THE NIGHTINGALE SOARS AT AACTA 2019

Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale has dominated the 2019 AACTA Awards in a ceremony held in Sydney’s Star Casino last night. The brutal account of an unlikely friendship stemming from vengeance in colonial Tasmania took home five AACTA trophies, when tallied with its win at the Luncheon Ceremony held Tuesday.

Kent’s follow-up to her global hit The Babadook has earned her a unique place in AFI | AACTA history, with her wins for Best Direction, Best Screenplay and Best Film (as producer) being a first for a woman across all three categories, for the same film, in a single year. (Pictured, top; from left, Aisling Franciosi and Jennifer Kent. Photo credit:Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)

The film’s lead, Aisling Franciosi took out the Best Actress prize with her first nomination against such heavyweight competition as Mia Wasikowska (Judy and Punch), Miranda Tapsell (Top End Wedding) and Teresa Palmer (Ride Like a Girl). The Nightingale also earned first-time nominee Magnolia Maymuru (pictured, right) a gong in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Denying the film an AACTA clean sweep last night were Damon Herriman winning Best Actor for Mirrah Foulkes’ Judy and Punch and Joel Edgerton winning Best Supporting Actor for David Michod’s The King. Tuesday’s luncheon ceremony, in which key technical categories were honoured, evened out the playing field a bit further with nods to DOP Adam Arkapaw (Best Cinematography, The King); Peter McNulty and Anthony Maras (Best Editing, Hotel Mumbai); Liam Egan (Best Sound, Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan); Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton  (Best Production Design, The King); and, Jane Petrie (Best Costume Design, The King). Composer François Tétaz won Best Original Score for Judy & Punch.

Australia’s entrant in the Best Foreign Language Oscar race, Rodd Rathjen’s Bouyancy (largely spoken in Thai/Khmer), won the Best Independent Film category. Daniel Gordon’s’ The Australian Dream, one of two accounts of footballer Adam Goodes’ fight against systemic racism, took out Best Documentary. Fresh off a Best Film win at the recent Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite took Best Asian Film honours.

BEST FILM PRESENTED BY FOXTEL
WINNER: The Nightingale
Hotel Mumbai; Judy & Punch; The King; Ride Like a Girl; Top End Wedding

BEST INDIE FILM PRESENTED BY EVENT CINEMAS
WINNER: Buoyancy (pictured, right)
Acute Misfortune; Book Week; Emu Runner; Sequin in a Blue Room

BEST DIRECTION
WINNER: Jennifer Kent The Nightingale
Anthony Maras Hotel Mumbai; Mirrah Foulkes Judy & Punch; David Michod The King

BEST LEAD ACTOR
WINNER: Damon Herriman Judy & Punch
Timothee Chalamet The King; Baykali Ganambarr The Nightingale; Dev Patel Hotel Mumbai; Hugo Weaving Hearts and Bones

BEST LEAD ACTRESS
WINNER: Aisling Franciosi The Nightingale
Nazanin Boniadi Hotel Mumbai; Teresa Palmer Ride Like a Girl; Miranda Tapsell Top End Wedding; Mia Wasikowska Judy & Punch

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER: Joel Edgerton The King (pictured, right)
Damon Herriman The Nightingale; Andrew Luri Hearts And Bones; Ben Mendelsohn The King; Michael Sheasby The Nightingale

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER: Magnolia Maymuru The Nightingale
Tilda Cobham-Hervey Hotel Mumbai; Hilary Swank I Am Mother; Bolude Watson Hearts And Bones; Ursula Yovich Top End Wedding

BEST DOCUMENTARY
WINNER: The Australian Dream
The Eulogy; The Final Quarter; In My Blood It Runs; Mystify: Michael Hutchence

BEST SCREENPLAY
WINNER: The Nightingale Jennifer Kent 
Hotel Mumbai John Collee, Anthony Maras; Judy & Punch Mirrah Foulkes; The King David Michôd, Joel Edgerton

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: The King Adam Arkapaw
Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan Ben Nott; Hotel Mumbai Nick Remy Matthews; The Nightingale Radek Ladczuk

BEST EDITING 
WINNER: Hotel Mumbai Peter Mcnulty, Anthony Maras
Judy & Punch Dany Cooper; The King Peter Sciberras; The Nightingale Simon Njoo

BEST SOUND
WINNER: Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan Liam Egan
Hotel Mumbai Sam Petty, Pete Smith, Nakul Kamte, James Currie, Peter Ristic; The King Robert Mackenzie, Sam Petty, Gareth John, Leah Katz, Mario Vaccaro, Tara Webb; The Nightingale Robert Mackenzie, Dean Ryan, Leah Katz, Pete Smith

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
WINNER: Judy & Punch François Tétaz
Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan Caitlin Yeo; Hotel Mumbai Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka); Ride Like A Girl David Hirschfelder

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
WINNER: The King Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
Hotel Mumbai Steven Jones-Evans; Judy & Punch Jo Ford; The Nightingale Alex Holmes

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
WINNER: The King Jane Petrie
Hotel Mumbai Anna Borghesi; Judy & Punch Edie Kurzer; The Nightingale Margot Wilson

BEST ASIAN FILM
WINNER: Parasite (pictured, right)
Andhadhun; Gully Boy; Hello, Love, Goodbye; Ne Zha; Shadow; Super Deluxe; The Wandering Earth; We Are Little Zombies