'The New Boy', 'Talk to Me', 'Deadloch' and 'Colin From Accounts' Just Scored a Heap of 2023 AACTA Award Nominations

Among Australia's most applauded movies of 2023, Warwick Thornton teaming up with Cate Blanchett, a thrilling horror debut and an extremely personal story about resilience have topped the nominations for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. On TV, a stellar media drama, excellent page-to-screen hit, glorious rom-com and the latest from The Kates have achieved the same feat. Yes, it's been a good year on screens big and small Down Under.

That means that The New Boy (12 nominations), Talk to Me (11), Shayda (nine), The Newsreader (15), The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (12), Colin From Accounts (ten) and Deadloch (ten) all lead the way at Australia's annual accolades for the best movies and TV shows of the past year. The winners will be revealed in 2024, on Thursday, February 8 and Saturday, February 10, 2024 at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast, in tandem with a brand-new four-day festival also celebrating Aussie film and television.

Previously called the AFI Awards, the AACTA Awards have spread the love to a heap of other productions, giving the aforementioned titles a heap of company. In the Best Film field, Of an Age, Sweet As and The Royal Hotel are up against Shayda,
Talk to Me and The New Boy. Also on the big screen, the Best Indie Film category spans A Savage Christmas, Limbo, Monolith
Streets of Colour, The Rooster and The Survival of Kindness.

Among TV's big hitters, Best Drama Series spans Bay of Fires, Black Snow, Bump, Erotic Stories, Love Me and The Newsreader — and Best Narrative Comedy Series features Colin From Accounts, Deadloch, Fisk, Gold Diggers, Upright and Utopia. And, for shows that only run for one season, Best Miniseries covers Bad Behaviour, In Our Blood, Safe Home, The Clearing, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and While The Men Are Away.

Need something to watch over the holidays? You can also consider the 2023 AACTA Award nominations a list of must-see homegrown movies and TV shows, with everything from tender queer coming-of-age tales, outback thrillers and noir-ish detective stories to family-focused comedies, relationship dramas and jumps to the past covered.

Among the highlights, the Best Director field overflows with talent, including Jub Clerc for Sweet As, Kitty Green for The Royal Hotel, Noora Niasari for Shayda, Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou for Talk to Me,  Goran Stolevski for Of an Age and Warwick Thornton for The New Boy — but the same can be said for every category.

And yes, the Matildas even earned some love, as they have been everywhere in 2023, this time for engaging documentary series Matildas: The World at Our Feet.

Here's a selection of this year's major AACTA nominations, ahead of the awards' ceremonies on Thursday, February 8 and Saturday, February 10, 2024 at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast — and you can check out the full list on AACTA's website:

AACTA NOMINEES 2023:

FILM AWARDS:

BEST FILM

Of an Age
Shayda
Sweet As
Talk to Me
The New Boy
The Royal Hotel

BEST INDIE FILM

A Savage Christmas
Limbo
Monolith
Streets of Colour
The Rooster
The Survival of Kindness

BEST DIRECTION

Jub Clerc, Sweet As
Kitty Green, The Royal Hotel
Noora Niasari, Shayda,
Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou, Talk to Me
Goran Stolevski, Of an Age
Warwick Thornton, The New Boy

BEST LEAD ACTRESS

Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Shayda
Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Sweet As
Cate Blanchett, The New Boy
Julia Garner, The Royal Hotel
Sarah Snook, Run Rabbit Run
Sophie Wilde, Talk to Me

BEST LEAD ACTOR

Elias Anton, Of an Age
Simon Baker, Limbo
Thom Green, Of an Age
Phoenix Raei, The Rooster
Aswan Reid, The New Boy
Osamah Sami, Shayda

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Alex Jensen, Talk to Me
Deborah Mailman, The New Boy
Tasma Walton, Sweet As
Mia Wasikowska, Blueback
Ursula Yovich, The Royal Hotel
Selina Zahednia, Shayda

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mojean Aria, Shayda
Eric Bana, Blueback
Wayne Blair, The New Boy
Rob Collins, Limbo
Zoe Terakes, Talk to Me
Hugo Weaving, The Rooster

BEST SCREENPLAY

Kitty Green, Oscar Redding, The Royal Hotel
Noora Niasari, Shayda
Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman, Talk to Me
Goran Stolevski, Of an Age
Warwick Thornton, The New Boy

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story
Harley & Katya
John Farnham: Finding the Voice
The Dark Emu Story
The Giants
The Last Daughter
This Is Going to Be Big
To Never Forget

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carl Allison, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism
Sherwin Akbarzadeh, Shayda
Aaron McLisky, Talk to Me
Katie Milwright, Sweet As
Warwick Thornton, The New Boy

BEST EDITING

Dany Cooper, Carmen
Katie Flaxman, Sweet As
Geoff Lamb, Talk to Me
Michelle McGilvray, Matt Villa, Courtney Teixera, Scarygirl
Nick Meyers, The New Boy

BEST SHORT FILM

An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It
Ashes
Finding Addison
Jia
Mud Crab
Not Dark Yet

TELEVISION AWARDS:

