Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush as the brother and sister in The Eye of the Storm, Emily Watson and David Wenham as firm friends in Oranges and Sunshine, and Josh Lucas and Rachael Taylor as lovers in Red Dog have all been nominated for IF Awards.
It is unusual to see such close couplings stretch across both the actor and actress categories in any film awards, and it didn't end there: the fourth and last nomination in both categories named the entire ensemble cast from Face to Face, being actors Vince Colosimo, Luke Ford, Christopher Connelly, Matthew Newton, Robert Rabiah and Josh Saks, and actresses Sigrid Thornton, Ra Chapman, Laura Gordon, Lauren Clair.
The IF Awards are nicknamed the People's Choice Awards by organisers and voting is largely done online. The nominations were announced at Sydney's Ivy yesterday. The star of the show was family film Red Dog, with nine nominations. Oranges and Sunshine followed with six.
These two films are among the most popular home-grown films released this year in Australia, with Red Dog being the runaway success, with revenue from ticket sales soon to reach $20 million. Both pictures are in the running for best film, alongside Face to Face and The Eye of the Storm, which ought to benefit from any media attention the nominations get given that they were only released in cinemas last month. Competing for best direction is Michael Rymer (Face to Face), Kriv Stenders (Red Dog) and Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) and Rymer is also nominated for best script alongside Rona Munro (Oranges and Sunshine) and Daniel Taplitz (Red Dog).
Documentaries, including Mrs Carey's Concert which has been widely seen this year, music videos, short films and animations are also in the running for IF Awards, as are various heads of department for their work on Australian films, 10 very experienced producers in a category recognising contribution to television, and half a dozen actors expected to make the transition to the big screen.
Those actors in the running for what's called the Out of the Box IF Award are: Alison Bell from the new show Laid; pay TV regulars Blake Davis and Annie Maynard from Tangle and Spirited respectively; Jessica Tovey from Home and Away and Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, which also featured Maynard; Anna McGahan from Underbelly: Razor and Todd Lasance, a long-time star of Home and Away, who has now been in Cloudstreet, Rescue Special Ops and Crownies.
The key creators behind three projects, the documentaries Breaking the News and I Am Eleven and the feature film Mad Bastards are nominated for the Independent Spirit Award.
The awards will be hosted by Eddie Perfect and are being held on November 16 at Sydney's Luna Park. The general public can buy tickets.
2011 IF Awards nominations
Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film
Face to Face
Director: Michael Rymer
Producer: Gabrielle Christopher, Leanne Hanley, Michael Rymer & David Williamson
Oranges and Sunshine
Director: Jim Loach
Producer: Emile Sherman, Camilla Bray, Iain Canning
Red Dog
Director: Kriv Stenders
Producer: Nelson Woss & Julie Ryan
The Eye of the Storm
Director: Fred Schepisi
Producer: Antony Waddington & Gregory Read
Destination NSW IF Award for Best Actor
Vince Colosimo, Luke Ford, Christopher Connelly, Matthew Newton, Robert Rabiah, Josh Saks Face to Face
David Wenham Oranges and Sunshine
Josh Lucas Red Dog
Geoffrey Rush The Eye of the Storm
Dinosaur Designs IF Award for Best Actress
Sigrid Thornton, Ra Chapman, Laura Gordon, Lauren Clair Face to Face
Emily Watson Oranges and Sunshine
Rachael Taylor Red Dog
Judy Davis The Eye of the Storm
IF Award for Best Direction
Michael Rymer Face to Face
Kriv Stenders Red Dog
Justin Kurzel Snowtown
AVID IF Award for Best Editing
Sasha Dylan Bell Face to Face
Dany Cooper Oranges and Sunshine
Jill Bilcock Red Dog
Veronika Jenet Snowtown
Dyson IF Award for Best Production Design
Melinda Doring Oranges and Sunshine
Ian Gracie Red Dog
Fiona Crombie Snowtown
IF Award for Best Cinematography
Geoff Hall Red Dog
Tim Hudson Red Hill
Adam Arkapaw Snowtown
IF Award for Best Music
David Hirschfelder Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Lisa Gerrard Oranges and Sunshine
Cezary Skubiszewski Red Dog
South Australian Film Corporation IF Award for Best Sound
Wayne Pashley Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Andrew Plain, Gethin Creagh, James Currie and John Hughes Oranges and Sunshine
Frank Lipson Snowtown
IF Award for Best Script
Michael Rymer Face to Face
Rona Munro Oranges and Sunshine
Daniel Taplitz Red Dog
Docklands Studios Melbourne IF Award for Contribution to Television
Peter Andrikidis
Mikael Borglund
Ewan Burnett
Michael Cordell
John Holmes
Claudia Karvan
Des Monaghan
David Mott
Rachel Perkins
Roger Simpson
The Out of the Box IF Award
Alison Bell
Blake Davis
Todd Lasance
Annie Maynard
Anna McGahan
Jessica Tovey
SAE Institute IF Award for Best Music Video
'Cameo Lover' by Kimbra
Director: Guy Franklin
Producer: Elizabeth Sarsfield
'Magic 'by Olivia Newton-John and WACCI
Director: Dan Murphy
Producer: WACCI
'Overpass' by The John Steele Singers
Director: Josh Groom
Producer: Diana Ward
National Film & Sound Archive Independent Spirit IF Award
Breaking the News
Director/Producer: Nicholas Hansen
I Am Eleven
Director/Producer: Genevieve Bailey
Mad Bastards
Director: Brendan Fletcher
Producer: David Jowsey, Alan Pigram, Stephen Pigram & Brendan Fletcher
AFTRS IF Award for Rising Talent
Julietta Boscolo
Zak Hilditch
Anthony Maras
IF Award for Best Documentary
I Am Eleven
Director/Producer: Genevieve Bailey
Mrs Carey's Concert
Director: Bob Connolly & Sophie Raymond
Producer: Helen Panckhurst
Orchids: My Intersex Adventure
Director/Producer: Phoebe Hart
Hackett Films IF Award for Best Short Documentary
Murder Mouth
Director: Madelein Parry
Producer: Daniel Joyce
Umoja: No Men Allowed
Director: Elizabeth Tadic
Producer: Elizabeth Tadic & Selene Alcock
We Were Here: The Map My Summer Film
Director: Amy Gebhardt
Producer: Allison Lockwood
IF Award for Best Short Animation
Nullabor
Directors: Patrick Sarell & Alister Lockhart
Producers: The Lampshade Collective: Katrina Mathers, Merrin Jensen, Patrick Sarell, Daryl Munton
Polo's Robot
Director: Peter Lowey
Producer: Melanie Brunt
The Missing Key
Director: Jonathan Nix
Producer: Anna McFarlane & Garth Nix
Holding Redlich IF Award for Best Short Film
Dik
Director: Chris Stollery
Producer: Sunny Grace
Toot Toot
Directors: Brendon Skinner, Simon Williams
Producer: Megan Huitema
When the Wind Changes
Director: Alethea Jones
Producers: Richard Davies & Veeran Naran
