While the Awards season rages on, it’s worthwhile shining a light on what’s going on in Australia. The annual AFCA Film Award nominations have been announced, and there’s a wealth of great films up for consideration.
AFCA – the Australian Film Critics Association – is made up with members who are film critics, reviewers, and journalists. All members cover a wide array of Australian films and world cinema, with the Association seeking to foster an appreciation of significant or challenging films that may have been neglected.
Each year, the Association rewards the best of the best, with a keen focus on Australian films, as well as a smattering of international films.
The 2019 nominations have been announced, and (thankfully), the Australian film critics have gotten behind one of the finest Australian films in years and rewarded Sweet Country with a stunning nine nominations, including two for cinematographer/director Warwick Thornton. It’s followed up by Breath (which gained triple threat Simon Baker three nominations) and Ladies in Black which scored six nominations each, and Cargo with six nominations, and finally, Strange Colours with four nominations. All of these films were nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
Rounding out the nominations were nods for Boy Erased, West of Sunshine, Brothers’ Nest, 1%, The Merger and Upgrade.
But that wasn’t the end of the nods for Australian films, with three Australian documentaries making it into the Best Documentary category – Backtrack Boys, Gurrumul, Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy.
The winners will be announced at the ceremony on February 15th.
Check out the rest of the nominations below:
AUSTRALIAN CATEGORIES
BEST FILM
Breath
Cargo
Ladies in Black
Strange Colours
Sweet Country
BEST DIRECTOR
Simon Baker – Breath
Bruce Beresford – Ladies in Black
Ben Howling & Yolande Ramke – Cargo
Alena Lodkina – Strange Colours
Warwick Thornton – Sweet Country
BEST ACTOR
Martin Freeman – Cargo
Lucas Hedges – Boy Erased
Damian Hill – West of Sunshine
Shane Jacobson – Brothers’ Nest
Hamilton Morris – Sweet Country
BEST ACTRESS
Kate Cheel – Strange Colours
Abbey Lee – 1%
Kate Mulvaney – The Merger
Julia Ormond – Ladies in Black
Angourie Rice – Ladies in Black
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Simon Baker – Breath
Bryan Brown – Sweet Country
Ryan Corr – Ladies in Black
Russell Crowe – Boy Erased
Ewen Leslie – Sweet Country
Sam Neill – Sweet Country
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lynette Curran – Brothers’ Nest
Elizabeth Debicki – Breath
Natassia Gorey-Furber – Sweet Country
Nicole Kidman – Boy Erased
Susie Porter – Cargo
BEST SCREENPLAY
Jamie Brown – Brothers’ Nest
Gerard Lee & Simon Baker – Breath
Steven McGregor & David Tranter – Sweet Country
Jason Raftopolous – West of Sunshine
Leigh Whannell – Upgrade
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Marden Dean & Rick Rifici – Breath
Peter James – Ladies in Black
Michael Latham – Strange Colours
Geoffrey Simpson – Cargo
Warwick Thornton – Sweet Country
INTERNATIONAL CATEGORIES
BEST FILM (ENGLISH LANGUAGE)
A Star is Born
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
Leave No Trace
You Were Never Really Here
BEST FILM (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Cold War
Custody
Roma
Shoplifters
The Insult
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Backtrack Boys
Gurrumul
Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy
RBG
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