BEST DRAMA SERIES

Bay of Fires
Black Snow
Bump
Erotic Stories
Love Me
The Newsreader

BEST NARRATIVE COMEDY SERIES

Colin From Accounts
Deadloch
Fisk
Gold Diggers
Upright
Utopia

BEST MINISERIES

Bad Behaviour
In Our Blood
Safe Home
The Clearing
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
While The Men Are Away

BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA

Tim Draxl, In Our Blood
Travis Fimmel, Black Snow
Joel Lago, Erotic Stories
Sam Reid, The Newsreader
Richard Roxburgh, Bali 2002
Hugo Weaving, Love Me

BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA

Kate Box, Erotic Stories
Aisha Dee, Safe Home
Bojana Novakovic, Love Me
Teresa Palmer, The Clearing
Anna Torv, The Newsreader
Sigourney Weaver, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

BEST ACTING IN A COMEDY

Celeste Barber, Wellmania
Kate Box, Deadloch
Patrick Brammall, Colin From Accounts
Harriet Dyer, Colin From Accounts
Kitty Flanagan, Fisk
Nina Oyama, Deadloch
Helen Thomson, Colin From Accounts
Julia Zemiro, Fisk

BEST COMEDY PERFORMER

Tom Gleeson, Hard Quiz
Jim Jefferies, The 1% Club
Luke McGregor, Taskmaster Australia
Rhys Nicholson, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under
Nina Oyama, Taskmaster Australia
Charlie Pickering, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering
Natalie Tran, The Great Australian Bake Off
Cal Wilson, The Great Australian Bake Off

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA

Alycia Debnam-Carey, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
Marg Downey, The Newsreader
Michelle Lim Davidson, The Newsreader
Heather Mitchell, Love Me
Leah Purcell, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
Brooke Satchwell, Black Snow

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA

Tim Draxl, Erotic Stories
Alexander England, Black Snow
William McInnes, The Newsreader
Bob Morley, Love Me
Hunter Page-Lochard, The Newsreader
Guy Pearce, The Clearing

BEST DIRECTION IN A DRAMA OR COMEDY

Ben Chessell, Deadloch (episode one)
Emma Freeman, The Newsreader (episode four)
Glendyn Ivin, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode one)
Matt Moore, Colin From Accounts (episode six)
Trent O'Donnell, Colin From Accounts (episode three)

BEST DIRECTION IN NON-FICTION TELEVISION

Katie Bender Wynn, Matildas: The World at Our Feet (episode two)
Stamatia Maroupas, Queerstralia (episode one)
Josh Martin, Adam and Poh's Great Australian Bites (episode one)
Rachel Perkins, Dylan River, Tov Belling, The Australian Wars (episode one)
Henry Stone, Aaron Chen: If Weren't Filmed, Nobody Would Believe

BEST SCREENPLAY IN TELEVISION

Patrick Brammall, Colin From Accounts (episode six)
Harriet Dyer, Colin From Accounts (episode three)
Kate McCartney, Kate McLennan, Deadloch (episode one)
Adrian Russell Wills, The Newsreader (episode four)
Lucas Taylor, Black Snow (episode one)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN TELEVISION

Sam Chiplin, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode one)
Earle Dresner, The Newsreader (episode four)
Aaron Farrugia, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe (episode one)
Tania Lambert, Erotic Stories (episode two)
Katie Milwright, Deadloch (episode one)

BEST EDITING IN TELEVISION

Peter Bennett, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe (episode one)
Danielle Boesenberg, Colin From Accounts (episode three)
Angie Higgins, Deadloch (episode one)
Angie Higgins, The Newsreader (episode four)
Deborah Peart, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode one)
Deborah Peart, Dany Cooper, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode six)

BEST ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM

Dancing with the Stars
Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Lego Masters: Grand Masters
Mastermind
The 1% Club
The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition

BEST COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM

Hard Quiz
RocKwiz
Taskmaster Australia
Thank God You're Here
The Cheap Seats
The Weekly with Charlie Pickering

BEST FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM

Alone Australia
Gogglebox Australia
Kitchen Cabinet
Old People's Home for Teenagers
Take 5 with Zan Rowe
Who The Bloody Hell Are We?

BEST DOCUMENTARY OR FACTUAL PROGRAM

Matildas: The World at Our Feet
Ningaloo Nyinggulu
Queerstralia
The Australian Wars
War on Waste
Who Do You Think You Are

BEST CHILDREN'S PROGRAM

Barrumbi Kids
Beep and Mort
Bluey
Crazy Fun Park
The PM's Daughter
Turn Up the Volume

BEST STANDUP SPECIAL

Aaron Chen: If Weren't Filmed, Nobody Would Believe
Celeste Barber: Fine, thanks
Hannah Gadsby: Something Special
Jim Jefferies: High & Dry
Lizzy Hoo: Hoo Cares!?
Rhys Nicholson's Big Queer Comedy Concert

BEST LIFESTYLE PROGRAM

Adam and Poh's Great Australian Bites
Gardening Australia
Grand Designs Australia
Love It or List It Australia
Selling Houses Australia
The Great Australian Bake Off

BEST REALITY PROGRAM

Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains
FBOY Island Australia
Hunted Australia
MasterChef Australia
Real Housewives of Sydney
RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under

BEST ONLINE DRAMA OR COMEDY

Appetite
Latecomers
Me & Her(pes)
Monologue
The Disposables
The Future of Everything