four films are nominated alongside the all-star Ibsen adaptation The Daughter in the Best Film category. Alas, Gods of Egypt had to settle for technical nominations.


And, in case you’re wondering, Lion is not here because it doesn’t receive a local release (in its home country!) until next January. This time next year, folks.

The full list of nominations with commentary after the jump...

BEST FILM

BEST DIRECTION

This category is fascinating. Byond Gibson (who showed up at last year’s ceremony to coronate George Miller) we have a rising Indigenous auteur, a pair of documentarians turning their eye to foreign language mythology, and the female debut director behind a delightfully fantastical high school flick. That Simon Stone, who adapted his own stage adaptation of The Wild Duck with a big cast and found minor box office success, missed out is a surprise, but a welcome one when we get Sen, Myers and Dean/Butler.

BEST LEAD ACTOR

I’m sure Garfield is good, but MY GOD give this statue to Ewen Leslie. What fool would not?

BEST LEAD ACTRESS

Naouri is an inspired selection from an otherwise overly fussy film adaptation of the famous Canberra murder Joe Cinque. Likewise Odessa Young (above) who had a breakout year with both The Daughter and Sue Brooks’ Looking for Grace and will no doubt be on some international "names to watch" list in no time.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

I truly don’t remember enough about Pawno other than being underwhelmed so all of these acting nominations seem at once both puzzling and yet entirely obvious given the ensemble nature of the film set in and around a Footscray pawn store. Having said that, Mark Coles Smith was such a delight in last year’s Last Cab to Darwin so it would be sweet to see him clinch a statue from such big names as Neill (over Geoffrey Rush for the same film) and defending category champ Hugo Weaving (he won for The Dressmaker last year).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Okay, sure. But save a thought for Julia Blake (A Month of Sundays) and Kerry Fox (Downriver) who certainly had reason to expect a nomination here.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Tanna has some of the best cinematography of any film all year. You just don’t see many movies with passionate embraces set against a real volcanic eruption, you know? Great seeing Spear, starring the magnetic Hunter Page-Lochard, pop up here and a couple of others places, too. Stephen Page’s Aboriginal dance film was truly unlike anything I - or you, if you ever find it - have seen.


AACTA AWARD FOR BEST EDITING

BEST SOUND

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE


Every year there is one category that makes me go, “well, they were certainly paying attention to all the contenders there.” This wonderfully oddball assemblage of films is so unexpected that it’s really hard not to wish there were more like them at all award shows. I might be rooting for Darrin Verhagen given he is the only nominee from the special queer-ish fantasy Boys in the Trees from previous AACTA winner Nick Verso. His very excellent short, The Last Time I Saw Richard, can be seen on Vimeo.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Oscar winning costume designer of Priscilla facing off against the Egyptian kitsch of Gods of Egypt, the Wes Anderson by way of 1970s Australian suburbia of Girl Asleep and the dusty blend of traditional and contemporary in Spear make this one fun category! Last year’s winner was The Dressmaker and I’m wondering whether it’s recent minor US arthouse success can help fund an Oscar campaign for its deliciously wonderful costumes. They nominated W.E. after all, which made five cents.

The Oscar winning costume designer of Priscilla facing off against the Egyptian kitsch of Gods of Egypt, the Wes Anderson by way of 1970s Australian suburbia of Girl Asleep and the dusty blend of traditional and contemporary in Spear make this one fun category! Last year’s winner was The Dressmaker and I’m wondering whether it’s recent minor US arthouse success can help fund an Oscar campaign for its deliciously wonderful costumes. They nominated W.E. after all, which made five cents.

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

This newer category  covers both film (Hacksaw Ridge and Gods of Egypt) and television (A Place to Call Home and Cleverman). It’s a bit odd, but these sort of national awards don’t have the financial resources of the Oscars or the BAFTAs and sometimes have to consolidate.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS OR ANIMATION

They recently implemented a rule-change to this category that allows Australian visual effects houses to be nominated for international films and television. So the only locally-made film, Gods of Egypt with its space boats and elaborate Sphinx booby traps, is up against X-Men: Apocalypse and two episodes of Game of Thrones. X-Men: Days of Future Past won this three years ago for its identical Quicksilver scene – will history repeat itself or will the influence of HBO’s fantasy hit extend across oceans?

BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY

It’ll hard to beat Chasing Asylum, I reckon, what with its illegally smuggled footage of off-shore detention centres. George Gittoes’ Afghanistan-set Snow Monkey is a cross over with the APSA Award, which we looked at earlier this week. It is also definitely not about snow monkeys.

BEST SHORT ANIMATION

BEST SHORT FICTION FILM

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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