AACTA Announces First Nominees and New Stand-Alone Shorts Fest

The first nominees for the 8th AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel have been revealed today, with AACTA announcing the nominees for Best Short Fiction Film and Best Short Animation.

AACTA also today announced the split of its former Festival of Australian Film into three new Festivals, AACTA Shorts Fest, AACTA Docs Fest and AACTA Film Fest, to shine a dedicated spotlight on each of the respective areas of filmmaking. Each Festival will feature a tailored program of events that will include exclusive screenings, masterclass events, learning and networking opportunities.

Exploring a range of themes - including relationships between parents and children, self-sacrifice and courage in the face of tragedy - the nominees for Best Short Fiction Film are:

• Charles Williams' Palme D'Or-winning ALL THESE CREATURES;
• JUDAS COLLAR, which had its world premiere earlier this year at Sydney Film Festival;
• Sydney Film Festival 2018 Rouben Mamoulian Best Director Award-winning NURSERY RHYMES, starring past AACTA Award nominee Sara West and Toby Wallace; and
• Berlinale 2018 and SXSW 2018 Award nominated TANGLES AND KNOTS, starring AACTA Award winner Odessa Young and Leeanna Walsmann.

Ranging from hand-drawn and zine-inspired animation to stop motion and claymation, this year's Best Short Animation nominees mark first-time AACTA nominations for all nine competing directors and producers. The nominees are:

• Former AACTA #SocialShorts winner Radheya Jegatheva's iRONY, which has won 66 Awards and been selected for 156 film festivals worldwide;
• Sydney Film Festival's 2018 Yoram Gross Animation Award-winning LOST & FOUND;
• Clay animation MONSTER'S PLAYGROUND, narrated by seven-time AFI and AACTA Award winner Claudia Karvan; and
• University of Technology Sydney students Haein Kim and Paul Rhodes' PEEPIN'.

AACTA Shorts Fest will take place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth from Monday 20 August - launching in all cities with AACTA's Oscars® Short Film Program. Presented in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the exclusive showcase will screen the 2018 Oscar®-nominated Animated and Live Action Short Films.

New in 2018, AACTA PITCH will also take place as part of Shorts Fest in Sydney, on Wednesday 22 August at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction. Announced earlier this year, AACTA PITCH is a national pitching competition that aims to discover Australia's next world-class scripted series for television or web. The event will see shortlisted finalists pitch their series in front of a live audience, including a judging panel of esteemed industry figures, with the winner announced following judges' deliberations.

In Melbourne, AACTA's successful Masterclass in Web Series Creation will be held at Cinema Nova on Wednesday 22 August. Held in Sydney earlier this year as part of Vivid Sydney, the masterclass will bring together some of Australia's most successful web content creators and developers to share their experiences creating and commissioning scripted content for online audiences worldwide.

Shorts Fest will culminate with in-cinema screenings of this year's AACTA nominated Short Animation and Short Fiction Films. AACTA Shorts Fest is exclusive and complimentary to AFI | AACTA members, with guests permitted to attend selected events. To see the full programs for each state, click here.

"We are thrilled to see so many first-time nominees in the short film categories this year, many of whom have seen great success both here and internationally, highlighting the incredible talent within Australian short films," said AFI | AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella. "We look forward to bringing these great short films and their filmmakers to centre stage during Shorts Fest this year, as well as Australia's outstanding documentaries and feature films during Docs Fest and Film Fest respectively."

The AACTA Film Fest will screen the feature films in competition for the 8th AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel throughout September in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The AACTA Docs Fest program will screen the Best Feature Length Documentary nominees in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth in October.