The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has announced the nominees and juries for the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award and the inaugural First Nations Film Creative Award.
Overall MIFF’s prize pool this year tallies more than $300,000, including the $140,000 prize for the main competition, Bright Horizons, which recognises first and second-time directors.
Winners across long-form awards categories will be announced at MIFF’s Closing Night Gala on August 19 including the Audience Award.
The Australian Innovation Award returns with a $70,000 cash prize to recognise an outstanding Australian creative within a festival film, whether it be a director, technical or creative lead or other craft position. Last year’s inaugural winner was writer-director Jub Clerc for her debut feature Sweet As.
Up for the prize this year are lead VFX supervisor for Mercy Road, Andrew Robinson; director of Memory Film, Jeni Thornley; Scarygirl production designer Nathan Jurevicius and Soda Jerk, directors of Hello Dankness.
The award is judged by the same jury as the Bright Horizons Competition, which includes American filmmaker, musician, poet, writer and actor co-jury president Saul Williams; Rwandan filmmaker, actor and playwright co-jury president Anisia Uzeyman; Swiss documentary filmmaker, pop culture historian and cinema expert Alexandre O Philippe; Singaporean filmmaker and prior Camera d’Or winner Anthony Chen, and Indonesian director Kamila Andini.
The inaugural First Nations Film Creative Award is designed to supports First Nations talent and storytelling, with the recipient awarded a $20,000 cash prize and $25,000 worth of financial services in collaboration with Kearney Group.
Again, the pool of contenders are drawn from across all film creative departments including directing, producing, screenwriting, composing, editing, cinematography, acting, production design, art direction and sound design. The prize will be awarded to the creative deemed to have demonstrated excellence and commitment in their relevant craft.
This years nominees are Katele (Mudskipper) director John Harvey; Generations of Men screenwriters Lelarnie Hatfield-Yasso, Aunty Nicky Hatfield and Margaret Hornagold; Marungka Tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black) co-director Derik Lynch; Kindred co-directors Adrian Russell Wills and Gillian Moody; Keeping Hope director Tyson Mowarin and subject Mark Coles Smith; and Rebel with a Cause: Neville Bonner director Douglas Watkin.
The jury for the prize are Yidinji, Meriam woman and actor/director Rachael Maza; Yorta Yorta, Wurundjeri (Woiwurrung) screen and stage practitioner and Birrarangga Film Festival artistic director, Tony Briggs; and Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic and director Tiriki Onus.
Of the new award, Rachael Maza said; “I’m very proud and inspired by this next generation of incredible First Nation film makers. I’d like to acknowledge MIFF and the Kearney Group in establishing this Award in recognition of these artists who will be our future leading storytellers. It’s an honour to be a part of the jury.”
As previously announced, the films in the Bright Horizons Competition include two Australian titles, Noora Niasari’s Shayda and Mark Leonard Winter’s The Rooster.
Other films includ Caméra d’Or winner Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, from director Pham Thien An; Ama Gloria, directed by Marie Amachoukeli, which opened Cannes Critic Week; Banel & Adama, from Ramata-Toulaye Sy, the only debut selected for this year’s Cannes competition; Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East, starring Australian Jacob Elordi, which screened in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight; Cannes Un Certain Regard winner, Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex; Earth Mama, from Olympian-turned-filmmaker Savanah Leaf, which premiered at Sundance and Sofia Alaoui’s Animalia, also from Sundance, as well as Berlin titles Lila Avilés’ Tótem and Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Disco Boy.
The MIFF Schools Youth Jury will also name their category winner at the Closing Night Gala, with a panel of three young filmmakers – selected from Top Screen 2023’s best and brightest – deliberating on the best title from the MIFF Schools program.
The MIFF Shorts Awards, which include $50,000 of prizes, will be held earlier in the festival on August 12 at ACMI. 2023 shorts jury members are filmmaker Alena Lodkina; curator and artist Kate ten Buuren; and producer Virginia Whitwell of Good Thing Productions.
“MIFF is a space that presents world class cinema to Melbourne, and with our Film Awards in 2023, we continue to recognise and reward the talents of the screen industry who compel our cinema-going,” says Al Cossar artistic director.
“The MIFF film awards recognise and amplify the vitality of our screen industry, and those who move it forward; from the Bright Horizons Competition as a space for global breakthrough, to the recognition and celebration of excellence in craft amongst individual screen practitioners, in the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award and First Nations Film Award, with generous support from the Kearney Group. Not to mention our own MIFF-fluencers – our festival audience – crowning their own via our annual Audience Award. We stand in awe of our competing films and our shortlisted nominees, and congratulate all.”
MIFF runs in cinemas August 3-20. MIFF Regional runs August 11-13 and 18-20 with screenings in Bendigo, Bright, Castlemaine, Echuca, Geelong, Rosebud and Warrnambool. MIFF Play, the festival’s online streaming platform, is available nationally from 18-27 August.