Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road
Rachel Griffiths and Daniel MacPherson opened the 5th AACTA International Awards, while Abbie Cornish, Miranda Otto, Angus Sampson, Jonathan LaPaglia, Radha Mitchell, Luke Bracey, Anna Torv and Phillip Noyce were among those who presented at the event, held at the Avalon Hollywood.
George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road continued its Oscars-campaign momentum, taking home two AACTA International Awards – Best Film and Best Direction.
These wins follow a stellar outing for Fury Road at AACTA’s domestic Awards in Sydney last month, where the film received a total of eight Awards, including Best Film and Best Direction.
Carol also received two AACTA International Awards, with Rooney Mara awarded for Best Supporting Actress, and Cate Blanchett awarded for Best Lead Actress.
This marks Blanchett’s seventh AFI or AACTA Award over the past 19 years, including an AACTA International Award for her performance in Blue Jasmine.
Both Blanchett and Mara were nominated for last night’s SAG Awards, and next month’s BAFTAs and Oscars.
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) took home the award for best lead actor over Matt Damon (The Martian), past AACTA International Award nominees Steve Carell (The Big Short) and Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), and past winner Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs).
The win marks DiCaprio’s second award from the Australian Academy, following a Best Lead Actor Award for The Great Gatsby in 2014.
The AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor went to Mark Rylance for his portrayal of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in Steven Spielberg’s Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies.
Spotlight, the true story of The Boston Globe’s role in uncovering the massive scandal of child abuse and cover up by the Catholic Church, won the AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay, following strong competition from Carol, Ex Machina, The Martian and Steve Jobs.
"The fifth year of the AACTA International Awards has again seen a dynamic mix of international and Australian achievement honoured, celebrating some of the world’s biggest names in film, behind and in front of the camera", AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella said.
“This year marks the first time we’ve seen an Australian film, Mad Max: Fury Road, win at our domestic Awards in Sydney and then again at our International Awards in LA, and we’re delighted to see our U.S. and British counterparts also recognise this excellence with Oscar and BAFTA nominations".
"Over the past five years we’ve seen AACTA International Award winners go on to win 16 BAFTAs and 14 Oscars, and we look forward with great anticipation to seeing if this trend again continues this year. We congratulate all winners, and wish them every success as we head towards the pointy end of this competitive awards season.”
The AACTA International Awards is available to watch on Presto until February 29.