'Talk to Me', 'The Newsreader' and 'Deadloch' Just Earned a Heap of Love at the 2024 AACTA Awards

Just over 12 months ago, in January 2023, Danny and Michael Philippou's Talk to Me screened at the Sundance Film Festival. From there, it was picked up by A24, released to hefty crowds and fanfare midyear, and collected 11 nominations from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. Now, at the Aussie organisation's night of nights, the homegrown horror hit has won eight accolades, the most of any movie — including Best Film of 2023, plus Best Director for the RackaRacka YouTubers-turned-filmmakers.

It's official: Talk to Me is the top Australian flick of the past year, a huge feat not only for a horror movie but for the Philippou brothers' first feature. In the film categories, it had company from Warwick Thornton's The New Boy, which picked up four awards from 12 nominations. A heap of other pictures collected a prize each: Noora Niasari's Shayda, with one win from nine nods; The Rooster, with one from four; Ivan Sen's Limbo, Carmen and John Farnham: Finding the Voice, each with one from three; and Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story and The Giants, with one from two apiece.

That's an impressive spread, including the Best Actress accolade going to Talk to Me's Sophie Wilde, Best Actor to The New Boy's Aswan Reid, Best Supporting Actress to Deborah Mailman for the latter film and Best Supporting Actor to The Rooster's Hugo Weaving.

The AACTAs aren't just about the big screen, however, also rewarding the year's best TV efforts. There, The Newsreader and Deadloch each picked up five awards — including Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan nabbing Best Screenplay in Television for writing Deadloch. Across the small-screen fields, they were joined by fellow big winners Colin From Accounts, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and Love Me.

The hefty affair, which was held on Saturday, February 10 on the Gold Coast for the first time amid a four-day AACTA Festival, also found more than one way to give Margot Robbie and Barbie some love. Cue Robbie receiving the annual Trailblazer Award, plus the Audience Choice Award for Favourite Actress. Also among the public's picks was Barbie for Favourite Film.

And, the list of gongs goes on — for Robbie and Barbie, and in general, with International Awards also handed out. Succession,
The Bear, Oppenheimer, Poor Things: they all earned a shiny trophy or two as well.

Here's the full rundown:

AACTA Nominees and Winners 2024:

Film Awards:

Best Film

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

Best Indie Film

A Savage Christmas
Limbo — WINNER
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 — WINNER
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 — WINNER

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 — WINNER
Osamah Sami, Shayda

Best Supporting Actress

Alex Jensen, Talk to Me
Deborah Mailman, The New Boy — WINNER
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 — WINNER

Best Screenplay

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

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 — WINNER

Best Editing

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

Best Casting in Film

Run Rabbit Run
Shayda — WINNER
Sweet As
The New Boy
The Royal Hotel

Best Costume Design

Blueback
Carmen — WINNER
Seriously Red
The New Boy
The Rooster

Best Original Score

Blueback
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism
Suka
Talk to Me — WINNER
The Big Dog

Best Production Design

Carmen
Scarygirl
The New Boy — WINNER
The Portable Door
True Spirit

Best Sound

Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism
Scarygirl
Seriously Red
Talk to Me — WINNER
Three Chords and the Truth

Best Short Film

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

Documentary Awards:

Best Documentary

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

Best Cinematography in a Documentary

Australia's Wild Odyssey
Shackleton: The Greatest Story of Survival
The Dark Emu Story
The Giants — WINNER
This Is Going To Be Big

Best Editing in a Documentary

Because We Have Each Other
Folau
Harley & Katya
Queerstralia
The Australian Wars — WINNER

Best Original Score in a Documentary

John Farnham: Finding The Voice
Kindred
Splice Here: A Projected Odyssey
The Dark Emu Story — WINNER
Under Cover

Best Sound in a Documentary

Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story — WINNER
John Farnham: Finding The Voice
Kindred
Memory Film — A Filmmaker's Diary
The Dark Emu Story

Television Awards:

Best Drama Series

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

Best Narrative Comedy

Colin From Accounts — WINNER
Deadloch
Fisk
Gold Diggers
Upright
Utopia

Best Miniseries

Bad Behaviour
In Our Blood
Safe Home
The Clearing
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart — WINNER
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 — WINNER

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 — WINNER
Sigourney Weaver, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

Best Acting in a Comedy

Celeste Barber, Wellmania
Kate Box, Deadloch — WINNER
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 — WINNER

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 — WINNER
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 — WINNER
Guy Pearce, The Clearing

