Since March 2020, the pandemic has accelerated the streaming boom with many of us hungry for content during lockdown. While we were forced to stay home to curb the spread of coronavirus, binge viewing brought us together and gave us a sense of connection, and we experienced not only a change in the way we consume content but also the speed of our consumption.

To acknowledge the rise in our consumption of international Streaming & TV Series, we are including four new Series categories in our upcoming AACTA International Awards including Best Drama Series, Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Series and Best Actress in a Series. For the first time, all AACTA Members are invited to vote to help determine which global series and performers will be awarded by the Australian Academy. 

Each category includes a stellar line-up of Australian talent, worthy of global recognition. The acting category boasts worldly favourites including AACTA Vice-President Nicole Kidman with her intense performance in The Undoing, the psychological thriller that had us all on the edge of our seats, to AACTA Ambassador Cate Blanchett who plays Phyllis Schlafly in Mrs America with frightening charisma – with both also receiving 2021 Golden Globe nominations for their stunning performances.

World-class Australian cast and crew also feature across the Drama and Comedy categories in productions vying for an AACTA International Award nomination. These include home-grown, hilarious productions such as Aunty Donna’s Big Ol House of Fun and LOL: Last One Laughing, the Australian stories depicted across Mystery Road, Upright and Stateless, and the stunning cinematography delivered by multi-award-winning Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser in Best Drama contender, The Mandalorian.  

Which series captured your imagination the most? Were you mesmerised by the rise of chess prodigy and orphan Beth Harmon in The Queens Gambit? Did you experience highs and lows as you weaved in and out of Marianne and Connell’s romance in Normal People? Or were you hooked on the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in The Crown? Or were you seduced by the lust and scandal in the regency romance in Bridgerton?

Was it the easy laughs brought on by sharp writing and unique characters that had you binging on Schitt’s Creek? Did the plot twists in The Flight Attendant have you hooked on all eight episodes in one night? Or was it the awkward vampire humour in Taika Waititi’s What We Do In The Shadows that brought you to happy tears?

All AACTA Members are invited to vote to help determine which global series and performers will be awarded by the Australian Academy. By becoming an AACTA Member today, you too can vote on the series from the past year that had you talking, made you laugh or moved you to tears.  

With the AACTA International winners to be announced on Saturday 6 March AEDT, see below the full list of contenders vying for a nomination.

BEST DRAMA

• THE 100
• BETTER CALL SAUL
• THE BOLD TYPE
• THE BOYS
• BRIDGERTON
• COBRA KAI
• THE CROWN
• DARK
• DIRTY JOHN
• DOCTOR WHO
• FARGO
• FLACK
• THE GOOD LORD BIRD
• HOMELAND
• HIS DARK MATERIALS
• I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE
• I MAY DESTROY YOU
• KILLING EVE
• LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
• LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
• THE MANDALORIAN
• MRS AMERICA
• MYSTERY ROAD
• NORMAL PEOPLE
• OZARK
• THE QUEENS GAMBIT
• RAISED BY WOLVES
• RATCHED
• STATELESS
• STAR TREK DISCOVERY
• THIS IS US
• THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
• THE UNDOING
• UNORTHODOX
• WANDAVISION
• WESTWORLD
• YELLOWSTONE
• YOUR HONOUR

BEST COMEDY

• AFTERLIFE
• ARCHER
• AUNTY DONNA’S BIG OL HOUSE OF FUN
• THE BABYSITTERS CLUB
• BIG MOUTH
• BLACK MONDAY
• BOJACK HORSEMAN
• CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
• DEAD TO ME
• EMILY IN PARIS
• F IS FOR FAMILY
• THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT
• GRACE AND FRANKIE
• THE GOOD PLACE
• THE GREAT
• INSECURE
• LOL: LAST ONE LAUGHING
• MOM
• PEN15
• RAMY
• RICKY AND MORTY
• SCHITT’S CREEK
• SEX EDUCATION
• TED LASSO
• UPLOAD
• UPRIGHT
• WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
• WHY WOMEN KILL
• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST

BEST ACTOR

• Robbie Amell UPLOAD
• Jason Bateman OZARK
• Paul Bettany WANDAVISION
• Matt Berry WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
• Don Cheadle BLACK MONDAY
• Kevin Costner YELLOWSTONE
• Bryan Cranston YOUR HONOUR
• Ricky Gervais AFTERLIFE
• Hugh Grant THE UNDOING
• Harvey Guillen WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
• William Jackson Harper THE GOOD PLACE
• Nicholas Hoult THE GREAT
• Daniel Levy SCHITT'S CREEK
• Eugene Levy SCHITT'S CREEK
• Ralph Macchio COBRA KAI
• Paul Mescal NORMAL PEOPLE
• Josh O’Conner THE CROWN
• Bob Odenkirk BETTER CALL SAUL
• Al Pacino HUNTERS
• Rege-Jean Page BRIDGERTON
• Pedro Pascal THE MANDALORIAN
• Aaron Pedersen MYSTERY ROAD
• Matthew Rhys PERRY MASON
• Mark Ruffalo I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE
• Robert Sheehan THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
• Jason Sudekis TED LASSO
• Donald Sutherland THE UNDOING
• Ramy Youssef RAMY
• William Zabka COBRA KAI 

BEST ACTRESS

• Andy Allo UPLOAD
• Gillian Anderson THE CROWN
• Christine Applegate DEAD TO ME
• Cate Blanchett MRS AMERICA
• Aya Cash THE BOYS
• Michaela Coel I MAY DESTROY YOU
• Olivia Colman THE CROWN
• Lily Collins EMILY IN PARIS
• Jodie Comer KILLING EVE
• Emma Corrin THE CROWN
• Kaley Cuoco THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT
• Rosario Dawson THE MANDALORIAN
• Noma Dumezweni THE UNDOING
• Phoebe Dynevor BRIDGERTON
• Daisy Edgar-Jones NORMAL PEOPLE
• Maya Erskine PEN15
• Elle Fanning THE GREAT
• Kathryn Hahn WANDAVISION
• Nicole Kidman THE UNDOING
• Jane Levy ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST
• Laura Linney OZARK
• Catherine O’Hara SCHITT'S CREEK
• Elizabeth Olsen WANDAVISION
• Anna Paquin FLACK
• Sarah Paulson RATCHED
• Sarah Paulson MRS AMERICA
• Rhea Seehorn BETTER CALL SAUL
• Anya Taylor Joy THE QUEENS GAMBIT
• Zendaya EUPHORIA