Venice Film Festival
Subcategory of Awards International Awards
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2018

winner (Special Jury Prize) form y separately published work icon The Nightingale Jennifer Kent , ( dir. Jennifer Kent ) Australia : Causeway Films , 2018 9595628 2018 single work film/TV historical fiction

'Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman (Aisling Franciosi), chases a British officer (Sam Claflin) through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.'

Source: Screen Australia.

Year: 2017

winner (Special Jury Prize) form y separately published work icon Sweet Country Steven McGregor , David Tranter , ( dir. Warwick Thornton ) Australia : Retroflex Lateral Pty Limited , 2017 10406376 2017 single work film/TV crime thriller western

'Sweet Country is set in 1929 in the outback of the Northern Territory. It is the story of a young boy called Philomac, who witnesses Sam, an Aboriginal stockman, kill station owner Harry Marsh in self defence. Sam and his pregnant wife Lizzie go on the run and a posse pursues them across the outback. The posse cannot catch Sam, as he is a clever man and an expert bushman. Eventually for the health of his pregnant wife, Sam gives himself up. A trial is held in town and when the truth comes out in the courtroom about Sam's actions, he is acquitted. Justice has been served. Philomac and Sam set off on their journey home, but soon after leaving town, a shot rings out and Justice is crushed…' (Publication summary)

Year: 2015

winner (International Critics' Week Award) form y separately published work icon Tanna Martin Butler , John Collee , Bentley Dean , ( dir. Bentley Dean ) Australia : Contact Films , 2015 9021454 2015 single work film/TV

'In one of the last traditional tribes in the South Pacific, a young girl, Wawa, falls in love with her chief’s grandson, Dain. When an inter-tribal war escalates, Wawa is unknowingly betrothed as part of a peace deal. The young lovers run away, but are pursued by enemy warriors intent on killing them. They must choose between their hearts and the future of the tribe, while the villagers must wrestle with preserving their traditional culture and adapting it to the increasing outside demands for individual freedom. Based on a true story and performed by the people of Yakel.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2013

winner (Jury Prize) form y separately published work icon Ruin Michael Cody , Amiel Courtin-Wilson , ( dir. Amiel Courtin-Wilson et. al. )agent Australia : Flood Projects , 2013 6179530 2013 single work film/TV

'Showing in the Orizzonti sidebar at this year's Venice Film Festival, Ruin (2013) is by turns a gritty and dazzling lovers-on-the-run tale set in modern day Cambodia. Directed by Michael Cody and Amiel Courtin-Wilson, the film tells the story of two of society's worst-off down-and-outs. Sang Malen plays Sovanna, a young prostitute who is beaten and mistreated by her pimp when she feigns illness to escape work. She manages to escape, but Phnom Penh - and Cambodia, for that matter - is no place for a young girl on her own. Fortunately she meets Phirun (Rous Mony), an aggressive young local factory worker.

'A vague spark of affection is ignited and Phirun promises to shelter the girl, but following a murder they are forced to flee the city and look to survive on the road.'

Source: Cine Vue (http://www.cine-vue.com/2013/09/venice-2013-ruin-review.html). (Sighted: 9/9/2013)

Year: 2002

winner (SIGNIS Award) form y separately published work icon The Tracker Rolf De Heer , ( dir. Rolf De Heer ) Australia : Vertigo Productions , 2002 Z1036534 2002 single work film/TV (taught in 4 units)

'A set of mountain ranges in the outback, 1922 ... horseback country, and the Fanatic leads the two other white men, the Follower and the Philosopher, and the Tracker, in the pursuit of the Fugitive. Through massacre and murder the hunt continues, until the clear-cut notions of truth and justice are subverted and the questions become not will the Fugitive be caught, but what is black and what is white and who is leading whom?'

Source: Screen Australia.

Works About this Award

Australian Director Peter Weir to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2024 Venice Film Festival 2024 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , May 2024;

'Australian director and screenwriter Peter Weir, best known for The Truman Show and Picnic at Hanging Rock, will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. '

The Nightingale : Bloody Tasmanian Revenge Thriller Wins at Venice Film Festival James Dunlevie , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , September 2018;

'Hopes are high for a new film set in convict-era Tasmania, which has taken out two awards at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.'

X