Victoria’s screen industry continues to thrive, with a host of local productions supported by Film Victoria receiving nominations for the 2007 AFI Awards. Feature productions Noise, Romulus, My Father, The Home Song Stories and Rogue received a staggering 33 nominations between them, while short film Dugong and documentary Words from the City, and television productions The King, Wilfred and Bastard Boys shared a further 19 nominations. Noise, Romulus, My Father and The Home Song Stories have all been nominated for the L’Oréal Paris AFI Award for Best Film.
Sandra Sdraulig, Film Victoria CEO, congratulated all the nominees. ‘The Victorian screen industry is going from strength to strength. We’re very proud and excited to see our practitioners being recognised as leaders in their field. With more than 50 combined nominations for Victorian productions this year, we’d like to congratulate all the nominees for their hard work, and for showcasing Victoria as a place of extraordinary film production skills and talent.
‘I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Melbourne based actor and writer Nick Barkla, who is the recipient of the 2007 Australian Film Institute Fellowship. Nick has appeared in a number of Victorian productions including Em4Jay and Tom White. We wish Nick a long and rewarding career.’
Based on the much-loved book by Raimond Gaita, the critically acclaimed feature Romulus, My Father received 11 nominations including Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Original Music Score, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. The film’s young star Kodi Smit McPhee has also been nominated for the L’Oréal Paris AFI Young Actor Award.
The Home Song Stories, which centres on the life of a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer in Australia, received an astounding 13 nominations including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Original Music Score, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lead Actress, and also for the Young Actor Award.
Matt Saville’s Noise is up for the Best Film award, and has also been nominated for Best Direction, Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design. Noise is a startling tale about murder and a young policeman suffering from tinnitus.
Soon to be released Aussie horror flick Rogue, directed by Wolf Creek’s Greg McLean has been nominated for the Visual Effects Award. Rogue stars a giant man-eating crocodile that stalks a party of tourists on an idyllic wildlife cruise.
Australian Hip-Hop documentary Words from the City, by filmmaker Philipa Campey, has been nominated for a swag of awards including Best Documentary, Best Direction in a Documentary, Best Cinematography in a Documentary, Best Editing in a Documentary and Best Sound in a Documentary.
In the short film category, Dugong, written and directed by Erin White, has been nominated for Best Short Fiction Film and Best Screenplay in a Short Film. Dugong follows a loner and his dog who returns to his brother’s wedding to repair the past.
Victorian television productions also received a number of AFI nominations, including Wilfred for Best Direction in Television and Best Performance in a Television Comedy, and The King for Best Telefeature or Mini Series, Best Direction in Television and Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama.
The TV mini-series Bastard Boys, portraying the 1998 battle for the waterfront between the Australian Government and Patrick Stevedores has received five nominations including Best Telefeature or Mini Series, Best Direction in Television, Best Screenplay in Television, Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama and Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama.
[release from Solid Ink]