By Brendan Swift
The highest grossing local film at the box office this year has also been voted the most popular with audiences after Tomorrow, When the War Began won the top prize at the 2010 Kodak Inside Film Awards.
The action-thriller, based on the popular novel by John Marsden, took home four awards last night including best actress (Caitlin Stasey), best script (Stuart Beattie), best music (Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil), and the coveted best feature film award.
Stasey, previously best known for her role on soapie Neighbours, overcome tough competition from Animal Kingdom's Jacki Weaver, who has been touted as a potential Oscar nominee, The Waiting City's Radha Mitchell and Mao's Last Dancer's Joan Chen.
Crime drama Animal Kingdom, a pre-awards favourite which was nominated in seven categories, won awards for best director (David Michôd) and best actor (Ben Mendelsohn).
Actor and filmmaker Bryan Brown was presented with the Living Legend award by fellow actor and friend Jack Thompson to a standing ovation. Meanwhile, producer Penny Chapman, who is responsible for some of Australia’s best loved TV dramas, was honoured with a new award for contribution to TV.
Other winners included Beneath Hill 60 (best sound), The Waiting City (best cinematography and best editing) and Bright Star (best production design) and Mao’s Last Dancer, which won the box office achievement award after grossing more than $15.4 million in 2009.
Tomorrow, When the War Began has grossed more than $13.4 million at the local box office in 2010.
The 90-minute IF Awards ceremony was hosted by actor Angus Sampson and received more than 133,000 votes from the general public.
Next year's IF Awards will be bolstered by a new partnership unveiled last night with Event Cinemas, Greater Union and Birch, Carroll and Coyle Cinemas, which will now co-present their Cine Buzz club screenings with Inside Film, further expanding the audience reach of local features to the general public.
The IF Awards ceremony will be broadcast on free-to-air and pay-TV on:
Wednesday 24th November – SBS at 10.00pm
Sunday 28th November – showcase at 17:50pm
Monday 29th November – showcase at 06:55am
Thursday 2nd December – showcase at 18:50pm
Friday 3rd December – showcase at 10:45am
The full list of 2010 winners are:
The SHOWTIME MOVIE CHANNELS IF Award for Best Feature Film
Tomorrow When The War Began – Stuart Beattie (Director), Andrew Mason and Michael Boughen (Producers)
The AFTRS IF Award for Best Director
David Michôd – Animal Kingdom
The Events New South Wales IF Award for Best Actor
Ben Mendelsohn – Animal Kingdom
The IF Award for Best Actress
Caitlin Stasey – Tomorrow When The War Began
The Jameson IF Award for Best Script
Tomorrow When The War Began – Stuart Beattie
The Dinosaur Design IF Award for Best Music
Tomorrow When The War Began – Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil
The SA Film IF Award for Best Sound
Beneath Hill 60 – Robert Sullivan, Liam Egan, Mark Cornish, Tony Murtagh
The AVID IF Award for Best Editing
The Waiting City – Veronika Jenet
The Dyson IF Award for Best Production Design
Bright Star – Janet Patterson
The CineAlta by SONY IF Award for Best Cinematography
The Waiting City – Denson Baker
The NSFA Independent Spirit IF Award
Caught Inside – Adam Blaiklock (Director), Paul S Friedmann (Producer)
The EFilm IF Award for Rising Talent
Ariel Kleiman
The Holding Redlich IF Award for Best Short Film
Celestial Avenue – Colin and Cameron Cairnes (Directors), Scott Alexander (Producer)
The Autodesk IF Award for Best Short Animation
The Lost Thing – Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann (Directors), Sophie Byrne (Producer)
The FACB IF Award for Best Short Documentary
From Dope to Dalai Lama – Jason Raftopoulos (Director and Producer)
The SBS IF Award for Best Documentary
Strange Birds in Paradise – Charlie Hill-Smith (Director), Jamie Nicolai and John Cherry (Producers)
The SAE IF Award for Best Music Video
Big Jet Plane – Angus and Julia Stone – Kiku Ohe (Director), Richard Halsted (Producer)
The Resolution IF Award for Box Office Achievement
Mao’s Last Dancer
Producer Jane Scott
Director Bruce Beresford
Writer Jan Sardi
The Kodak Living Legend IF Award
Bryan Brown
The Four Cows & Otto Empire IF Award for Best Film Festival
Mardi Gras Film Festival, My Queer Career
The Media Super Out of the Box IF Award
Ryan Corr
The Docklands Studios Melbourne IF Award for Contribution to TV
Penny Chapman