Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge has swept the 2016 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aactas) awards, winning five major prizes – for best lead actor, best supporting actor, best original screenplay, best direction and best film.
Andrew Garfield and Hugo Weaving both won for their roles in the film, which is based on the true story of second world war pacifist combat medic Desmond Doss.
Hacksaw Ridge had already won four Aactas at the industry luncheon on Monday – best editing, best production design, best cinematography and best sound – taking the film’s total to nine awards.
Speaking in the media room after the awards, Gibson said “It’s a pretty decent accolade and we’re thrilled to receive it … every aspect of that film was done professionally and mounted in a very efficient way. It’s an independent film when all is said and done, and we got a lot of bang for our buck.”
The Daughter, which received nine nominations, won for best lead actress (Odessa Young) and best supporting actress (Miranda Otto).
The awards also cover TV, with the Kettering Incident winning two major gongs: best telefeature or miniseries and best lead actress in a TV drama (Elizabeth Debicki). Best lead actor in TV drama went to Samuel Johnson for his role as Molly Meldrum in Molly; he told press afterwards that Molly gave him one of his iconic hats at the end of the shoot. “He wrote a lot of rude things on it. It’s one of my special keepsakes,” he said.
Foxtel’s Wentworth won best television drama series, and ABC Comedy Showroom’s The Letdown won best comedy. Foxtel and the ABC led the field, picking up three awards apiece.
Eva Orner, director of detention centre exposé Chasing Asylum, which won best documentary feature, delivered a politically-charged speech calling on the Australian federal government to abolish its legislation punishing whistleblowers reporting on detention centres.
Calling for more time than a standard acceptance speech (“give me 60 seconds, this is important”), Orner described the crew as being in violation of the government’s legislation, and thanked her lawyers: “We can all go to jail for the film that we made, but we haven’t.”
Speaking to media later she said she was grateful to be given another chance to talk about the issues raised by the film. “It’s great to be able to speak publicly about it again. I’m guessing we’ll be the bit cut from the televised version.”
The film played in Australian cinemas for four months, and, she said, grossed higher than most of the scripted features nominated at the Aactas. “The only person who wrote something negative about it was Andrew Bolt. He wrote a piece about it last week and he called me a leftist agitprop agitator. I prefer to be called an ‘Academy award-winning film-maker’.”
The film has been picked up by Qantas to screen on its inflight entertainment system. “Kudos to Qantas,” Orner said. “People coming into Australia get to watch it, which I think is amazing … Politicians fly Qantas. Qantas is obviously Australia’s airline. It was such a bold decision to program it.”
It wasn’t the only political moment at this year’s Aactas. About 15 women were ejected from the red carpet after arriving dressed like sausages, in protest at the “sausage party” of the male-dominated Australian film industry. Only two of the 28 films preselected for Aacta awards were directed by women, and of the 334 producers who worked on feature films submitted to the awards between 2006 and 2015, only 37% were women.
The protest was organised by Sophie Mathisen, cofounder of advocacy group Women in Film and Television. Mathison set a 50% gender quota for her own film, the forthcoming A Film Called Drama. She told Guardian Australia that a gender equity policy for the industry was long overdue.
“Aacta purports to be a celebration of Australia screen excellence, and at the moment it’s a celebration of a very, very narrow part of the industry,” she said.
On Tuesday, Crocodile Dundee star and Australian comedy legend Paul Hogan was announced as the recipient of the Longford Lyell award for outstanding contribution to the Australian screen. At the ceremony on Wednesday he was honoured in an extended segment, which included clips from films and video testimonies from celebrities such as Ernie Dingo and Adam Hills.
Hogan quipped, “I’ve got 30 seconds, good luck with that” – and reminisced on the unprecedented success of Crocodile Dundee, describing himself as “probably the world’s biggest one-hit wonder. But you know, it was a mighty hit.”
Hogan brought the self-deprecation into the media room after his speech, where he told press he was “embarrassed and a bit overwhelmed” by the honour. “They tricked me into coming,” he laughed. “I thought it was going to be a roast!”
Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story – a TV series of his life starring Josh Lawson as Hogan – will premiere next year. “It’s very funny to see someone else playing you,” he said. “He’s a good looking kid, so that’s alright. Could have been a real dork they put up there instead.”
