‘Talk to Me’ Wins Big at Australian Academy Awards, Margot Robbie Honored as Trailblazer

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) handed out its 2024 awards on Saturday, and Talk to Me won big, including for best film and best director, while Margot Robbie was honored with the Trailblazer Award.

Barbie, Oppenheimer and The Bear were among the Hollywood honorees, with big Australian winners including the likes of The Newsreader, Deadloch and The New Boy.

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“Talk to Me is the biggest winner of the night, adding a further three awards to its collection and taking its total wins to eight, following the AACTA Industry Awards earlier in the week,” the Australian Academy noted. The honors include the one for best direction in film for sibling-YouTubers-turned-directors Danny and Michael Philippou.

Among acting talent earning trophies, rising star Sophie Wilde won the best lead actress in film award for her performance in Talk to Me, while Aswan Reid got the best lead actor in film honor for his turn in The New Boy. Anna Torv won the AACTA Award as best lead actress in a drama for work in The Newsreader, while Hugo Weaving added two trophies to his collection – for best lead actor in a drama for his turn in Love Me and for best supporting actor in film for The Rooster.

In the TV categories, The Newsreader and Deadloch won five AACTA Awards each.

Meanwhile, the AACTA Trailblazer Award, highlighting “the achievements, abilities and success of an Australian screen practitioner who inspires others in the industry, was bestowed on Robbie.

“Awards season favorites Barbie, The Bear and Oppenheimer are among the winners of the AACTA International Awards, also presented at the ceremony,” AACTA also highlighted. “Individual international winners included Cillian Murphy, Margot Robbie and Christopher Nolan.”

The stars were out in force for the awards. Rebel Wilson was spotted on the red carpet prior to hosting the ceremony held at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) on the Australian Gold Coast. “She joined Margot Robbie, Ron Howard and Cate Blanchett at the star-studded ceremony as the industry gathered to honor the country’s best and brightest screen talent at the 2024 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Group,” AACTA said.

See the full list of winners of the Australian Academy Awards below.

FILM

Best Film
Talk to Me – Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton – Causeway Films

Best Direction in Film
Talk to Me – Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

Best Lead Actor in Film
Aswan Reid – The New Boy

Best Lead Actress in Film
Sophie Wilde – Talk to Me

Best Supporting Actor in Film
Hugo Weaving – The Rooster

Best Supporting Actress in Film
Deborah Mailman – The New Boy

Best Casting in Film
Shayda – Anousha Zarkesh

Best Cinematography in Film
The New Boy – Warwick Thornton

Best Costume Design in Film
Carmen – Emily Seresin

Best Editing in Film
Talk to Me – Geoff Lamb

Best Hair and Makeup
Talk to Me – Rebecca Buratto, Paul Katte, Nick Nicolaou

Best Indie Film
Limbo – Ivan Sen (Dir.), David Jowsey, Greer Simpkin, Rachel Higgins – Bunya Productions

Best Original Score in Film
Talk to Me – Cornel Wilczek

Best Production Design in Film
The New Boy – Amy Baker

Best Screenplay in Film
Talk to Me – Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman

Best Sound in Film
Talk to Me – Emma Bortignon, Pete Smith, Nick Steele

TELEVISION

Best Drama Series
The Newsreader – Joanna Werner, Michael Lucas – Werner Film Productions (ABC)

Best Acting in a Comedy
Kate Box – Deadloch

Best Children’s Program
Bluey – Joe Brumm, Charlie Aspinwall, Sam Moor, Daley Pearson – Ludo Studio (ABC)

Best Comedy Entertainment Program
Hard Quiz – Chris Walker, Kevin Whyte, Tom Gleeson, John Tabbagh – Thinkative Television and ABC (ABC)

Best Comedy Performer
Cal Wilson – The Great Australian Bake Off

Best Factual Entertainment Program
Old People’s Home for Teenagers – Tony De La Pena, Tara McWilliams, Emily Potts – Endemol Shine Australia (ABC)

Best Lead Actor in a Drama
Hugo Weaving – Love Me

Best Lead Actress in a Drama
Anna Torv – The Newsreader

Best Lifestyle Program
Gardening Australia – Gill Lomas – ABC TV (ABC)

Best Miniseries
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart – Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Barbara Gibbs, Sarah Lambert, Glendyn Ivin – Made Up Stories, Amazon Studios, Fifth Season (Amazon Prime Video)

