AACTA Awards Wrap Up

The AACTA Awards were held on Thursday night and Aussie Hollywood royalty like Cate Blanchett and Rose Byrne lit up the red carpet.
Host Cate rushed through the red carpet, stopping briefly to joke with reporters that she wasn’t wearing any underwear under her pale pink and black Alexander McQueen bell-sleeved dress.
Image Credit: The Daily Telegraph
Rose Byrne had some arm candy on her arm – American boyfriend Bobby Cannevale. She was presented the inaugural Trailblazer award after winning the AFI International Award (Best Actress) for Damages and last year won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in The Turning.
Geoffrey Rush presented Rose with the award, which was created to recognize an individual’s achievements, abilities and successes throughout their career and honours the achievements of Australians working in both the domestic and global film industry.
Geoffrey said of Rose, ” Rose is one of the world’s most beautiful women but in her work as an actress she is such a chameleon and so diverse. It is a 21-year film career, its extraordinary.”
Image Credit: The Daily Telegraph
Rose has made best dressed lists this morning with her white top and skirt by Melbourne designer Maticevski and a silver Oroton clutch.
Singer Samantha Jade and co-host Deborah Mailman were both dressed by Pallas Couture but had two very different dresses.
Image Credit: Popsugar
Image Credit: Daily Mail
Samantha Jade wore a very tight corseted strapless fishtail dress while Deborah chose a simple black gown.
Wonderland’s Emma Lung dressed her baby bump in a floor length Michael Lo Sordo gown.
Image Credit: popsugar
Wentworth’s Danielle Cormack showed off the most skin on the red carpet, with a dress that had a lot of back and stomach exposure.
Image Credit: popsugar
Director, producer and writer Amiel Courtin-Wilson was given the Byron Kennedy Award for outstanding creative enterprise within the film and television industries. The award is determined annually by a jury and is given to an individual or organisation whose work embodies innovation and the relentless pursuit of excellence.
Amiel’s body of work includes the critically acclaimed documentaries Chasing Bhudda, which received an AFI Award nomination in 2000 and Bastardy, which he shot over 7 years, following the life of aboriginal elder Jack Charles.
The AACTA Longford Lyell Award – the highest honour the Australian Academy bestow upon an individual was awarded to one of Australia’s most loved and respected writers and producers, Andrew Knight.
He has written and produced a lot of television and several films including Fast Forward, Full Frontal, Seachange and feature films The Water Diviner, Siam Sunset and Spotswood.
In an unusual twist for the night, two films were awarded the AACTA Award for best film – The Babadook by feature film director Jennifer Kent and The Water Diviner, a directorial debut for Russell Crowe.