Two of Australia’s biggest Hollywood exports, Baz Luhrmann and Chris Hemsworth, have walked away with top gongs at this year’s AACTA awards.
Luhrmann’s Elvis won the coveted Best Film award, on top of a swag of others, while Hemsworth was honoured with this year’s Trailblazer Award for his contribution to the industry.
Elvis star Austin Butler won Best Lead Actor for his depiction of the King, alongside Olivia DeJonge who walked away with the award for Best Supporting Actress in Film.
The Australian Academy of Cinema Television Arts held its gala show at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on Wednesday, following its industry awards event on Monday.
Luhrmann also received the award for Best Direction, taking the film’s total award count to seven.
Mystery Road: Origin similarly cleaned up in the TV categories, winning Best Drama Series as well as Best Actor awards for stars Mark Coles Smith and Tuuli Narkle.
Hemsworth was recognised for giving back to Australia’s local film industry from his base in the north coast region of NSW, where he applies his movie star status to attract global productions to Australia.
The Thor actor described it as a “huge honour” as he received the award from AACTA president Russell Crowe.
“I don’t take for granted the opportunities the Australian screen industry has afforded me and am excited and proud that the rest of the world is discovering just how great it is to make world-class movies Down Under with our incredible crews and creatives,” he said.
“I feel like we are all only really getting started.”
Costume and set designer Catherine Martin, who already holds the most Oscars of any Australian for her work on past Luhrmann films, received the Longford Lyell Award for her global contribution and influence.
Teen drama reboot Heartbreak High proved popular with punters, winning three Audience Choice Awards including Best TV Show, Best Actor for Bryn Chapman and Best Actress by Chloe Hayden.
The publicly voted categories continued with Best Digital Creator awarded to TikTok star Kat Clark, and ex-reality star Abbie Chatfield being crowned Australia’s Best TV Personality.
The ABC claimed a number of key awards in the television category including Best Children’s Program for Bluey, Best Comedy for Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Best Documentary for Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked and Best Lifestyle Program for Gardening Australia.
Other award winners included River, directed by Jennifer Peedom, which took out best documentary.
AACTA chief executive Damian Trewhella described it as a phenomenal year for Australian screen.
“These awards recognise the monumental effort and skill that goes into making a production and honour the hard-working creatives and artists who keep us entertained,” he said.
© AAP 2022
