All This Mayhem, Deepsea Challenge 3D, The Last Impresario and Ukraine Is Not A Brothel will compete for the feature length documentary prize at the 4th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards.
In collaboration with the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) , a new award for best original music score in a documentary will be presented in January. Previously composition was judged together with sound for best sound in a documentary.
All This Mayhem profiles former champion pro skaters, brothers Tas and Ben Pappas, whose lives spiralled into a world of drugs, jail, murder, depression and death.
Directed by Eddie Martin and produced by James Gay-Rees and George Pank, the doc had its world premiere at the 2013 Adelaide Film Festival and screened in competition at this year’s Sydney Film Festival and at the Sheffield Doc/Fest in June.
Deepsea Challenge 3D follows James Cameron’s record-setting dive of 10,908 metres to the deepest known point on the planet. Producer and director Andrew Wright, who co-directed with John Bruno and Ray Quint, died in a helicopter crash in 2012 in NSW.
Produced by Nicole O’Donohue, The Last Impresario marks the documentary directorial debut by 27-year-old Gracie Otto, a biopic of London theatre and film impresario, playboy, gambler and bon vivant Michael White.
Kitty Green’s Ukraine Is Not A Brothel tells the true story of Femen, an anti-establishment feminist movement reclaiming the rights of women and challenging patriarchy via topless protest. Green was arrested during filming.
Produced by Jonathan auf der Heide, Michael Latham and Green, the doc screened at the Venice Film Festival last year, where Green got a special mention.
The nominees will screen along with the feature films in competition and the short film nominees at the AACTA Awards Screenings for AACTA and AFI members in Sydney and Melbourne in October, and online via AACTA TV.
The features in competition will be unveiled this month and all remaining documentary nominees and all feature film and TV nominees will be announced later this year.
Of the separate awards for sound and score, AGSC president Guy Gross said: “Recognising Australia’s best talent in these two very different crafts will have a great impact on the careers of those receiving AACTA Awards.”
AFI | AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella said: “Competition for this year’s feature length documentary category is made all the more compelling by the fact that we see two debut directors competing alongside multi award-winning documentary makers and pitted against a documentary starring veteran filmmaker, James Cameron.
“With captivating and compelling stories and subjects, it’s easy to see that Australian documentaries are particularly strong for the 4th AACTA Awards.”