Best Indie Film AACTA Award | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Best Australian indie film of the year |
Country | Australia |
Presented by | Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) |
First awarded | 2019 |
Currently held by | Limbo (2023) |
Website | www |
The AACTA Award for Best Indie Film is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) since 2018.
The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for achievements in feature film, television, documentaries and short films. Since 2024 the awards have been held at the Gold Coast, Queensland. [1]
The establishment of the AACTA Award for Best Indie Film was announced on 1 May 2018. [2] The inaugural award was won by Jirga , directed by Benjamin Gilmour. [3]
The intention of the award is to allow "a pathway into competition for a greater number of films from filmmakers with diverse backgrounds (gender, sexual and cultural diversity), as well as films from emerging filmmakers". Only films with a budget of under A$2 million are eligible. [2]
The winner of the inaugural award in 2018, in the 8th AACTA Awards: [3] [4]
Other films nominated were: [4]
The winner of the 2019 award, in the 9th AACTA Awards: [6] [7]
Other films nominated were: [6]
The winner of the 2020 award, in the 10th AACTA Awards: [8]
Other nominations: [8]
The winner of the 2021 award, in the 11th AACTA Awards: [9] [10]
Other films nominated were: [9] [10]
The winner of the 2022 award, in the 12th AACTA Awards: [11] [12]
Other films nominated were:
The winner of the award celebrating the best films released in 2023 in the 13th AACTA Awards, announced in February 2024: [13] [14]
Other films nominated were: [13]
The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.
Leah Maree Purcell is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's Somewhere in the Darkness, which led to roles in films, such as Lantana (2001), Somersault (2004), The Proposition (2005) and Jindabyne (2006).
The Byron Kennedy Award is an annual film and television award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) to Australian filmmakers.
Florian Zeller is a French novelist, playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, and film director. He wrote over a dozen plays, that have been staged worldwide and have made him one of the most celebrated contemporary playwrights.
Gabriel Dowrick is an Australian born screenwriter and editor.
Mirrah Foulkes is an Australian director, screenwriter, and film and television actress. She was raised on the Sunshine Coast, in South East Queensland, Australia. She has appeared in films such as Animal Kingdom (2010), Sleeping Beauty (2011), and in the Australian anthology film The Turning (2013).
Clayton Jacobson is an Australian film director, writer, producer, actor, musician, and editor. His debut feature film was Kenny, which was released in 2006 in Australia to critical acclaim, winning a number of awards. He has acted in a number of films, including Animal Kingdom (2010).
Jirga is a 2018 Australian drama film written and directed by Benjamin Gilmour and produced by John Maynard. It stars Sam Smith as a former Australian soldier returning to Afghanistan to seek forgiveness from the family of a man he killed while serving in the war. The film was shot under extreme circumstances, in dangerous locations and with assistance from the local people of Afghanistan. Deemed too politically divisive to be produced in Pakistan the film moved production at the last minute to Afghanistan and shot in one of the most dangerous regions in the world, Kandahar Province.
George Pullar is an Australian actor from Brisbane. He is known for his roles as Larry Forbes in the fifth season of the Australian drama series A Place to Call Home and Daniel Fletcher in the Network Ten drama series Playing for Keeps. His performance as Larry garnered an AACTA Award nomination and the Casting Guild of Australia named him one of Australia's "Rising Stars Award" recipients in 2018. In 2020 he took the lead role of Tyler in Moon Rock For Monday, an AACTA Award-nominated film, directed by Kurt Martin.
The Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) is a 501 c6 membership-based non-profit organization of critics, entertainment journalists, content creators, industry influencers, and creatives. The vision and mission of the HCA is to amplify diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and culture within the world of entertainment. It was founded in 2016 as the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society and renamed in 2019 to Hollywood Critics Association. In 2023, the organization changed its name a second time, and rebranded its awards as the Astra Awards.
Closer Productions is a film and television production company founded by filmmakers Sophie Hyde and Bryan Mason in Adelaide, South Australia, in January 2004. It is known for award-winning feature films such as 52 Tuesdays (2013) and Animals (2019), as well as television series and documentary films.
A Boy Called Sailboat is a 2018 American-Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Nugent and starring Julian Atocani Sanchez, Noel Gugliemi, Elizabeth De Razzo, Jake Busey, and J. K. Simmons.
Ellie & Abbie is a 2020 AACTA award winning LGBT romance comedy film written and directed by Monica Zanetti, in her feature directorial debut. It is based on her own 2016 stage play. The film stars Sophie Hawkshaw, Zoe Terakes, Marta Dusseldorp, Rachel House, Julia Billington and Bridie Connell. The movie had its world premiere at the Mardi Gras Film Festival on 13 February 2020, becoming the first Australian film to do so in the festival's 27-year history. It also won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film at the festival. The film went on to screenings at several other film festivals, and had a limited theatrical release on 19 November 2020.
Benjamin Gilmour is a German Australian author and filmmaker, best known for writing and directing the film Jirga (2018).
Aquarius Films is an independent Australian film and TV production company based in Sydney, founded in 2008 by producers Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford. TV credits include Love Me, The Unusual Suspects, The Other Guy and Savage River Film credits include Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated Lion starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, produced by Aquarius in association with See-Saw Films and the psychological thriller Berlin Syndrome starring Teresa Palmer and Directed by Cate Shortland which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, Dirt Music, directed by Gregor Jordan and starring Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Macdonald and David Wenham and Wish You Were Here, starring Joel Edgerton and Teresa Palmer, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and won two Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, including Best Screenplay, and five Film Critics Circle Awards, including Best Film.
The Gotham Independent Film Audience Award was one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards awarded between 2010 and 2020. The winner was determined via an online vote, in earlier years by the independent film community and film fans (2010–2013), and later by members of the Independent Filmmaker Project (2014–2020).
Sally Aitken is an Australian documentary film and television director, writer, and producer. She is known for Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story; David Stratton: A Cinematic Life; and Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles. She is co-founder, co-principal, and director of the all-female film production company SAM Content.
The Rooster is a 2023 Australian comedy drama film directed by Mark Leonard Winter and starring Hugo Weaving, Phoenix Raei, and John Waters.