Best Direction in a Drama or Comedy

Ben Chessell, Deadloch (episode one)
Emma Freeman, The Newsreader (episode four) — WINNER
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) — WINNER
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) — WINNER
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) — WINNER
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) — WINNER
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 — WINNER
Lego Masters: Grand Masters
Mastermind
The 1% Club
The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition

Best Comedy Entertainment Program

Hard Quiz — WINNER
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 — WINNER
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 — WINNER
War on Waste
Who Do You Think You Are

Best Children's Program

Barrumbi Kids
Beep and Mort
Bluey — WINNER
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 — WINNER
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 — WINNER
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 — WINNER
Real Housewives of Sydney
RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under

Best Casting in Television

Colin From Accounts
Deadloch — WINNER
Safe Home
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
The Newsreader

Best Costume Design in Television

Ten Pound Poms (episode one)
The Claremont Murders (episode one)
The Clearing (episode one)
The Newsreader (episode four) — WINNER
While the Men Are Away (episode two)

Best Original Score in Television

Bad Behaviour (episode one)
Deadloch (episode one) — WINNER
Fisk (episode four)
In Limbo (episode one)
RFDS (episode five)

Best Production Design in Television

Beep and Mort (episode two)
Black Snow (episode one)
Deadloch (episode one)
Gold Diggers (episode three)
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode one) — WINNER
The Newsreader (episode four)

Best Sound in Television

Black Snow (episode six)
Last King of the Cross (episode four)
The Clearing (episode one)
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode six) — WINNER
The Newsreader (episode six)

Best Online Drama or Comedy

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

AACTA Audience Awards:

Audience Choice Award for Favourite TV Show

Ginny & Georgia — WINNER
My Life with the Walter Boys
Outer Banks
The Kardashians
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Young Sheldon

Audience Choice Award for Favourite Film

Barbie — WINNER
Mean Girls
Saltburn
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Wonka

Audience Choice Award for Favourite Actress

Jenna Ortega
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Lawrence
Margot Robbie — WINNER
Millie Bobby Brown
Sydney Sweeney

Audience Choice Award for Favourite Actor

Adam Sandler — WINNER
Chris Hemsworth
Jacob Elordi
Ryan Gosling
Timothėe Chalamet
Vin Diesel

Audience Choice Award for Favourite Australian Media Personality

Abbie Chatfield
Chloe Hayden
Em Rusciano
Jimmy Rees
Shameless Podcast
Sophie Monk — WINNER

Audience Choice Award for Favourite Australian Digital Creator

Anna Paul @anna..paull
Bridey Drake @brideydrake
Georgia Productions @georgia
Indy Clinton @indyclinton
Kat Clark and family @katclark — WINNER
Luke and Sassy Scott @lukeandsassyscott
Maddy MacRae @maddy_macrae_
Sofia Ligeros @sofialigeros

Audience Choice Award for Favourite Australian Sporting Moment

AFL: Carlton reach the finals
AFL: Grand Final Collingwood vs Brisbane
F1: Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1
Netball: Australian Diamonds win Netball World Cup
NRL: Grand Final Panthers vs Broncos
Soccer: Matilda's World Cup run — WINNER

AACTA International Awards:

AACTA International Award for Best Drama Series

Beef
Succession — WINNER
The Crown
The Last of Us
Yellowjackets

AACTA International Award for Best Comedy Series

Only Murders in the Building
Sex Education
Ted Lasso
The Bear — WINNER
The Marvellous Mrs Maisel

AACTA International Award for Best Actor in a Series

Kieran Culkin, Succession
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Jeremy Strong, Succession
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear — WINNER

AACTA International Award for Best Actress in a Series

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Helen Mirren, 1923
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Sarah Snook, Succession — WINNER
Ali Wong, Beef

AACTA International Award for Best Film

American Fiction
Barbie — WINNER
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

AACTA International Award for Best Direction in Film

Greta Gerwig, Barbie
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer — WINNER
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor in Film

Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer — WINNER
Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actress in Film

Cate Blanchett, The New Boy
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Margot Robbie, Barbie — WINNER
Emma Stone, Poor Things

AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor in Film

Matt Damon, Oppenheimer
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer
Jacob Elordi, Saltburn
Ryan Gosling, Barbie — WINNER

AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film

Penélope Cruz, Ferrari
Vanessa Kirby, Napoleon — WINNER
Julianne Moore, May December
Rosamund Pike, Saltburn
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay in Film

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Tony McNamara, Poor Things — WINNER

The 2024 AACTA Awards were announced on Saturday, February 10. For further details, head to the awards' website.