Samson & Delilah sweeps 6 top Australian Film Awards

Samson & Delilah took home 6 top prizes last night at the Australian Film Awards, including Best Film, 3 awards for director/screenwriter/cinematographer Warwick Thornton, a shared honor for Best Young Actor for the amazing co-stars Marissa Gibson & Rowan McNamara Nothing can prepare you for how horribly their lives are shattered, and how they valiantly patch themselves back together again. As strong a contender as The White Ribbon and A Prophet, and among my personal Top 10 Films of the year, Samson & Delilah also won Best Sound and the AFI Members’ Choice Award.

SAMSUNG MOBILE AFI AWARD FOR BEST FILM

• Balibo. John Maynard, Rebecca Williamson
• Beautiful Kate. Leah Churchill-Brown, Bryan Brown
• Blessed. Al Clark
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. Jane Scott
• Mary and Max. Melanie Coombs
• Samson & Delilah. Kath Shelper

AFI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION

• Balibo. Robert Connolly
• Beautiful Kate. Rachel Ward
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. Bruce Beresford
• Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

MACQUARIE AFI AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Cedar Boys. Serhat Caradee
• Mary and Max. Adam Elliot
• My Year Without Sex. Sarah Watt
• Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

MACQUARIE AFI AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Balibo. David Williamson, Robert Connolly
• Beautiful Kate. Rachel Ward
• Blessed. Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves, Patricia Cornelius, Christos Tsiolkas
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. Jan Sardi

AFI AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE

• Australia. David Hirschfelder, Felix Meagher, Baz Luhrmann, Angela Little
• Balibo. Lisa Gerrard
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. Christopher Gordon
• Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTOR

• Anthony LaPaglia. Balibo
• Ben Mendelsohn. Beautiful Kate
• Hugo Weaving. Last Ride
• Rowan McNamara. Samson & Delilah

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTRESS

• Sophie Lowe. Beautiful Kate
• Frances O‚ÄôConnor. Blessed
• Sacha Horler. My Year Without Sex
• Marissa Gibson. Samson & Delilah

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Brandon Walters. Australia
• Damon Gameau. Balibo
• Oscar Isaac. Balibo
• Bryan Brown. Beautiful Kate

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Bea Viegas. Balibo
• Maeve Dermody. Beautiful Kate
• Rachel Griffiths. Beautiful Kate
• Mitjili Gibson. Samson & Delilah

AFI YOUNG ACTOR AWARD

• Brandon Walters. Australia
• Sebastian Gregory. Beautiful
• Tom Russell. Last Ride
• Toby Wallace. Lucky Country
• Marissa Gibson & Rowan McNamara. Samson & Delilah

AFI AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Balibo. Tristan Milani ACS
• Beautiful Kate. Andrew Commis
• Last Ride. Greig Fraser
• Samson & Delilah. Warwick Thornton

AFI AWARD FOR BEST EDITING

Balibo. Nick Meyers ASE
Blessed. Jill Bilcock ACE, ASE
Mao’s Last Dancer. Mark Warner
Samson & Delilah. Roland Gallois

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SOUND

• Australia. Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Wayne Pashley MPSE, Guntis Sics, Simon Leadley
• Balibo. Sam Petty, Emma Bortignon, Phil Heywood, Ann Aucote
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. David Lee, Andrew Neil, Yulia Akerholt, Mark Franken, Roger Savage
• Samson & Delilah. Liam Egan, David Tranter, Robert Sullivan, Tony Murtagh, Yulia Akerholt, Les Fiddess

AFI AWARD FOR BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Australia. Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy, Beverley Dunn
• Balibo. Robert Cousins
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. Herbert Pinter
• Mary and Max. Adam Elliot

AFI AWARD FOR BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Australia. Catherine Martin, Eliza Godman
• Balibo. Cappi Ireland
• Lucky Country. Mariot Kerr
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. Anna Borghesi

AFI MEMBERS’ CHOICE AWARD

• Australia. Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown, Catherine Knapman
• Balibo. John Maynard, Rebecca Williamson
• Beautiful Kate. Leah Churchill-Brown, Bryan Brown
• Mao‚Äôs Last Dancer. Jane Scott
• Mary and Max. Melanie Coombs
• Samson & Delilah. Kath Shelper