2008 Australian Film Institute Awards

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The 50th Annual Australian Film Institute Awards were presented at a ceremony in Melbourne's Princess Theatre on 5 and 6 December 2008. During the ceremony, the Australian Film Institute presented Australian Film Institute Awards (commonly referred to as AFI Awards) in 40 categories including feature films, television, animation and documentaries. It was hosted by Stephen Curry.

The nominees for Best Documentary, Best Short Fiction Film and Best Short Animation were announced on 7 August, whilst the rest were announced at the Nominations Announcement at the Sydney Theatre Company in Walsh Bay on 29 October.[1][2] The Black Balloon had the most nominations, with a total of 11 including Best Film.[3][4][5][6]

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface; with nominees thereafter.[7][8]

Feature Film

  • The Black Balloon – Tristram Miall
    • The Jammed – Dee McLachlan, Andrea Buck
    • The Square – Louise Smith
    • Unfinished Sky – Cathy Overett, Anton Smit
Best Original Screenplay Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Lead Actor Best Lead Actress
Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress
  • Luke Ford as Charlie Mollison – The Black Balloon
    • Joel Edgerton as Billy – The Square
    • Anthony Hayes as Greg "Smithy" Smith – The Square
    • Erik Thomson as Simon Mollison – The Black Balloon
Best Cinematography Best Editing
Best Original Music Score Best Sound
Best Production Design Best Costume Design

Television

  • East West 101 – Steve Knapman & Kris Wyld (SBS)
    • Bed of Roses – Stephen Luby & Mark Ruse (ABC)
    • Rain Shadow – Gus Howard (ABC)
    • Valentine's Day – Tony Wright (ABC)
  • Blue Water High (Series 3) – Noel Price, Dennis Kiely (ABC)
    • Animalia – Ewan Burnett, Murray Pope (Network Ten)
    • Double Trouble – Rachel Clements, Terry Jennings (Nine Network)
    • H2O: Just Add Water (Series 2) – Jonathan M. Shiff, Joanna Werner (Network Ten)
Best Performance in a Television Comedy
  • Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch – The Hollowmen: Episode 1 "Fat Chance" (ABC)
    • Philip Dalkin – Dogstar: Episode 26 "Tail's End" (Nine Network)
    • Kris Wyld – East West 101: Episode 2 "Death At The Station" (SBS)
    • Peter Gawler – Underbelly: Episode 2 "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (Nine Network)

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Television Screen Craft

  • Steve Evans. Underbelly. For "Editing"

Non-Feature Film

Best Documentary Best Direction in a Documentary
  • Not Quite Hollywood – Craig Griffin, Michael Lynch
  • The Oasis – Ian Darling, Sascha Ettinger-Epstein
    • Beyond Our Ken – Melissa Maclean, Luke Walker
    • Rachel: A Perfect Life – Fiona Cochrane
    • Rare Chicken Rescue – Randall Wood
Best Cinematography in a Documentary Best Editing in a Documentary
  • The Oasis – Sally Fryer
    • Not Quite Hollywood – Jamie Blanks, Sara Edwards, Mark Hartley
    • Rare Chicken Rescue – Scott Walton
    • The Siege – Stewart Young ASE
Best Sound in a Documentary Best Short Fiction Film
  • Rare Chicken Rescue – Brett Aplin, Greg Docwra, John Willsteed, David White
    • Fairweather Man – Ben Crane, Michael Gissing, Guy Gross, Mike Jones
    • The Oasis – Felicity Fox, Michael Gissing
    • The Siege – Ian McLoughlin, Antony Partos, David White
  • Jerrycan – Stuart Parkyn, Julius Avery
    • fOUR – Zyra McAuliffe, Erin White
    • My Rabit Hoppy – Anthony Lucas
    • The Ground Beneath – Kristina Ceyton, Rene Hernandez
Best Short Animation Best Screenplay in a Short Film
  • Dog with Electric Collar – Steve Baker, Damon Escott
    • Chainsaw – Fiona Cochrane, Dennis Tupicoff
    • Mutt – Beth Frey, Glen Hunwick
    • Paper City Architects – Daniel Agdag
  • The Ground Beneath – Rene Hernandez
    • 296 Smith Street – John Evagora
    • Chainsaw – Dennis Tupicoff
    • fOUR – Erin White

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Short Film Screen Craft

  • Xanthe Highfield. fOUR. For "Production Design"

Additional Awards

Australia Post Australia's Favourite Film Award News Limited Readers' Choice Award
Best Young Actor Best Visual Effects
  • H2O: Just Add Water (Series 2) – Barry Lanfranchi
International Award for Best Actor International Award for Best Actress

AFI International Award for Excellence in Filmmaking

  • Peter James ACS ASC. For "Cinematography"

Individual Awards

Award Winner Production
Byron Kennedy Award Chris Lilley Summer Heights High
Raymond Longford Award Dione Gilmour -
AFI Documentary Trailblazer Mark Hartley Not Quite Hollywood
AFI Fellowship John L. Simpson -

Multiple nominations

Films

Television

Controversies and comments

AFI website "contenders"

On the website of the Australian Film Institute, it listed 25 expected nominees for the Best Film category.[9] The 25 contenders were:

  • v
  • t
  • e
Australian
Feature filmInternational
Feature filmTelevisionDocumentary
and Short film
Special awardsRetired awardsCeremonies
AFI Awards
AACTA Awards
(Australia)
AACTA Awards
(International)

References

  1. ^ "The Australian Film Institute | Additional Awards". www.afi.org.au. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  2. ^ "The 2008 AFI Awards nominees". IF Magazine. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  3. ^ Field, Katherine (29 October 2008). "The Black Balloon wins 11 AFI nominations". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  4. ^ George, Sandy (29 October 2008). "Black Balloon, Unfinished Sky lead Aussie awards pack | News | Screen". www.screendaily.com. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  5. ^ Williams, Fiona (29 October 2008). "Black Balloon leads AFI Awards noms". SBS What's On. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Black Balloon, Unfinished Sky lead AFI noms". ABC News. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Black Balloon takes top honour at AFIs". The Age. 7 December 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Black Balloon sweeps six AFIs". IF Magazine. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  9. ^ "The Australian Film Institute | Feature Film Contenders". www.afi.org.au. 25 October 2008. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.