Shut Up Little Man, The Moment and Cropped among first nominees for AACTAs
The AFI (Australian Film Institute) and AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) have announced the first nominees for the inaugural AACTA Awards to be held in January 2012.
The nominations for best Feature Length Documentary, Best Animated Short Film, and Best Short Film accompany the announcement of 23 feature films at the AACTA launch.
Said Damian Trewhella, AFI AACTA CEO, “From the concert hall to the Outback, and spanning decades, countries and genres, nominees announced today demonstrate the breadth and depth of Australian filmmaking talent. We look forward to recognising Australia’s best and brightest screen practitioners at the inaugural Samsung AACTA Awards in January, building on the proud, 53-year-old tradition of celebrating screen excellence in Australia established by the AFI.”
The nominees for the AACTA for best Feature Length Documentary are:
- Life In Movement – about dancer Tanja Liedtke, produced by Sophie Hyde, Bryan Mason
- Mrs Carey’s Concert – follows Sydney teacher Karen Carey preparing her students for a classical music concert at the Sydney Opera House, produced and directed by Bob Connolly, Helen Panckhurst, Sophie Raymond
- Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure – based on the recordings of two angry drunks recorded by their neighbours and spread through the American ’80s punk community, produced by Sophie Hyde, Directed by Matthew Bate
- The Tall Man – Directed by Tony Krawitz, it’s the story of race politics between the indigenous communities and law, based upon death-in-custody of Cameron Doomadgee, Produced by Darren Dale
“It’s fantastic to see Australian feature documentaries finding enthusiastic audiences, not just at film festivals but also in theatrical release,” said Trewhella. “For example, Bob Connolly, Helen Panckhurst and Sophie Raymond’s record-breaking Mrs Carey’s Concert was in cinemas for more than 14 weeks and took more than $1 million at the local box office.”
Following on from the Oscar win of last year’s AFI winner, Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing, nominees for the Best Short Animation are:
- Forget Me Not – a silhouette-style fairytale by Emily Dean
- The Missing Key – set in 1920s Venice by Garth Nix, Anna McFarlane, Jonathan Nix
- The Moment – captures photo-realism by Justin Wight, Kristian Moliere, Troy Bellchambers, Shane McNeil
- Nullarbor – A dark comedy set on the vast WA/SA landscape. Alister Lockhart, Patrick Sarell, Katrina Mathers, Merrin Jensen, Daryl Munton
Nominees for the AACTA Award for Best Short Fiction Film are:
- Adam’s Tallit – A Jewish grandmother finds happiness as she babysits her grandson. Justin Olstein, Marie Maroun
- Cropped – A dark tale set in the drought-stricken outback, by Bettina Hamilton, Dave Wade
- The Palace – A film set in 1974 Cyprus during wartime, by Kate Croser, Anthony Maras, Andros Achilleos
- The Telegram Man – The story of a Wartime mailman delivering news of dead soldiers to their parents James F. Khehtie, Victoria Wharfe McIntyre
For information about voting for feature films under the two-step voting system, visit the AACTA website.
Goes to show you what happens if variety in the film world were to ever see the light of day. It took Australia to put out something as eerie, disturbing, fascinating, and hilarious as “Shut Up Little Man” . American filmmakers would have green-lit the swearing and drinking, but Raymond and Peter were not 24-year old ‘slackers’ looking for sex with 24-year old girls, so they were not interesting enough to study on film. So kudos to our neighbors down under for rising to the top.
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