Notes
-
Until 1975 this category also encompassed non-features and documentaries.
Latest Winners / Recipients
-
Year: 2010
winner form y
Animal Kingdom
( dir. David Michôd
)
Australia
:
Porchlight Films
,
2010
Z1686698
2010
single work
film/TV
crime
(taught in 2 units)
Inspired in part by Melbourne's 1988 Walsh Street murders, Animal Kingdom is a story about the battle between Melbourne's underworld and the police. The story tracks seventeen-year-old Joshua 'J' Cody, a troubled teenager perilously caught between his own criminal family and Detective Leckie, a compromised cop who thinks that he can save 'J'. 'J' comes to realise that in order to survive, he must determine how the game is played. This involves not only writing his own rule book but also choosing his place in the cunning and brutal animal kingdom in which his family lives.
-
Year: 2009
winner form y
Samson and Delilah
( dir. Warwick Thornton
)
Scarlett Pictures
CAAMA Productions
,
2009
Z1561915
2009
single work
film/TV
(taught in 9 units)
'Samson and Delilah tells the story of two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote community. They live in a sparse environment but one that absorbs all manner of cultural influences, where dot painting and country music exist side by side. Samson gets through his days by sniffing, while Delilah is the caregiver for her nana before taking a moment for herself to listen to Latino music. Their journey ranges across many of the most urgent issues concerning Indigenous people in Australia, homelessness, poverty, domestic violence and substance abuse, but it does so with tenderness, dignity, and even humour.'
Source: Adelaide Film Festival website, www.adelaidefilmfestival.org/ Sighted: 23/02/2009
-
Year: 2008
winner form y
The Black Balloon
( dir. Elissa Down
)
Australia
:
Black Balloon Productions
,
2008
Z1481112
2008
single work
film/TV
'When Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) and his family move to a new home and he has to start at a new school, all he wants is to fit in. When his pregnant mother (Toni Collette) has to take things easy, his father Simon (Erik Thomson) puts him in charge of his autistic older brother Charlie (Luke Ford). Thomas, with the help of his new girlfriend Jackie (Gemma Ward), faces his biggest challenge yet. Charlie’s unusual antics take Thomas on an emotional journey that causes his pent-up frustrations about his brother to pour out - in a story that is funny, confronting, and ultimately heart-warming. The Black Balloon is a story about fitting in, discovering love and accepting your family.'
Source: Screen Australia.
-
Year: 2007
winner form y
Romulus, My Father
( dir. Richard Roxburgh
)
Australia
:
Arenafilm
,
2007
Z1308732
2007
single work
film/TV
(taught in 1 units)
Film adaptation of Raymond Gaita's biography.
-
Year: 2005
winner form y
Look Both Ways
( dir. Sarah Watt
)
2004
Australia
:
Hibiscus Films
,
2005
Z1218102
2004
single work
film/TV
(taught in 1 units)
Over a fiercely hot weekend, four people grapple with life changing news, wondering whether their fate is deserved or earned, and how happiness might be possible. Meryl is a lonely artist who literally envisions disaster around every corner. Nick is a photojournalist whose work keeps him emotionally distanced from the tragedies he documents. When the two meet in the aftermath of a real train accident, their lives, and the lives of a handful of other witnesses and victims, are revealed and transformed.
