1977 Australian Film Institute Awards

1977 Australian Film Awards
Date Wednesday, 21 September 1977
Site Regent Theatre
Sydney, New South Wales
Host
Highlights
Best Film Storm Boy
Most awards Don's Party (6)
Most nominations Storm Boy (9)
Television coverage
Network ABC
 < 1976 AACTA Film Awards 1978 > 

The 1977 Australian Film Awards ceremony, presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), honoured the best Australian films of 1976, and took place on 21 September 1977 at Regent Theatre, in Sydney, New South Wales. The awards were televised on ABC. Actors Keir Dullea and Karen Black, and former Australian Prime Minister John Gorton hosted the show.

Don's Party won six awards including Best Direction and Best Actress. Other winners were The Picture Show Man with four awards, and Storm Boy with two awards including Best Film and the Jury Prize. Charles Chauvel was awarded the Raymond Longford Award posthumously.

Ceremony

The ceremony was held on 21 September 1977 at Regent Theatre, in Sydney, New South Wales. It was hosted by actors Keir Dullea and Karen Black, and former Australian Prime Minister John Gorton.[1] Films were nominated for awards in thirteen categories, marking the first time the awards were presented competitively and not as a film prize like previous years, with the exception of the non-feature film categories.[2] The Awards were televised on ABC.[3]

Winners and nominees

The Australian Film Institute (AFI) presented awards across eighteen categories. Three new award categories were presented for Best Achievement in Sound, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction, and the award for Best Original Music Score was reinstated after it had not been given since 1973.[4] The recipients of the peer voted feature-film awards included the film Storm Boy, for Best Film; Bruce Beresford for Best Direction, for Don's Party; John Meillon for Best Actor, for The Fourth Wish; and Pat Bishop for Best Actress, for Don's Party.[4][5] Charles Chauvel received the Raymond Longford Award posthumously for his contribution to Australian screen culture and environment, and was presented to his wife Elsa Chauvel.[1] Storm Boy was nominated for nine awards but only received two; and Don's Party won five of the six awards it was nominated for, winning the most awards at the ceremony.[4]
Non-feature films were presented with a gold, silver or bronze prize, or an honourable mention, and the awards were determined by a jury.[1] The Love Letters from Teralba Road received a gold and silver prize, and a special award for creativity.[1]

Peer voted awards

Winners of competitive awards marked first in boldface and highlighted in gold.

Category Winners and nominees
Best Film Storm Boy Matt Carroll
Break of Day Patricia Lovell
Don's PartyPhillip Adams
The Picture Show ManJoan Long
Best Direction Bruce Beresford Don's Party
Philippe Mora Mad Dog Morgan
Chris Löfvén Oz
Henri Safran Storm Boy
Best Actor John Meillon The Fourth Wish as Casey
Noel Ferrier Eliza Fraser as Captain James Fraser
David Gulpilil Storm Boy as Fingerbone
John Meillon The Picture Show Man as Maurice 'Pop' Pym
Best Actress Pat Bishop Don's Party as Jenny
Jeanie Drynan Don's Party as Kath Henderson
Sara Kestelman Break of Day as Alice
Robyn Nevin The Fourth Wish as Connie
Best Supporting Actor John Ewart The Picture Show Man as Freddie Graves
John Ewart Let the Balloon Go as PC Baird
Bill Hunter Mad Dog Morgan as Sgt. Smith
Christopher Pate Raw Deal as Dick
Best Supporting Actress Veronica Lang Don's Party as Jody
Anne Haddy The Fourth Wish as Dr. Kirk
Ingrid Mason Break of Day as Beth
Judy Morris The Picture Show Man as Miss Lockhart
Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) Don's Party David Williamson
Storm Boy Sonia Borg
The Fourth Wish Michael Craig
The Picture Show Man Joan Long
Best Art Direction The Picture Show Man – David Copping
Break of Day – Wendy Dickson
Oz – Robbie Perkins
Storm Boy – David Copping
Best Costume Design The Picture Show Man – Judith Dorsman
Let the Balloon Go Ron Williams
Oz – Robbie Perkins
Storm Boy Helen Evans
Best Sound Don's Party William M. Anderson
Oz – Les Luxford
Raw Deal – Bruce Lamshed
Storm Boy – Bob Cogger
Best Original Music Score The Picture Show Man Peter Best
Best Cinematography Break of Day Russell Boyd
Best Editing Don's Party William M. Anderson

Jury voted prizes

Winners of the gold prize.
Winners of the silver prize.
Winners of the bronze prize.

Category Winners
Jury Prize Storm Boy Matt Carroll
Best Documentary We Are All Alone My Dear Paul Cox
Greg – Tom Manefield
Here's To You Mr. Robinson – Peter Tammer, Gary Patterson (Honourable mention)
Best Short Fiction Film The Love Letters from Teralba Road – Richard Brennan
The Singer and the Dancer Gillian Armstrong
Do I Have to Kill My Child? – Janet Isaac
The Idyll – Aphrodite Jansen (Honourable mention)
In The Beginning – Mark D'Arcy-Irvine (Honourable mention)
Best Cinematography – Documentary The Love Letters from Teralba Road Tom Cowan
The Last Harvest David Foreman
Advertising Italy – Adrian Ussher

Special awards

Raymond Longford Award
Jedda Award
Creativity award
Macro Photography

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Paul Heinrichs (22 September 1977). "Storm Boy is best film". The Age. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  2. French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. pp. 142–182. ISBN 1-876467-20-7.
  3. French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 111. ISBN 1-876467-20-7.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "AACTA - Past Winners 1977". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  5. French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 145. ISBN 1-876467-20-7.

Further reading

  • French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009), Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute, St. Kilda, Australia: Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM), ISBN 1-876467-20-7

External links