When “The Great Gatsby” led the nominations for the Australian Academy Awards (aka the AACTA Awards), that seemed obvious enough, but I didn’t expect to see it win outside the technical categories. “Moulin Rouge!” was also heavily nominated in its year (“Australia” less so), but voters preferred more locally flavored work in the top categories, and I assumed that’d be the case this year. Not so: “Gatsby” just about swept the night, winning all but one of the 14 awards for which it was nominated, including Best Film, Director and acting prizes for Leonardo DiCaprio, Joel Edgerton and striking newcomer Elizabeth Debicki. (Carey Mulligan was the lone loser, passed over in Best Actress for Rose Byrne.)
Meanwhile, Australia’s feelgood foreign Oscar submission “The Rocket,” which I’d have bet on for the top prizes, took the only award for which Baz Luhrmann’s blockbuster wasn’t eligible, Best Original Screenplay. “Gatsby,” of course, is up for only two Oscars — Best Production Design and Costume Design — though I’m betting it’ll win both.
Full list of winners below. Everything else at The Circuit.
Best Film: “The Great Gatsby”
Best Direction: Baz Luhrmann, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Original Screenplay: Kim Mordaunt, “The Rocket”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Actress: Rose Byrne, “The Turning”
Best Supporting Actor: Joel Edgerton, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Supporting Actress: Elizabeth Debicki, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Cinematography: Simon Duggan, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Editing: Matt Villa, Jason Ballantine and Jonathan Redmond, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Sound: Wayne Pashley, Jenny Ward, Fabian Sanjurjo, Steve Maslow, Phil Heywood and Guntis Sics, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Original Score: Craig Armstrong, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Production Design: Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Ian Gracie and Beverley Dunn, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin, Silvana Azzi Heras and Kerry Thompson, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Visual Effects: Chris Godfrey, Prue Fletcher, Tony Cole and Andy Brown, “The Great Gatsby”
Raymond Longford Award: Jacki Weaver
INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
Best Film: “Gravity”
Best Direction: Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”
Best Screenplay: Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, “American Hustle”
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years A Slave”
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”