Isla Fisher was the recipient of the Trailblazer award from Aacta president Geoffrey Rush for her work advocating for strong comedic roles in Hollywood while building her career as an acclaimed dramatic actor and an author.
Fisher cribbed from Michelle Obama’s speech when she accepted it – a reference to Melania Trump’s convention speech, which appeared to do the same.
“There aren’t many roles for gingers, particularly because Amy Adams stole them all,” she said, thanking her husband Sacha Baron Cohen, who was in attendance. The pair met in Australia during Aacta season, and celebrate their 15th anniversary this week. “I’d also like to thank Donald Trump for showing the world that it’s okay for unqualified orange people to win things.”
Fisher is back in Australia from the United States, where she has been promoting Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals. Speaking to media afterward, she said winning the award was “the pinnacle of my career so far, and a complete honour.”
“I’m such a fan of the Australian film and television industry,” she said. “It’s so important that we tell Australian stories, and that our children see and connect with Australian stories … we need to foster the talent here.”
Mad Max director George Miller presented the Byron Kennedy award, which honours his former producer and business partner who died in a helicopter accident in 1983.
It went to acclaimed multiplatform artist and film-maker Lynnette Walworth, whose work spans mediums including documentary, virtual reality, augmented reality and full dome planetariums. “I work in a form that often people don’t know that much about, so it’s an immensely humbling moment for me,” she said.
Aactas 2016: full list of winners
Best lead actor in a television drama
Winner: Samuel Johnson – Molly
Matt Nable – Barracuda
Richard Roxburgh – Rake
Ashley Zukerman – The Code
Best lead actor in a film
Winner: Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
John Brumpton – Pawno
Damian Hill – Pawno
Ewen Leslie – The Daughter
Best original screenplay in a film
Winner: Hacksaw Ridge – Andrew Knight, Robert Schenkkan
Down Under – Abe Forsythe
Goldstone – Ivan Sen
Pawno – Damian Hill
Best television drama series
Winner: Wentworth
Jack Irish
Rake
The Code
Best Direction
Winner: Hacksaw Ridge – Mel Gibson
Girl Asleep – Rosemary Myers
Goldstone – Ivan Sen
Tanna – Bentley Dean, Martin Butler
Best feature length documentary
Winner: Chasing Asylum – Eva Orner
In The Shadow of the Hill – Dan Jackson
Remembering The Man – Nikolas Bird, Eleanor Sharpe
Snow Monkey – Lizzette Atkins, George Gittoes
Best lead actress in a film
Winner: Odessa Young – The Daughter
Maeve Dermody – Pawno
Maggie Naouri – Joe Cinque’s Consolation
Teresa Palmer – Hacksaw Ridge
Best lead actress in a television drama
Winner: Elizabeth Debicki – The Kettering Incident
Danielle Cormack – Wentworth
Pamela Rabe – Wentworth
Sarah Snook – The Beautiful Lie
Best supporting actress in a film
Winner: Miranda Otto – The Daughter
Kelly Armstrong – Pawno
Rachel Griffiths – Hacksaw Ridge
Anna Torv – The Daughter
Best supporting actor in a film
Winner: Hugo Weaving – Hacksaw Ridge
Mark Coles Smith – Pawno
Damon Herriman – Down Under
Sam Neill – The Daughter
Best screenplay in television
Winner: ABC Comedy Showroom’s The Letdown
The Beautiful Lie
The Kettering Incident
Upper Middle Bogan
Best television comedy series
Winner: Upper Middle Bogan
Black Comedy
The Family Law
Please Like Me
Best light entertainment television series
Winner: Gruen
Gogglebox
Luke Warm Sex
Rockwiz
Best lifestyle television program
Winner: Destination Flavour Scandinavia
Grand Designs Australia
Poh & Co
River Cottage Australia
Best telefeature or mini series
Winner: The Kettering Incident
Barracuda
The Beautiful Lie
Molly
Best reality television series
Winner: Masterchef Australia
First Dates
My Kitchen Rules
The Recruit
Best film
Winner: Hacksaw Ridge
Girl Asleep
The Daughter
Goldstone
