The feature films in competition at the 4th AACTA Awards were announced with 8 of the 25 films made in South Australia: 52 Tuesdays, The Babadook, The Infinite Man, Charlie’s Country, The Rover, Tracks; Wolf Creek 2 and The Water Diviner.
Seven of these had South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) Industry Program funding and two of the eight features were made through the SAFC’s highly successful development initiative – Filmlab.
Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund invested in Charlie’s Country, 52 Tuesdays and Tracks all of which premiered at the 2013 Adelaide Film Festival.
Other recently announced AACTA nominations include two other South Australian films: Welcome To Iron Knob in the Best Short Fiction Award (supported by both AFF and SAFC investment); and Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund feature documentary All This Mayhem, which had its world premiere at AFF in 2013, which is up for an AACTA Award for Best Feature Documentary.
South Australian Film Corporation CEO Richard Harris said: “It’s wonderful to see so many projects from South Australia vying for this year’s AACTA Awards. We have had a pretty remarkable few years in terms of production in South Australia, and it is great to see these films out in the world getting the recognition that they deserve. The success that they are having says a lot about South Australia’s capacity for Australian independent film; its crews, cast, locations, post-production expertise plus the facilities at Adelaide Studios – when you mix this with the local filmmaking talent here, at so many levels it becomes a pretty compelling package.”
Adelaide Film Festival Creative Director and CEO, Amanda Duthie said: “Congratulations to the local screen industry and the filmmakers who chose to create such brilliant work here in South Australia. Adelaide Film Festival is proud to have worked with all these filmmakers – from the emerging feature teams through to the experienced screen storytellers. All the best at the 2015 AACTA Awards.”
Many have received critical acclaim at some of the world’s most prestigious international film festivals; Sundance 2013 applauded and lauded 52 Tuesdays and The Babadook, Cannes Film Festival acknowledged David Gulpili in Charlie’s Country as Best Actor, Un Certain Regard and rolled out the red carpet for the premiere of The Rover. Venice Film Festival selected Tracks into the 2013 Competition and premiered Wolf Creek 2, and The Infinite Man was celebrated at South By South West.
The South Australian key creatives behind these films include Kristian Moliere (Triptych Pictures), Sophie Hyde, Bryan Mason, Rebecca Summerton and Matt Cormack (Closer Productions), Sandy Cameron, Kate Croser (Hedone Productions) writer/director Hugh Sullivan, Helen Leake (Duo Art Productions) and Greg McLean (Emu Creek Pictures), George Pank (Pank & Martin) and Dave Wade, Maxx Corkindale and Alexandra Blue (Bluebird Productions).
The films feature extraordinary Australian acting talent including David Gulpilil, Guy Pearce (+ Robert Pattison), Russell Crowe, John Jarratt, Mia Wasikowska, Essie Davis, Josh McConville, Hannah Marshall, Alex Dimitriades and Tilda Cobham-Harvey.
4th AACTA Awards Screenings, online via AACTA TV, available any time anywhere. Membership of AFI/AACTA starts at $60.Winners announced at the 4th AACTA Awards in Sydney, January 2015.