Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n
Even after nabbing 11 AACTA Award nominations for his debut feature, director Danny Philippou still feels like an imposter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don\u2019t feel like a real director,\u201d he says, from the set of his next project, a documentary about death match wrestling.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Danny and Michael Philippou are the twin-brother creative duo behind A24 horror hit Talk to Me.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>james Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n It\u2019s just one of the projects he and his co-director, twin brother Michael, have on the boil after the runaway success of their debut, the horror movie Talk to Me<\/em> (others include a sequel and a Street Fighter<\/em> adaptation).<\/p>\n They\u2019re set on continuing to make movies in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel really comfortable there,\u201d Philippou says.<\/p>\n He recalls weighing up whether to make Talk to Me<\/em> with a Hollywood studio. \u201cThey were giving a bunch of notes that were veering the creative in a more typical direction, and they were starting to hint that we shouldn\u2019t shoot in Australia because they were saying that Australian films don\u2019t make money,\u201d he says. \u201cIt just never felt right.\u201d<\/p>\n After its premiere at Sundance in January, Talk to Me<\/em> was picked up by American distributor A24, and soon became its second highest-grossing film ever, after Oscars smash Everything Everywhere All at Once<\/em>, raking in a global box office of approximately $139 million.<\/p>\n Sophie Wilde is up for an AACTA for her role in teen horror Talk to Me.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Umbrella Entertainment<\/cite><\/p>\n It\u2019s possible the Philippou brothers will continue their dream run with a couple of AACTAs at February\u2019s ceremony, but it won\u2019t be their first: having risen to fame as RackaRacka on YouTube in the mid-2010s, they picked up their first AACTA in 2017, for best online video or series.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be,\u201d Philippou recalls. \u201cI remember just imagining what it would be like to win for our actual film.\u201d<\/p>\n While Talk to Me<\/em> is not the leading nominee in the film categories \u2013 that\u2019s Warwick Thornton\u2019s third feature film The New Boy,<\/em> with 12 \u2013 it is part of a wave of debut features leading the AACTA nominations, alongside Noora Niasari\u2019s immigrant drama Shayda<\/em> and Jub Clerc\u2019s coming-of-age drama Sweet As<\/em>.<\/p>\n All four movies, alongside Kitty Green\u2019s outback thriller The Royal Hotel <\/em>and Goran Stolevski\u2019s wistful queer romance Of an Age<\/em>, are up for both best film and best direction. It\u2019s stiff competition: Green has previously won two AACTAs, for her documentaries Ukraine Is Not a Brothel<\/em> and Casting JonBenet<\/em>; while Thornton\u2019s last feature, Sweet Country<\/em>, won six in 2018, including best film.<\/p>\n Thornton\u2019s latest, The New Boy<\/em>, premiered at Cannes in May and stars 11-year-old newcomer Aswan Reid as an orphan sent to a remote monastery for Aboriginal boys, run by Cate Blanchett\u2019s Sister Eileen. Among the movie\u2019s 12 nominations, including for Blanchett, Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair, is a nod for Reid as best lead actor \u2013 up against industry mainstay Simon Baker (for Ivan Sen\u2019s Limbo<\/em>).<\/p>\n Aswas Reid behind the scenes of The New Boy.<\/span><\/p>\n Thornton is especially proud of the acknowledgement for Reid. \u201cCome on, Aswan. Win that bastard!\u201d Thornton cheers. \u201cThat kind of nomination, for a young boy like him, especially coming from a very small community in the middle of nowhere, I think\u2019s gonna help him with his career and empower him.