Australian Film Institute Award Nominations

AFI Members’ Choice Award

    * Animal Kingdom
    * Beneath Hill 60
    * Bran Nue Dae
    * Bright Star
    * The Boys Are Back
    * Tomorrow When The War Began

SAMSUNG Mobile AFI Award for Best Film

    * Animal Kingdom
    * Beneath Hill 60  
    * Bran Nue Dae
    * Bright Star
    * The Tree
    * Tomorrow When The War Began

AFI Award for Best Direction

    * Animal Kingdom. David Michôd.
    * Beneath Hill 60. Jeremy Hartley Sims.
    * Bright Star. Jane Campion.
    * The Tree. Julie Bertuccelli.

Macquarie AFI Award for Best Original Screenplay

    * Animal Kingdom. David Michôd.
    * Beneath Hill 60. David Roach.
    * Bright Star. Jane Campion.
    * Daybreakers. Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig.

Macquarie AFI Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

    * Bran Nue Dae. Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, Jimmy Chi.
    * The Boys Are Back. Allan Cubitt.
    * The Tree. Julie Bertuccelli.
    * Tomorrow When The War Began. Stuart Beattie.

AFI Award for Best Cinematography

    * Animal Kingdom. Adam Arkapaw.
    * Beneath Hill 60. Toby Oliver ACS.
    * Bright Star. Greig Fraser.
    * The Waiting City. Denson Baker ACS

AFI Award for Best Editing

    * Animal Kingdom. Luke Doolan.
    * Beneath Hill 60. Dany    Cooper ASE.
    * Bright Star. Alexandre de Franceschi ASE.
    * Tomorrow When The War Began. Marcus D’Arcy.

AFI Award for Best Sound

    * Animal Kingdom
    * Beneath Hill 60.
    * Bran Nue Dae
    * Tomorrow When The War Began

AFI Award for Best Original Music Score

    * Animal Kingdom.
    * Beneath Hill 60
    * Bran Nue Dae
    * Bright Star

AFI Award for Best Production Design

    * Animal Kingdom
    * Beneath Hill 60
    * Bright Star
    * Tomorrow When The War Began

AFI Award for Best Costume Design

    * Animal Kingdom. Cappi Ireland.
    * Beneath Hill 60. Ian Sparke, Wendy Cork.
    * Bran Nue Dae. Margot Wilson.
    * Bright Star. Janet Patterson

AFI Award for Best Lead Actor

    * Brendan Cowell. Beneath Hill 60.
    * James Frecheville. Animal Kingdom.
    * Ben Mendelsohn. Animal Kingdom.
    * Clive Owen. The Boys Are Back.

 

AFI Award for Best Lead Actress
    * Abbie Cornish. Bright Star.
    * Morgana Davies. The Tree.
    * Charlotte Gainsbourg. The Tree.
    * Jacki Weaver. Animal Kingdom.

AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor

    * Joel Edgerton. Animal Kingdom.
    * Guy Pearce. Animal Kingdom.
    * Kodi Smit-McPhee. Matching Jack.
    * Sullivan Stapleton. Animal Kingdom.

AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress
    * Julia Blake. The Boys Are Back.
    * Kerry Fox. Bright Star.
    * Deborah Mailman. Bran Nue Dae.
    * Laura Wheelwright. Animal Kingdom.

AFI INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR

    * Simon Baker. The Mentalist, Season 2. Nine Network
    * Ryan Kwanten. True Blood, Season 3. Showcase
    * Kodi Smit-McPhee. The Road
    * Sam Worthington. Avatar

AFI INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS

    * Toni Collette. United States of Tara, Season 2. ABC1
    * Bojana Novakovic. Edge of Darkness
    * Mia Wasikowska. Alice in Wonderland
    * Naomi Watts. Mother and Child

AFI Young Actor Award

    * Ashleigh Cummings. Tomorrow When The War Began
    * Morgana Davies. The Tree
    * James Frecheville. Animal Kingdom
    * Harrison Gilbertson. Beneath Hill 60

Weaver's chilling stare...

The wonderful Aussie crime drama Animal Kingdom leads all films in with Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards with an astounding 18 nominations..  The film, a relative art house success story stateside (it's box office is nearly $1.0 million) is slowly but surely making a strong Oscars push for best supporting actress candidate Jacki Weaver.  It helps that the distributor of the film (Sony Pictures Classics) has jumped the campaign by releasing DVD screeners to Academy members before anyone else.  Weaver is awesomely good as den mother "Smurf," whose Lady MacBeth moment made for the one of the most chilling elements in any film so far this year.

Other contenders include two 2009 holdovers-- Bright Star and The Boys Are Back.