Best Narrative Comedy Series
Colin From Accounts – Ian Collie, Rob Gibson, Patrick Brammall, Harriet Dyer – Easy Tiger (Binge, Foxtel)

Best Reality Program
MasterChef Australia – David Forster, Simon Child, Eoin Maher, April Mackay – Endemol Shine Australia (Network Ten)

Best Screenplay in Television
Deadloch (Episode 1) – Kate McCartney, Kate McLennan

Best Stand-Up Special
Hannah Gadsby: Something Special – Hannah Gadsby, Kevin Whyte, Kathleen McCarthy, Jenney Shamash, Frank Bruzzese – Guesswork Television Pty Ltd (Netflix)

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama
Hunter Page-Lochard – The Newsreader

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama
Heather Mitchell – Love Me

Best Casting in Television
Deadloch – Alison Telford, Kate Leonard

Best Cinematography in Television
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart – Episode 1 – Sam Chiplin

Best Costume Design in Television
The Newsreader – Episode 4 – Zed Dragojlovich

Best Direction in Drama or Comedy
The Newsreader (Episode 4) – Emma Freeman

Best Direction in Nonfiction Television
The Australian Wars (Episode 1) – Rachel Perkins, Dylan River, Tov Belling

Best Documentary or Factual Program
The Australian Wars – Darren Dale, Rachel Perkins, Belinda Mravicic – Blackfella Films Pty Ltd (NITV, SBS)

Best Editing in a Documentary
The Australian Wars – Andrea Lang, Mark Atkin, Hilary Balmond

Best Editing in Television: Deadloch – Episode 1 – Angie Higgins

Best Entertainment Program
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – Grand Final – Paul Clarke, Emily Griggs – Blink TV Production Pty Ltd (SBS)

Best Original Score in Television
Deadloch – Episode 1 – Amanda Brown

Best Production Design in Television
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart – Episode 1 – Melinda Doring

Best Sound in Television
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart – Episode 6 – David Lee, Robert Mackenzie, Leah Katz, James Ashton

DOCUMENTARY

Best Documentary
John Farnham: Finding The Voice – Poppy Stockell (Dir.), Mikael Borglund, Paul Clarke, Martin Fabinyi, Olivia Hoopmann – Beyond Oz in association with Blink TV Production

Best Cinematography in a Documentary
The Giants – Sherwin Akbarzadeh

Best Original Score in a Documentary
The Dark Emu Story – Caitlin Yeo, Damien Lane

Best Sound in a Documentary
Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story – David Williams

ONLINE

Best Online Drama or Comedy
Latecomers – Liam Heyen, Hannah Ngo, Angus Thompson, Emma Myers, Nina Oyama, Madeleine Gottlieb, Alistair Baldwin – Mad Ones Films & Lazy Susan Films

SHORT FILM

Best Short Film
Finding Addison – Francisca Braithwaite, Jess Milne, Nick Bolton – Blue Sparrow Entertainment

OTHER

Best Visual Effects or Animation
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – Andrew Whitehurst, Kathy Siegel, Alistair Williams, Julian Hutchens, Ian Cope – Rising Sun Pictures

INDIVIDUAL

Trailblazer Award
Margot Robbie

Byron Kennedy Award
Bruna Papandrea

Brian Walsh Award
Ngali Shaw

Reg Grundy Award
Rachel Berger (Seriously Funny)

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS

Favorite TV Show
Ginny & Georgia

Favorite Film
Barbie

Favorite Actress
Margot Robbie

Favorite Actor
Adam Sandler

Favorite Australian Media Personality
Sophie Monk

Favorite Australian Digital Creator
Kat Clark and family @katclark

Favorite Australian Sporting Moment
Soccer: Matilda’s World Cup run

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

International Award for Best Actor in a Series
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear

International Award for Best Actress in a Series
Sarah Snook – Succession

International Award for Best Comedy Series
The Bear

International Award for Best Direction in Film
Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan

International Award for Best Drama Series
Succession

International Award for Best Film
Barbie

International Award for Best Lead Actor in Film
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer

International Award for Best Lead Actress in Film
Margot Robbie – Barbie

International Award for Best Screenplay in Film
Poor Things – Tony McNamara

International Award for Best Supporting Actor in Film
Ryan Gosling – Barbie

International Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film
Vanessa Kirby – Napoleon

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