Below are the nominations for the AACTA Awards 2012 for Feature Films - with WINNERS INDICATED IN RED.
The Sapphires won eleven awards—which indicates that they have little to do with quality.
Here is the full list of feature films which were in competition. Ceremonies 28 and 30 January 2013.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST FILM
Burning Man. Andy Paterson, Jonathan Teplitzky.
Lore. Karsten Stöter, Liz Watts, Paul Welsh, Benny Drechsel.
The Sapphires. Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne. WON
Wish You Were Here. Angie Fielder.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
Burning Man. Jonathan Teplitzky.
Lore. Cate Shortland.
The Sapphires. Wayne Blair. WON
Wish You Were Here. Kieran Darcy-Smith.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Burning Man. Jonathan Teplitzky.
Mental. PJ Hogan.
Not Suitable For Children. Michael Lucas.
Wish You Were Here. Kieran Darcy-Smith, Felicity Price. WON
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Lore. Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee.
The Sapphires. Keith Thompson, Tony Briggs. WON
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Burning Man. Garry Phillips ACS.
Lore. Adam Arkapaw.
The Sapphires. Warwick Thornton. WON
Wish You Were Here. Jules O'Loughlin ACS.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST EDITING
Burning Man. Martin Connor.
The Sapphires. Dany Cooper ASE. WON
Wish You Were Here. Jason Ballantine ASE.
X. Cindy Clarkson.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SOUND
Burning Man. David Lee, Andrew Plain, Gethin Creagh.
Lore. Sam Petty, Michael Busch, Robert Mackenzie, Antony Gray, Yulia Akerholt, Brooke Trezise.
The Sapphires. Andrew Plain, Bry Jones, Pete Smith, Ben Osmo, John Simpson. WON
Swerve. Pete Smith, John Simpson, Martyn Zub, Des Kenneally.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
33 Postcards. Antony Partos.
A Few Best Men. Guy Gross.
Mental. Michael Yezerski.
Not Suitable For Children. Matteo Zingales, Jono Ma. WON
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Burning Man. Steven Jones-Evans APDG.
Killer Elite. Michelle McGahey.
Lore. Silke Fischer.
The Sapphires. Melinda Doring. WON
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Burning Man. Lizzy Gardiner.
Lore. Stefanie Bieker.
Mental. Tim Chappel.
The Sapphires. Tess Schofield. WON
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTOR
Joel Edgerton. Wish You Were Here.
Matthew Goode. Burning Man.
Chris O'Dowd. The Sapphires. WON
Guy Pearce. 33 Postcards.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTRESS
Toni Collette. Mental.
Deborah Mailman. The Sapphires. WON
Felicity Price. Wish You Were Here.
Sarah Snook. Not Suitable For Children.
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ryan Corr. Not Suitable For Children.
Liev Schreiber. Mental.
Antony Starr. Wish You Were Here. WON
Gary Waddell. The King Is Dead!
AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Essie Davis. Burning Man.
Rebecca Gibney. Mental.
Deborah Mailman. Mental.
Jessica Mauboy. The Sapphires. WON
The AACTA awards (formerly the AFI Awards) are announced at the end of January, a month before the Oscars. This year the same four films are nominated as both Best Film and for Best Direction. These are they:
• Burning Man. Jonathan Teplitzky
• Lore. Cate Shortland
• The Sapphires. Wayne Blair
• Wish You Were Here. Kieran Darcy-Smith
I haven’t been able to see Lore yet, but I think the The Sapphires will win most of the categories for which it is nominated for a number of reasons: it’s a feel-good movie with an upbeat ending; it has a war setting, and is about overcoming adversity—always a good bet to win awards; it’s on an Indigenous subject; it’s based on a true story; it has singing in it—and very good singing it is too; it has a recognizable local star in Deborah Mailman, and an imported star many of us have seen in at least one role on TV. It’s not perfect. It treats both the war and the Stolen Generation topics too lightly—just in passing. But this will be overlooked in a backstage musical movie.
When I first saw Burning Man I was sure it must win best film—but that was before I’d seen The Sapphires, as BM was released as long ago as 2011. Like David Stratton, I was keen to see it a second time, but I think that has turned out to be for the wrong reason, at least as far as I’m concerned. Both Burning Man and Wish You Were Here are very good films, full of energy and emotion, but each suffers from the same problem, as I see it. Both of them move very frequently between zones of time. In the case of Wish it’s just the present and one particular period in the past, on a holiday in Cambodia. But Burning Man is much more complex than that, as it shows the stages of a process, and also moments in several—many—relationships. Having seen it three times now, I’m still not very clear as to who did what with whom and when. However, I’m still as impressed with the film as on first viewing, as it’s great to look at, and has wonderful performances from several beautiful women. (Another Pommy import is the central bloke, unfortunately.) But I think it’s unnecessarily and annoyingly complex, and The Sapphires will be a clear winner—tho Jonathan Teplitzky should prolly get the Director award for Burning Man, and Garry Phillips the Cinematography gong.
I haven’t seen the Guy Pearce film, but I can’t imagine even him being better than Joel Edgerton is in Wish You Were Here, so I expect him to take out Best Actor. I don’t think she’ll win against Deborah Mailman and especially the phenomenal Toni Collette, but I would give really serious consideration for Best Actress to Sarah Snook and the remarkable contribution made by her to Not Suitable for Children. It’s only a predictable little romcom, but OMG she gives a helluva good performance. (Thank goodness we’re still allowed to use the word ‘Actress’ when it comes to awards, as I think it’s very silly to have to say ‘female actor’ when we already have one perfectly good word.) Deborah Mailman can have the consolation prize of Best Supporting Actress for Mental—but it prolly should go to Essie Davis for Burning Man. I hope Gary Waddell is seen as Best Supporting Actor for The King is Dead—anyone, just as long as it’s not Ryan Corr, who in my opinion is very annoying in NSFC.
I’m now regretting I spent any time at all thinking about the AACTA Awards (formerly the Oz AFI Awards). The Sapphires took out eleven awards, almost all of those for which it was nominated. This makes a nonsense of the use of the word ‘Best’. It is beyond belief that the one film would have the best cinematography, sound, editing etc., as well as all the best actors. It is simply not true that Chris O’Dowd’s acting is better than Joel Edgerton’s (in Wish You Were Here). It is a lie to say that Jessica Mauboy’s acting is better than Essie Davis’s (in Burning Man). I don’t know what’s really going on in these awards, but I do know that I have lost interest in them forever.
Ingle Knight replied 31 January 2013
Psychology of Film awards ceremonies is deeply superficial and the winners are rarely deserving of the award they are receiving. They are seething with undercurrents of envy and resentment and fear as well as a kind of righteous appreciation which has more to do with the glow of good judgement reflecting back on to discerning taste-maker than it has to do with recognising talent.
They should never be taken seriously and always ignored completely. Unless you’re one of the winners.
Garry Gillard | New: 13 December, 2012 | Now: 21 March, 2021