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AACTA awards return to Seven, new hair and makeup award announced

George Miller at last year's awards.

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) will return to Channel Seven in December, following record viewers last year.

Presented by Presto, the sixth AACTA awards will be held on December 7 at The Star Event Centre in Sydney. An extended version of the ceremony will again encore on Foxtel.

The sixth AACTAs will also feature a new award – the AACTA Award for Best Hair and Makeup, which encompasses film and television.

The academy is calling for entries across feature film, documentary and short film award categories, and for jurors across all awards categories.

A host of new television awards will also announced next month as a result of AACTA's new partnership with ASTRA.

This year will see more than 45 peer-assessed awards presented. Television entries, and jurors for the new TV categories, will be called for when the newly expanded television awards are announced in May.

AACTA's industry-exclusive 6th AACTA Awards industry luncheon, presented by Presto, will be held on December 5 at The Star Event Centre in Sydney. 

AACTA's International Awards will be presented in Los Angeles in January 2017, and will again be telecast on Foxtel.

“Now in our sixth season, the AACTA Awards continue to go from strength-to-strength, with more awards created in line with industry needs and consultation, and a fantastic broadcast home on Channel Seven driving a great show format and new audiences to celebrate the best of Australian screen", AFI-AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella said.

“Last year was a record year for the Australian film industry, which saw robust competition among our nominees and winners. This year is shaping up to again see healthy competition, with some of our industry’s biggest names returning in front of and behind the camera, including Hugo Weaving and Toni Collette under the direction of Rachel Perkins in Jasper Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Sam Neill starring alongside young performer Odessa Young in The Daughter, which marks the directorial debut of Simon Stone, and Goldstone director Ivan Sen leading a stellar cast including David Gulpilil, Jacki Weaver and David Wenham, to name just a few."

“We look forward to seeing which outstanding Australian practitioners, performers and productions will be in competition this year, including for our new Hair and Makeup Award, which we are pleased to introduce with thanks to the support and advice of the industry, in particular the Australian Production Design Guild and internationally awarded practitioner, Lesley Vanderwalt."

“We also look forward to another great show with Channel Seven, and to two outstanding major awards events held at The Star in stunning Sydney this summer".

NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said, “Sydney is without doubt the nation’s hub of culture and innovation and a fitting home to showcase the screen industry’s best and brightest. We’re delighted to welcome the AACTA Awards and Industry Luncheon back to Sydney for another year in the continuing partnership between AACTA and the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.”

Channel Seven's Director of Production, Brad Lyons, said, "Channel Seven is thrilled to again telecast Australia’s preeminent screen awards in celebration of our nation’s finest film and television. We look forward to celebrating Australian stories and culture captured on the big and small screens with our audiences in a fantastic new show in December.”

Lesley Vanderwalt, who was instrumental in creating the new AACTA Award for Best Hair and Makeup and recently received an Oscar and a BAFTA Award for her work on Mad Max: Fury Road, said:

“Australian hair and makeup practitioners are internationally renowned and recognised for their technical skill and excellence, including at the Oscars and BAFTAs. Whilst we’re proud of this international recognition, we’re also very proud of our roots, and of our contribution to Australian screen productions, and nothing feels as good as being recognised at home.

“Not only will the new AACTA Award for Best Hair and Makeup open new doors for our best and brightest at home and abroad, it will inspire generations to come to pursue a career in this creative industry. I’m proud to have been part of a dedicated group supported by the APDG to create this award with AACTA, and look forward with great anticipation to seeing who will take home the inaugural award this year.”