\u201d<\/p>\n He recalls how winning the Camera d\u2019Or at Cannes for Samson and Delilah<\/em>, his debut film, in 2009 kick-started his own career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt completely changed my life. No one knew who I was and no one really cared. But after winning that award, people watched that movie. It did open a lot of doors for me, and it mentally empowered me to think that I\u2019m doing something that I might be good at.\u201d<\/p>\n Warwick Thornton\u2019s The New Boy leads the AACTA movie nominations, with 12.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n The second season of ABC\u2019s The Newsreader<\/em> leads the TV nominations, with a total of 15, including best drama series, best lead actor for Sam Reid and best lead actress for Anna Torv. In 2021, its first season swept the AACTAs, winning five from 16 nominations, including best television drama series.<\/p>\n Series creator and writer Michael Lucas and executive producer Joanna Werner are not anticipating replicating their success of 2021. Instead, they\u2019re effusive about the other contenders for best drama, including Bay of Fires<\/em>, Bump<\/em> and Love Me<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s an amazing time for Australian television at the moment. It\u2019s fabulous just to be a part of that,\u201d says Werner.<\/p>\n The Newsreader executive producer Joanna Werner and series creator and writer Michael Lucas.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Simon Schluter<\/cite><\/p>\n Lucas gives some of the credit for the current high watermark in Australian television to the increase in the commissioning of local dramas by streaming platforms.<\/p>\n \u201cYou only need to go back six or seven years and that just didn\u2019t exist,\u201d he says. \u201cOn a streamer, you have the capacity to do more niche content, which just expands the kinds of stories that are being been told and also who gets to tell those stories.\u201d<\/p>\n But that doesn\u2019t diminish the role of the ABC in the TV landscape \u2013 the network leads the nominations for both best drama series and best narrative comedy series.<\/p>\n \u201cWhilst we\u2019ve got other places to pitch shows now, the ABC really supports and has a passion for drama,\u201d says Werner.<\/p>\n Lucas adds: \u201cEvery Australian can access the ABC and it\u2019s completely free to them. And it\u2019s just really wonderful to have your program on a platform like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The most-nominated comedies are Colin from Accounts<\/em> and Deadloch<\/em>, with 10 nods each, including for best narrative comedy series. The former has earned rave reviews across the globe, and took out Logies for most outstanding comedy program and most outstanding actor and actress for its creators Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer.<\/p>\n A real-life couple, Brammall and Dyer are both vying for best acting in a comedy, and are joined by their co-star Helen Thomson. They\u2019re up against the stars of Fisk<\/em>, Kitty Flanagan and Julia Zemiro; and Deadloch<\/em>, Kate Box and Nina Oyama, as well as Celeste Barber from the recently cancelled Netflix series Wellmania<\/em>.<\/p>\n The rest of the TV acting categories are stacked with well-known names, including Hugo Weaving and Heather Mitchell for Love Me<\/em>, Richard Roxburgh for Bali 2002<\/em>, Teresa Palmer for The Clearing,<\/em> Brooke Satchwell and Travis Fimmel for Black Snow<\/em>, and American actor Sigourney Weaver for The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.<\/em><\/p>\n The AACTA industry awards are on February 8, with the main ceremony on February 10.<\/p>\n THE AACTA NOMINEES <\/strong><\/p>\n FILM<\/strong><\/p>\n Best Film Best Direction<\/strong> Julia Garner has earned an AACTA nod for her role in The Royal Hotel.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Indie Film Best Lead Actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi as Shayda and Selina Zahednia as Mona in Noora Niasari\u2019s debut feature Shayda.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Jane Zhang<\/cite><\/p>\n Best Lead Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Supporting Actor Zoe Terakes is up for the award for best supporting actor for their role in Talk to Me.