THE SECOND NOMINATED FOR THE INAUGURAL BEST INDIE FEATURE - AACTAS

In another record-breaking year, a total of 19 feature films have received nominations, with five films competing for the highly coveted AACTA Award for Best Film presented by Foxtel: BOY ERASED, BREATH, CARGO, LADIES IN BLACK and SWEET COUNTRY.

The five nominees for the inaugural AACTA Award for Best Indie Film presented by Event Cinemas – which honours the finest Australian films of the past year with a budget of under $2 million – are: The Jacobson Brothers’ dark comedy BROTHERS’ NEST; Benjamin Gilmour’s JIRGA, which was recently announced as Australia’s entry for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®; Stan’s first Australian ‘Original’ feature film, Mairi Cameron’s THE SECOND; Alena Lodkina’s Venice Film Festival Biennale College funded film STRANGE COLOURS; and Jason Raftopoulos’ WEST OF SUNSHINE, whose star, the late Damian Hill, also received a posthumous nomination for Best Lead Actor.

“AFI | AACTA has been celebrating our industry and its immense talent since the first AFI Awards in 1958, where ten awards were presented. 60 years on, we have 395 individuals from 105 productions competing for a total of 54 Awards, recognising excellence across all industry sectors, including feature film, television, documentary, short film, online, visual effects and animation,” said AFI | AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella. “We’re thrilled to see such a wealth of screen talent recognised at this year’s Awards – from some of the earliest AFI Award winners to many emerging and early-career practitioners – and we look forward to celebrating their fine achievements, as well as our 60th Anniversary as the longest standing national screen culture and industry development organisation at the 2018 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel in Sydney.”

Complete list of nominees can be found here.