Explorations of evil and entrapment took top honours at Thursday’s AWGIE Awards, with Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes’ Late Night with the Devil and Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel winning the original and adapted feature prizes, respectively.
Set to be released in cinemas in April, Late Night with the Devil stars David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy, the host of a late-night talk show that goes horribly wrong during a live broadcast in 1977, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms. After premiering at last year’s SXSW, the film screened at festivals around the world, including Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, where it won Best Screenplay.
There was also no shortage of festival buzz last year for The Royal Hotel, for which Green and Oscar Redding took inspiration from Peter Gleeson’s 2017 observational documentary Hotel Coolgardie. The social thriller, which features Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick as two backpackers who find themselves navigating an increasingly unnerving environment within rural Australia, made its debut at Telluride before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and being released in Australia in November.
Others to be honoured at the ceremony, held at NIDA, were former Australian Writers Guild (AWG) president Shane Brennan, who was given the Richard Lane Award for his long-standing service to the guild and his ongoing philanthropy via Scripted Ink.
Brennan, who was succeeded as president by Peter Mattessi at the end of last year, said keeping the guild strong and relevant in an ever-changing industry was as challenging now as it was for Lane, who served as the AWG’s third president from 1964 to 1968 and was instrumental in its establishment.
“There is a great tradition in the Australian Writers Guild of passing on the torch of leadership to the next generation of writers,” he said.
“This award is a humbling reminder that without Richard and other visionary, hardworking writers across the years, there simply would be no Australian Writers Guild. This award acknowledges generations of writers who have served the guild in the past, currently serve the guild now and will serve the guild in the future. I’m honoured to receive it.”
In the television categories, Tony McNamara won the series award for The Great; Giula Sandler took out the limited series prize for her four-part crime drama The Girl Across The Street; Harriet Dyer backed up her AACTA Award for Best Narrative Comedy Series with the situation or narrative comedy award for Colin From Accounts; and Mitch McTaggart received the sketch comedy award for The Last Year of Television.
Tim Russell was awarded the Documentary – Public Broadcast (including VOD) or Exhibition Award alongside James Crawley and Steven Sander for Volcano Man, which documents Crawley’s complex relationship with his eccentric father Richard, as they grapple with life and loss, using the language of film to communicate and bring them closer together.
ABC titles took out the children’s television prizes, with Charlotte Rose Hamlyn winning the preschool prize for Beep and Mort, and Magda Wozniak triumphing in the children’s for Crazy Fun Park.
The full list of AWGIE winners:
FEATURE FILM – ORIGINAL
Late Night with the Devil – Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
FEATURE FILM – ADAPTED
The Royal Hotel – Oscar Redding with Kitty Green
SHORT FILM
Jia – Vee Shi
DOCUMENTARY – PUBLIC BROADCAST (INCLUDING VOD) OR EXHIBITION
Volcano Man – Tim Russell with James Crawley and Steven Sander
DOCUMENTARY – COMMUNITY, EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING
Imagined Touch – Sofya Gollan
TELEVISION – SERIAL
Neighbours: Episode 8867 – Sarah Mayberry
TELEVISION – SERIES
The Great: Season 3, ‘Ice’ – Tony McNamara
TELEVISION – LIMITED SERIES
The House Across the Street – Giula Sandler
ANIMATION
Koala Man: Season 1, ‘The Red Hot Rule’ – Nina Oyama
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘P’ CLASSIFICATION (PRESCHOOL – UNDER 5 YEARS)
Beep and Mort: Season 1, ‘Nothing To Do Day’ – Charlotte Rose Hamlyn
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘C’ CLASSIFICATION (CHILDREN’S – 5–14 YEARS)
Crazy Fun Park: Season 1, ‘Remember Me’ – Magda Wozniak
COMEDY – SITUATION OR NARRATIVE
Colin from Accounts: Season 1, ‘Flash’ – Harriet Dyer
COMEDY – SKETCH OR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
The Last Year of Television: 2022 – Mitch McTaggart
AUDIO – FICTION
The Missed – Sami Shah
AUDIO – NON-FICTION
Disclosed: The Children in the Pictures: ‘Crimes Without Borders’ – Simon Nasht with Akhim
Dev
STAGE – ORIGINAL
Whitefella Yella Tree – Dylan Van Den Berg
STAGE – ADAPTED
Museum of Modern Love – Tom Holloway
MUSICAL THEATRE
Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan – Alana Valentine and Christos Tsiolkas
COMMUNITY AND YOUTH THEATRE
Ngadjung – Dylan Van Den Berg
THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
All the Shining Lights – Brendan Hogan
WEB SERIES AND OTHER NON-BROADCAST/NON-‘SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO ON DEMAND’ TV
SHORT WORKS
Night Bloomers: Season 1, ‘Friend or Foe’ – Andrew Undi Le