AUSTRALIAN DIRECTORS' GUILD ANNOUNCE 2020 NOMINATIONS

The Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG) Executive Director Diana Burnett addressed the dire state of the nation’s creative industries in a statement that accompanied the 2020 ADG nominations, which were announced today.

“At these challenging times, it is more important than ever that we come together as a creative community to celebrate our achievements of the past year,” Burnett said. “Australian directors are creating fine work across all forms and genres and these nominations reflect the depth of talent in this country.”

A record 202 entries were received for the 2020 honours, awards that recognise excellence in the craft and art of directing. The peer-judged acknowledgements are the only opportunity for directors and their work to be acknowledged by their Guild peers. 

The ADG singled out six filmmakers for nominations in the Best Direction in a Feature Film (with a budget of A$1million or over) category. They are Thomas Wright for Acute Misfortune; Sophie Hyde for Animals; John Sheedy for H is for Happiness; Ben Lawrence for Hearts and Bones; Wayne Blair for Top End Wedding; and, Natalie Erika James for Relic (pictured, above; Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote, James and Emily Mortimer).

Nominees for Best Direction in a Feature Film (budgeted under A$1million) category are: Josephine Mackerras for Alice (pictured, top); Imogen Thomas for Emu Runner; Lucy Colman for Hot Mess; Luke Sullivan for Reflections In The Dust; and, Samuel Van Grinsven for Sequin In A Blue Room.

Four factual-film craftspeople were acknowledged for Best Feature Documentary Direction - Ian Darling for The Final Quarter; Maya Newell for In My Blood It Runs (pictured, left; with the film's Margaret Anderson, right); Peter Hegedus for LILI; and, Allan Hardy for Viva The Underdogs. Directors in the mix for Best Documentary Short are Dr. Karen Pearlman for I Want To Write A Film About Women; Stefan Bugryn for War Mothers: Unbreakable; Logan Much for We’re All In This Together; and, Rob Innes for Youth On Strike!

The ADG Directors Award ceremony will be held in Sydney at the City Recital Hall on 19 October (pandemic restrictions pending), honouring nominees in a total of 19 categories across the film, television, online, music and advertising sectors. The full list can be found at the ADG’s website; a limited number of public tickets are available for the ceremony via Eventbrite.