Past Winners

1970-1979

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AACTA Winners & Nominees

AFI Past winners

The revival of the film industry had entered a new phase by the time Glenda Jackson presented the 1974-1975 Awards. The presentations were made at the Sydney Opera House in March 1975. Entries (of which there were 213) had included an unprecedented 16 feature films including Petersen, Between Wars, Alvin Rides Again, Stone, The Cars That Ate Paris, Sunday Too Far Away, The Great Macarthy, Yaketty Yak, The True Story Of Eskimo Nell, Wokabout Bilong Tonten, The Removalists, Inn Of The Damned, The Firm Man, Solo Flight and Crystal Voyager.

In 1972, Premier Don Dunstan set up the South Australian Film Corporation to promote a commercially viable film industry in the state. Their first feature would be Sunday Too Far Away, made entirely on location for about $300,000. Producers were Gil Brealey and Matt Carroll. Brealey was a genuine veteran of the industry, who had kick-started many careers. Carroll had an even greater success ahead for him and for the SAFC. Director Ken Hannam here did his best work for the big screen.

At these awards, the film won in four major categories. Jack Thompson was joint winner of the Hoyts Prize for Best Performance for Sunday and for Petersen. He shared the award with Martin Vaughan for Billy And Percy. The category of Best Supporting Actor had not yet been instituted, but Reg Lye received an honourable mention for his memorable performance as the alcoholic shearer Old Garth. Sunday Too Far Away also took the Australian Film Development Corporation Award, the Department of the Media Award and the Golden Reel in the new Feature category.

Significantly, the film was then selected for screening in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. It was well received and invited to other festivals. From now on, Australian cinema would attract new respect internationally.

The Village Prize for the Best Direction went to John Power for Billy And Percy, which also took the Golden Reel in the General category.

As well as the shared acting prize, Petersen won the Silver Award in the Feature category. For his work on the film, David Williamson became the first recipient of a dedicated AFI Award for screenwriting, the Greater Union Prize for Best Screenplay.

Another new award was the Filmways Prize for Best Original Music. This was given to Bruce Smeaton for his work on The Cars That Ate Paris and The Great Macarthy. Barry Humphries received an Honourable Mention for his performance in Macarthy, as did the film itself in the Feature category.

The Bronze Award in the Feature category went to Mike Thornhill’s Between Wars. In 1970, Thornhill had won the Bronze Award in the Fiction category for The Girl From The Family Of Man, also scripted by Frank Moorhouse.

The standard of camerawork was notably impressive. Vincent Monton received the Silver Medallion of the Kodak Award for Photography for his work on The True Story Of Eskimo Nell. The Bronze Medallion was shared by Geoff Burton for Billy And Percy, Brian Probyn for Inn Of The Damned and Dean Semler for A Steam Train Passes. These were four fresh names at the AFI Awards. Between them, they would achieve a further 17 nominations in the years ahead and would become mainstays of the Australian film industry.

The principal Alan Stout Award went to John Papadopoulos' Matchless. Second Prize was shared by Ian Macrae's Love Is Hate and a young Chris Noonan's Bulls. Another Hoyts Prize for Best Performance went to Julie Dawson for her role in the 55-minute drama Who Killed Jenny Langby? This film was also produced by the newly formed SAFC. Director Donald Crombie shared the Bronze Award for Short Fiction, which was his first recognition by the AFI. He would be back the next year with Caddie.

 

Note: Up until 1970, with a few exceptions, AFI Awards were presented in recognition of films and productions, rather than the achievements of individual filmmakers and craftspeople. From 1971, an increasing number of AFI Awards were introduced recognising individual achievements and, from 1976, AFI Awards were presented on this basis across all feature films. From 1980 onwards, all AFI Awards were awarded to individual filmmakers and crafts people.

Where an Award was presented in recognition of a film rather than a filmmaker, we have also listed the producer and director of the film, where this information is available. For craft-specific awards, we have also listed the respective craftsperson where possible. These filmmakers and craftspeople are listed in brackets after the Award that their film received.

1974 - 1975 Winners & Nominees

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ADDITIONAL AWARDS

  • Grand Prix

  • Winner:

    Not awarded

  • Alan Stout Award

  • Winner:

    Matchless John Papadopoulos (First Prize)
    Love Is Hate Ian Macrae (Second Prize)
    Bulls Chris Noonan (Second Prize)

  • General

  • Winner:

    Billy And Percy Golden Reel (Producer / Director: John Power)

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NON-FICTION

  • Advertising

  • Winner:

    Drum Matches Golden Reel
    John West Slides Silver Award
    Hilton 79ers Leap Honourable Mention
    Metters Super 10 Honourable Mention

  • Australian Tourist Commission Award

  • Winner:

    Kangaroo Island Jedda Award (Production Company: South Australian Film Commission, Director: J.A. Correll)

  • Department of the Media Award

  • Winner:

    Sunday Too Far Away Ken Hannam

  • Documentary

  • Winner:

    Mr Symbol Man Golden Reel (Producer: Tom Daly, Frank Bagnall, Richard Mason, Director: Bob Kingsbury, Bruce Moir)
    A Steam Train Passes Silver Award (Producer: Anthony Buckley, Director: David Haythornthwaite)
    Stirring Silver Award (Producer: Timothy Read, Director: Jane Oehr)

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FICTION

  • Australian Film Development Corporation Award

  • Winner:

    Sunday Too Far Away Gilbert J. Brealey, Matt Carroll

  • Feature

  • Winner:

    Sunday Too Far Away Golden Reel (Producer: Gilbert J. Brealey, Matt Carroll, Director: Ken Hannam)
    Petersen Silver Award (Producer / Director: Tim Burstall)
    Between Wars Bronze Award (Producer / Director: Michael Thornhill)
    The Great Macarthy Honourable Mention (Producer / Director: David Baker)
    The True Story Of Eskimo Nell Honourable Mention (Producer: Richard Franklin, Ronald Benneth, Director: Richard Franklin)
    Wokabout Bilon Tonten Special Citation (Producer: Don Murray, Director: Oliver Howes)

  • Short Fiction

  • Winner:

    Matchless Bronze Award (Director: John Papadopoulos)
    Who Killed Jenny Langby? Bronze Award (Producer: John Morris, Director: Donald Crombie)
    Love Is Hate Bronze Award (Producer: Ian Macrae)

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CRAFT AWARDS

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