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‘Talk to Me’ takes home best film at AACTA Awards, ‘The Newsreader’ crowned best drama

'Talk to Me'.

Danny and Michael Philippou’sTalk To Me took home a further three awards at AACTA Ceremony on Saturday evening, including Best Film and Best Direction, adding to its haul of five gongs from Thursday.

Sophie Wilde, who plays a lonely teenager who gets hooked on the thrills of conjuring spirits through a ceramic hand in the horror, was also recognised for her performance, winning Best Lead Actress.

Emerging talent was similarly triumphant in the corresponding lead actor category, as Aswan Reid beat out more experienced campaigners to win the award for his portrayal of a nine-year-old boy who appears to have special powers in Warwick Thornton’s 1940s-set drama The New Boy.

In the supporting categories, Deb Mailman was recognised for her performance as Sister Mum in The New Boy, as was Hugo Weaving for his turn as a hermit in The Rooster. The prize was one of two for Weaving on the night, who also took home Best Lead Actor in a Drama for Love Me. His co-star Heather Mitchell was awarded Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.

The Newsreader was once again named Best Drama Series following its 2021 triumph, with the second season of the Werner Film Productions title also giving Anna Torv her second win in the Best Lead Actress in a Drama category, and a first Best Supporting Actor in a Drama gong for Hunter Page-Lochard.

Other TV winners included Ludo Studio’s Bluey, which picked up its fourth consecutive win in the Best Children’s Program category, while Prime Video, Made Up Stories and Fifth Season’s The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart was crowned Best Miniseries, and Easy Tiger’s Colin From Accounts named Best Narrative Comedy.

The ceremony also featured a tribute to late comedian Cal Wilson, who was given a posthumous AACTA for Best Comedy Performer for her work as a presenter on the Great Australian Bake Off. The New Zealand actor, writer, and comedian died in October last year following a short illness.

There was a lot of love for Margot Robbie, who won Audience Choice and an AACTA International Award for Barbie, which also won the International AACTA for Best Film, adding to her previously announced Trailblazer Award.

She was among three Australian winners of the AACTA International Awards, presented as part of the event. Sarah Snook was named Best Actress in a Series for Succession and Tony McNamara awarded Best Screenplay in Film for Poor Things.

Special guests that joined host Rebel Wilson on the night included Cate Blanchett and Ron Howard, who recently wrapped shooting on survival thriller Eden in Queensland. While she was not able to attend in person, Nicole Kidman made an appearance as a virtual presenter to announce The Twelve actor Ngali Shaw as the inaugural recipient of the Brian Walsh Award, named in honour of the late Foxtel executive. The AACTA vice president helped set up the prize, which includes $50,000 for career development, as well as support, exposure, and recognition through AACTA and its partners.

AFI Chair Jack Christian said all of this year’s winners had exemplified excellence in storytelling, whether it be in “captivating performances or ground-breaking productions”.

“As we reflect on the remarkable achievements showcased at the 2024 AACTA Awards, we are reminded of the boundless creativity and dedication within Australia’s screen industry,” he said.

“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all recipients and express our gratitude to our partners for their continued support in celebrating our nation’s rich cinematic and television landscape.”

The list of winners from the main ceremony is below.

FILM
AACTA Award for Best Direction in Film: Talk to Me – Danny Philippou, Michael Philippo
AACTA Award for Best Film: Talk to Me – Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton – Causeway Films
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in Film: Aswan Reid – The New Boy
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in Film: Sophie Wilde – Talk to Me
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in Film: Hugo Weaving – The Rooster
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film: Deborah Mailman – The New Boy

TELEVISION
AACTA Award for Best Acting in a Comedy: Kate Box – Deadloch
AACTA Award for Best Children’s Program: Bluey – Joe Brumm, Charlie Aspinwall, Sam Moor, Daley Pearson – Ludo Studio (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Comedy Entertainment Program: Hard Quiz – Chris Walker, Kevin Whyte, Tom Gleeson, John Tabbagh – Thinkative Television and ABC (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Comedy Performer presented by Network Ten: Cal Wilson – The Great Australian Bake Off
AACTA Award for Best Drama Series: The Newsreader – Joanna Werner, Michael Lucas – Werner Film Productions (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Factual Entertainment Program: Old People’s Home for Teenagers – Tony De La Pena, Tara McWilliams, Emily Potts – Endemol Shine Australia (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama presented by BINGE: Hugo Weaving – Love Me
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama presented by BINGE: Anna Torv – The Newsreader
AACTA Award for Best Lifestyle Program: Gardening Australia – Gill Lomas – ABCTV (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Miniseries: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart – Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Barbara Gibbs, Sarah Lambert, Glendyn Ivin – Made Up Stories, Amazon Studios, Fifth Season (Amazon Prime Video)
AACTA Award for Best Narrative Comedy Series: Colin From Accounts – Ian Collie, Rob Gibson, Patrick Brammall, Harriet Dyer – Easy Tiger (Binge, Foxtel)
AACTA Award for Best Reality Program: MasterChef Australia – David Forster, Simon Child, Eoin Maher, April Mackay – Endemol Shine Australia (Network Ten)
AACTA Award for Best Screenplay in Television: Deadloch (Episode 1) – Kate McCartney, Kate McLennan
AACTA Award for Best Stand-Up Special: Hannah Gadsby: Something Special – Hannah Gadsby, Kevin Whyte, Kathleen McCarthy, Jenney Shamash, Frank Bruzzese – Guesswork Television Pty Ltd (Netflix)
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama: Hunter Page-Lochard – The Newsreader
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Heather Mitchell – Love Me

DOCUMENTARY
AACTA Award for Best Documentary: John Farnham: Finding The Voice – Poppy Stockell (Dir.), Mikael Borglund, Paul Clarke, Martin Fabinyi, Olivia Hoopmann – Beyond Oz in association with Blink TV Production.

INDIVIDUAL
2024 AACTA Trailblazer Award Recipient: Margot Robbie
2024 AACTA Byron Kennedy Award Recipient: Bruna Papandrea
2024 AACTA Brian Walsh Award Recipient: Ngali Shaw
2024 AACTA Reg Grundy Award Recipient: Rachel Berger (Seriously Funny)

AACTA AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
AACTA Audience Choice Award for Favourite TV Show: Ginny & Georgia
AACTA Audience Choice Award for Favourite Film: Barbie
AACTA Audience Choice Award for Favourite Actress: Margot Robbie
AACTA Audience Choice Award for Favourite Actor: Adam Sandler
AACTA Audience Choice Award for Favourite Australian Media Personality: Sophie Monk
AACTA Audience Choice Award for Favourite Australian Digital Creator: Kat Clark and family @katclark
AACTA Audience Choice Award for Favourite Australian Sporting Moment: Soccer: Matilda’s World Cup run

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
AACTA International Award for Best Actor in a Series: Jeremy Allen White – The Bear
AACTA International Award for Best Actress in a Series: Sarah Snook – Succession
AACTA International Award for Best Comedy Series: The Bear 
AACTA International Award for Best Direction in Film: Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan
AACTA International Award for Best Drama Series: Succession
AACTA International Award for Best Film: Barbie
AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor in Film: Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actress in Film: Margot Robbie – Barbie
AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay in Film: Poor Things – Tony McNamara
AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor in Film: Ryan Gosling – Barbie
AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film: Vanessa Kirby – Napoleon