The surprise international box office hit Talk To Me has collected eight gongs at the annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) awards, including best film, best director for Danny and Michael Philippou and best lead actress for Sophie Wilde.
The A24 supernatural horror film, which earned in excess of A$138m worldwide in 2023, also collected best screenplay, best editing, best sound and best original score, in a ceremony on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The night was hosted by Rebel Wilson, with guest appearances by Ron Howard, Simon Baker and Cate Blanchett, who was producer for the other production that dominated the film category, The New Boy – but missed out in the best lead actress category.
The New Boy won the award for best cinematography by its director, Warwick Thornton, best production design and best leading actor for tween First Nations newcomer Aswan Reid. Deborah Mailman was recognised for her role as best supporting actress in the film.
The awards night also saw recognition for Margot Robbie, who won Aacta’s trailblazer award for her work in front of the camera and behind it, through her production company LuckyChap.
The announcement, made by Blanchett sporting an oversized pink polka-dot headdress representing “middle-age Barbie”, included pre-filmed congratulatory messages from Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Greta Gerwig and America Ferrera.
Her film Barbie was the highest grossing film of 2023, earning more than A$2bn worldwide and taking home the Golden Globe award for cinematic and box office achievement last month.
Robbie’s role as the film’s star controversially failed to win her a best actress nomination at the forthcoming Academy Awards, but on Saturday she collected the Australian equivalent in the international category. Barbie also won best film, while the only nods for Barbie’s main box office competitor, Oppenheimer, were for Christopher Nolan’s direction and Cillian Murphy’s performance.
In television, the drama series The Newsreader and the comedy series Deadloch dominated.
The 1980s newsroom series won five awards, including best television drama series, best direction (for an episode directed by Emma Freeman), best lead actress for Anna Torv and best supporting actor for Hunter Page-Lochard.
Deadloch also won five awards, including best acting in a comedy for Kate Box, best screenplay, best editing and best original score.
Box used her acceptance speech to show her support for the Palestinian people in the Gaza conflict, calling on the audience and viewers to recognise “settler violence on the stolen lands” of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and globally.
“We can choose to radically reimagine ourselves, that community and our world so let us please call action on that ceasefire now,” she said. “Free Palestine.”
The were some tearful moments in the audience when Cal Wilson was awarded best comedy performance for The Great Australian Bake Off. Wilson died at the age of 53 in October 2023. Her husband, Chris Woods, and son Digby accepted the award on Wilson’s behalf.
The ABC’s long-running animated series Bluey won for the fifth consecutive year best children’s program, and best documentary was won by Poppy Stockwell’s John Farnham: Finding the Voice.
Colin From Accounts picked up best narrative comedy series. Rachel Perkins’ SBS series The Australian Wars collected three awards in the nonfiction television category.
• This story was amended on 12 February 2024. An earlier version said that Deadloch had won the best narrative comedy series award. The award was in fact won by Colin From Accounts.
