‘Sweet Country’ (Photo: Mark Rogers).
Just two features are in contention for this year’s Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE Award for Best Original Film: Brothers’ Nest from Jaime Browne, and Sweet Country from Steven McGregor and David Tranter.
As for who’s up for the prize for feature film adaptation, the AWG is mum – there is only one nominee in the category, to be announced on the night of the awards.
To be held August 30 at the City Recital Hall, Sydney, the 51st AWGIEs will be presented across 18 individual categories including feature film, television, documentary, theatre, radio, animation and interactive media.
Matt Cameron is nominated twice in the telemovie or miniseries (less than four hours) category: for Sunshine, with Elise McCredie, and Safe Harbour with Belinda Chayko and Phil Enchelmeir. Greg Waters is also up in the category for ABC’s Riot, the story behind the protests that formed the birth of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Chayko is also up for a television – series or miniseries (more than four hours) award for penning Fighting Season’s ‘Heroes’. She will compete against Michaeley O’Brien (Mystery Road, ‘Gone’), Timothy Lee (Mystery Road ‘The Waterhole’), Beatrix Christian (Picnic at Hanging Rock, episode 1), and Vanessa Alexander (The Wrong Girl, season 2, episode 4).
Individual category winners will be eligible for the Major Award, which is given to the most outstanding script of the year. Past winners have included Leah Purcell’s play The Drover’s Wife (2017), The Code (2014 and 2016), The Water Diviner (2015), The Sapphires (2012), Animal Kingdom (2010) and Cloud Street (1999).
ABC productions dominate in the comedy – situation or narrative category. Nominees include Matthew Cormack (Fucking Adelaide ‘Maude Loves Us’), Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan (Get Krack!n: Episode 7), Scott Ryan (Mr Inbetween: Episode 3), Declan Fay, (Ronny Chieng: International Student: ‘Asian Rules Football’) and Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola (Rosehaven: Season 2, Episode 4).
Beck Cole and Erica Glynn will both compete for the Children’s Television (P Classification) Award for their work on NITV’s Little J and Big Cuz.
Joel Slack-Smith (Drop Dead Weird: ‘Letter in a Bottle’), Giula Sandler (Grace Beside Me: ‘Love Me, Love Me Not’) and Magda Wozniak (Mustangs FC: ‘Flawless’), will compete for the ‘C’ Classification children’s TV Award.
View the full list of nominees here.