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Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2023

winner form y separately published work icon Limbo Ivan Sen , ( dir. Ivan Sen ) Australia : Bunya Productions Windalong Films , 2023 25070174 2023 single work film/TV detective

Detective Travis Hurley 'arrives in a small Australian outback town to investigate a 20-year-old unsolved murder of a local Aboriginal girl. Forming bonds with the victim’s fractured family, Travis unravels a series of hard truths, highlighting the complexities of loss and injustice experienced by First Nations Australians.'

Source: Screen Australia.

Year: 2022

winner form y separately published work icon The Stranger Tom Wright , ( dir. Tom Wright ) South Australia : Anonymous Content See Saw Films , 2022 24377188 2022 single work film/TV thriller

'A friendship forms between two strangers. For Henry Teague (Sean Harris), worn down by a lifetime of physical labour, this is a dream come true. His new friend Mark (Joel Edgerton) becomes his saviour and ally. However, neither is who they appear to be, each carry secrets that threaten to ruin them – and in the background, one of the nation’s largest police operations is closing in.'

Source: See Saw Films.

Year: 2021

winner form y separately published work icon High Ground Chris Anastassiades , ( dir. Stephen Johnson ) Australia : Higher Ground Pictures , 2019 9759748 2019 single work film/TV

'1931, Northern Australia. The destinies of Travis, a white bounty hunter, and Baywara, an Indigenous man trying to save what remains of his family, intersect. Twelve years after a tragedy that scarred them both, a manhunt pits them against each other.'

Source: Berlinale program.

Year: 2019

winner 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: 2018

winner 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)

Works About this Award

Destined Again to be a Winner Antimo Iannella , Anna Vlach , Matt Gilbertson , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 11 March 2015; (p. 24)
A Night of Upsets as Critics Name Best Film Garry Maddox , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11 March 2015; (p. 11)
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