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Maslow<\/cite><\/p>\n Best Screenplay TELEVISION<\/strong><\/p>\n Best Drama Series<\/strong> Best Narrative Comedy Series Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall star as a couple brought together by an injured dog in Colin from Accounts.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Lisa Tomasetti<\/cite><\/p>\n Best Miniseries Best Lead Actor in a Drama Best Lead Actress in a Drama Best Acting in a Comedy Nina Oyama and Kate Box are each vying for best acting in a comedy for their roles in Deadloch.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Patrick Bradley\/Prime Video<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Of an Age<\/em>, Shayda<\/em>, Sweet As<\/em>, T<\/em>alk to Me<\/em>, The New Boy<\/em>, The Royal Hotel<\/em><\/p>\n
Goran Stolevski (Of an Age<\/em>), Noora Niasari (Shayda<\/em>), Jub Clerc (Sweet As<\/em>), Danny and Michael Philippou (T<\/em>alk to Me<\/em>), Warwick Thornton (The New Boy<\/em>), Kitty Green (The Royal Hotel<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/strong>A Savage Christmas<\/em>, Limbo<\/em>, Monolith<\/em>, Streets of Colour<\/em>, The Rooster<\/em>, The Survival of Kindness<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/strong>Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Shayda<\/em>), Shantae Barnes-Cowan (Sweet As<\/em>), Cate Blanchett (The New Boy<\/em>), Julia Garner (The Royal Hotel<\/em>), Sarah Snook (Run Rabbit Run<\/em>), Sophie Wilde (T<\/em>alk to Me<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Elias Anton (Of an Age<\/em>), Simon Baker (Limbo<\/em>), Thom Green (Of an Age<\/em>), Phoenix Raei (The Rooster<\/em>), Aswan Reid (The New Boy<\/em>), Osamah Sami (Shayda<\/em>)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Alex Jensen (T<\/em>alk to Me<\/em>), Deborah Mailman (The New Boy<\/em>), Tasma Walton (Sweet As<\/em>), Mia Wasikowska (Blueback<\/em>), Ursula Yovich (The Royal Hotel<\/em>), Selina Zahednia (Shayda<\/em>)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Mojean Aria (Shayda<\/em>), Eric Bana (Blueback<\/em>), Wayne Blair (The New Boy<\/em>), Rob Collins (Limbo<\/em>), Zoe Terakes (T<\/em>alk to Me<\/em>), Hugo Weaving (The Rooster<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Of an Age<\/em>, Shayda<\/em>, Talk to Me<\/em>, The New Boy<\/em>, The Royal Hotel<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Bay of Fires <\/i>(ABC), Black Snow<\/em> (Stan), Bump<\/em> (Stan), Erotic Stories<\/em> (SBS), Love Me<\/em> (Binge), The Newsreader<\/em> (ABC)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Colin from Accounts<\/em> (Binge, Foxtel), Deadloch<\/em> (Amazon Prime Video), Fisk<\/em> (ABC), Gold Diggers<\/em> (ABC), Upright<\/em> (Foxtel), Utopia<\/em> (ABC)\\<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Bad Behaviour<\/em> (Stan), In Our Blood<\/em> (ABC), Safe Home<\/em> (SBS), The Clearing<\/em> (Disney+), The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart<\/em> (Amazon Prime Video), While the Men Are Away<\/em> (SBS)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Tim Draxl (In Our Blood<\/em>), Travis Fimmel (Black Snow<\/em>), Joel Lago (Erotic Stories<\/em>), Sam Reid (The Newsreader<\/em>), Richard Roxburgh (Bali 2002<\/em>), Hugo Weaving (Love Me<\/em>)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Kate Box (Erotic Stories<\/em>), Aisha Dee (Safe Home) Bojana Novakovic (Love Me<\/em>), Teresa Palmer (The Clearing<\/em>), Anna Torv (The Newsreader<\/em>), Sigourney Weaver (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart<\/em>)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Celeste Barber (Wellmania<\/em>), Kate Box (Deadloch<\/em>), Patrick Brammall (Colin from Accounts<\/em>), Harriet Dyer (Colin from Accounts<\/em>), Kitty Flanagan (Fisk<\/em>), Nina Oyama (Deadloch<\/em>), Helen Thomson (Colin from Accounts<\/em>), Julia Zemiro (Fisk<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n