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ACS names Stefan Duscio Cinematographer of the Year

Stefan Duscio.

Stefan Duscio was presented with the top prize at this evening’s Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) National Awards, named cinematographer of the year.

In addition to the Milli Award, Duscio also won a Gold Tripod for his work lensing Robert Connelly’s The Dry.

Accepting the night’s major prize, Duscio said it was “an incredible honour”.

“The standard of work produced by Australian cinematographers is some of the best in the world, so I am truly humbled to win the Milli,” he said.

The ACS National Awards were held in Adelaide in a ceremony hosted by Ray Martin, as well as newly-appointed president Erika Addis.

The evening saw Kim Batterham, Malcom Ludgate and the late Patricia Walter each receive Hall of Fame Awards, while Life Membership Awards were presented to David Brill, David Hudspeth, Velinda Wardell and JoAnne Bouzianis Sellick.

Bonnie Paku was given the John Leake OAM ACS Emerging Cinematographer Award, while the National Judges Merit Award went to Joshua Lamont for Ancient Remains.

Other Gold Tripod winners included Brendan Barnes, who won in the feature film (under $2m) category for Toorbos, and Marden Dean, taking out the drama series prize for The Gloaming.

The Ron Taylor AM ACS Wildlife & Nature Award went to Benjamin Cunningham for Attenborough’s Life in Colour (S1 E1 Blue Moon Butterflies), and Documentaries award Rudi Siira for Geeta.

Edward Gill won the Dramatised Documentaries prize for The Witch of Kings Cross and Cameron Zayec and Branco Grabovac took out the short film gong with Rainbow.

The Bob Miller ACS Technical & Innovation Achievement Award was taken out by Pawel Achtel ACS for his approach to designing and manufacturing his 9×7 camera.

Addis congratulated Duscio and all the other winners for their “truly excellent work.”

“Their commitment to the craft of cinematography is inspiring and they should all be very proud of their achievements. I would also like to thank Simon Murphy and all at FUJIFILM FUJINON for their incredible and unwavering support of our society as without them, these awards and much of the work the ACS does simply wouldn’t be possible.

“Finally, I would like to give a special thanks to my predecessor, former national president and the legend that is Ron Johanson OAM ACS. Words simply can’t describe how grateful we all are for your contribution to the ACS over the last 15 years.”

View the full list of winners here.