1981 Australian Film Institute Awards

The 23rd Australian Film Institute Awards[1] (generally known as the AFI Awards) were held at the Regent Theatre, in Sydney, New South Wales on 16 September 1981.[2] Presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the awards celebrated the best in Australian feature film, documentary and short film productions of 1981. The ceremony was televised in Australia on ABC for the third year running,[3] with John Bluthal presiding over the event.[4]

1981 Australian Film Institute Awards
DateWednesday, 16 September 1981
SiteRegent Theatre
Sydney, New South Wales
Hosted byJohn Bluthal
Highlights
Best FilmGallipoli
Television coverage
NetworkABC

Gallipoli won nine of the twelve awards it was nominated for, including Best Film. Other films with multiple nominations were Hoodwink with eight, Winter of Our Dreams, The Club and Fatty Finn with seven, The Survivor and Roadgames with four, Wrong Side of the Road with three, and Grendel Grendel Grendel with two. Phillip Adams was the recipient of the Raymond Longford Award

Winners and nominees

edit

Gallipoli (1981) received the most feature-film nominations with twelve, winning in nine categories including Best Film, Best Achievement in Directing for Peter Weir, Best Screenplay for David Williamson, Best Achievement in Cinematography for Russell Boyd, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Mel Gibson and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Bill Hunter.[5] Other films with multiple nominations were Hoodwink with eight, Winter of Our Dreams, The Club and Fatty Finn with seven, The Survivor and Roadgames with four, Wrong Side of the Road with three, and Grendel Grendel Grendel with two.

Individuals with multiple nominations were sound designer Peter Fenton with three for Best Sound, winning for his work on Gallipoli; sound designer Andrew Steuart received two nominations in the Best Sound category without a win; Judy Davis was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her roles in Winter of Our Dreams and Hoodwink, respectively, picking up both prizes; Wendy Weir gained two nominations for Best Achievement in Art Direction and Best Achievement in Costume Design, winning in the former category; David Williamson, who was given the Best Screenplay award, was also further nominated for his adapted screenplay of The Club in the same category.

Feature film

edit
Best Film Best Achievement in Directing
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Achievement in Cinematography Best Achievement in Film Editing
Best Original Music Score Best Sound
  • GallipoliDon Connolly, Greg Bell and Peter Fenton
    • Hoodwink – Gary Wilkins, Andrew Steuart and Peter Fenton
    • The Survivor – Peter Fenton, Jack Friedman, Bruce Lamshed and Tim Lloyd
    • Winter of Our Dreams – Lloyd Carrick, Andrew Steuart, Phil Judd and Phil Hayward
Best Achievement in Art Direction Best Achievement in Costume Design
Best Screenplay

Non-feature film

edit
Best Documentary Film Best Animated Film
Best Short Fiction Film Best Experimental Film
Best Cinematography in a Documentary
  • DesireLouis Irving
    • Ant – David Collyer and Geoff Hall
    • The Silent Conversation – Joseph Pickering

Special awards

edit

Wrong Side of the Road received the Jury Prize. The Raymond Longford Award given to a person for their life's work in the Australian film and television industry, was presented to Australian journalist and producer Phillip Adams.

References

edit
  1. ^ Flynn, Greg (16 September 1981). "Highlights of the week". Australian Women's Weekly. ACP Magazines (Nine Entertainment Co.). p. 165. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  2. ^ "3rd AACTA Awards - Tickets On Sale Now". AACTA. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  3. ^ Flynn, Greg (14 October 1981). "Stars come out in award winning style". Australian Women's Weekly. ACP Magazines (Nine Entertainment Co.). pp. 186–187. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  4. ^ "TV guide - Evening September 16 Wednesday". Australian Women's Weekly. ACP Magazines (Nine Entertainment Co.). 16 September 1981. p. 171. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  5. ^ "1981 Winners & Nominees". AACTA. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
edit