The nominees for the 50th Australian Film Institute Awards were announced in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia, on 29 October 2008. The nominees for '' Best Documentary, Best Short Fiction Film, and Best Short Animation'' were announced on 7 August 2008.

Feature Film Awards

Best Film

*'' The Black Balloon'' *''

The Jammed ''The Jammed'' is a 2007 film written and directed by Dee McLachlan. The film is a story about human trafficking and the sex slave trade in Melbourne, and the search for three girls trapped by a trafficking syndicate. Court transcripts and actu ...

'' *'' The Square'' *''

Unfinished Sky ''Unfinished Sky'' is a 2007 drama film written and directed by Peter Duncan. William McInnes stars as John Woldring, an Australian farmer living in self-imposed exile after his wife's death, who rescues and protects Tahmeena, played by Monic H ...

Best Actor

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young (Neighbours), Mike Young in ...

– ''

Death Defying Acts ''Death Defying Acts'' is a 2007 supernatural romance film, directed by Gillian Armstrong, and starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It concerns an episode in the life of Hungarian- American escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of ...

'' *

Rhys Wakefield Rhys Wakefield is an Australian actor and director, known for his roles in Australian TV series ''Home and Away'', the feature film ''The Black Balloon'' (2008) and in season 3 of HBO's ''True Detective'' in 2019. Wakefield's debut feature f ...

– '' The Black Balloon'' *

David Roberts David or Dave Roberts may refer to: Arts and literature * David Roberts (painter) (1796–1864), Scottish painter * David Roberts (art collector), Scottish contemporary art collector * David Roberts (novelist), English editor and mystery writer ...

– '' The Square'' *

William McInnes Daryl William Mathew Gabriel McInnes (born 10 September 1963) is an Australian film and television actor and writer. He portrayed the role of Matt Tivolli in '' The Time of Our Lives''. He is best known for his roles as Senior Constable Nick S ...

– ''

Best Actress

Emma Lung Emma Lung (born 14 January 1982) is an Australian actress. Early life and education Born in Sydney, Lung's father is half-Chinese; his father (Emma's paternal grandfather) was born near Beijing. Lung's mother is Scottish and French. Growing up ...

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Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stag ...

– '' Bitter & Twisted'' *

Monic Hendrickx Monic Hendrickx (born 3 December 1966 in Sint Anthonis) is a Dutch actress. She has won several awards during her career including four Golden Calf awards for Best Actress at the Nederlands Film Festival, the Jury Award at the 2001 Newport Beach ...

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Veronica Sywak Veronica Sywak is an Australian actress. She was born in Sydney, Australia. Biography Sywak's film career began to gain momentum in 2007 when she landed the lead role in the Australian film ''The Jammed'', for which she received an IF Award no ...

– ''

Best Supporting Actor

Luke Ford Luke Ford (born 26 March 1981) is a Canadian-Australian actor. His career began in television in 2000 and his first film role was in 2006 before being cast in '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' in 2008. Ford's regular television roles ...

– '' The Black Balloon'' *

Erik Thomson Erik Thomson is a Scottish-born New Zealand-Australian actor. He is known for playing Hades in the television series ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', ''Xena Warrior Princess'' and ''Young Hercules'', Dr. Mitch Stevens in '' All Saints'' an ...

– '' The Black Balloon'' * Anthony Hayes – '' The Square'' *

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the ''Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised i ...

– '' The Square''

Non-Feature Awards

Best Documentary

*''

Beyond Our Ken ''Beyond Our Ken'' is a BBC radio comedy programme first broadcast between 1958 and 1964. It starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee, and, as announcer, Douglas Smith. The title is a play on the ...

''Australian Film Institute Award for Best Documentary Nominees
. Retrieved 1 October 2008. *''

Not Quite Hollywood ''Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!'' is a 2008 Australian documentary film about the Australian New Wave of 1970s and 1980s low-budget cinema. The film was written and directed by Mark Hartley, who interviewed over ei ...

'' *'' The Oasis'' *''Rare Chicken Rescue''

Best Short Animation

*''

Chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruning, ...

''Australian Film Institute Award for Best Short Animation Nominees
. Retrieved 1 October 2008. *''Dog With Electric Collar'' *'' Mutt'' *''PaperCityArchitects''

Best Short Fiction

*''

Four 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

''Australian Film Institute Award for Best Short Fiction Nominees
. Retrieved 1 October 2008. *''The Ground Beneath'' *''

Jerrycan A jerrycan (also written as jerry can or jerrican) is a robust liquid container made from pressed steel (and more recently, high density polyethylene). It was designed in Germany in the 1930s for military use to hold of fuel, and saw widesp ...

'' *''My Rabbit Hoppy''

Controversies and comments

AFI Website "contenders"

On the website of the Australian Film Institute, it listed 25 expected nominees for the ''Best Film'' category. The 25 contenders were: *''

All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane ''All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane'' is a 2007 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Louise Alston and written by Stephen Vagg. It follows Anthea, a 25-year-old girl who hates her job and has to sit back and watch as all her friends mo ...

'' *''Bitter and Twisted'' *'' Black Water'' *''

Cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

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Children of the Silk Road ''The Children of Huang Shi'' (Chinese: ; working title: ''The Bitter Sea'', also known as ''Escape from Huang Shi'' and ''Children of the Silk Road'') is a 2008 historical war drama film directed by Roger Spottiswoode, and starring Jonathan Rhy ...

'' *''

'' *''Five Moments of Infidelity'' *''

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

'' *''Green Fire Envy'' *''

Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger ''Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger'' is a 2008 Australian independent teen film written and directed by Cathy Randall. It stars Danielle Catanzariti, Keisha Castle-Hughes and Toni Collette. The film follows Jewish 13-year-old Esther (Catanzariti) ...

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Men's Group ''Men's Group'' is a 2008 Australian drama film. The film is directed by Michael Joy from a screenplay co-written with John L. Simpson. Plot The film follows the lives of six men over a period of months as they convene weekly in a self-help s ...

'' *''

Punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...

'' *''Rats and Cats'' *''

Salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

'' *''September'' *''Ten Empty'' *'' The Black Balloon'' *''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

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The Plex ''The Plex'' is a 2008 Australian film directed by Tim Boyle and starring Matt Doran, Jason Crewes and Samantha Turner. The film premiered on 4 September 2008. Synopsis AJ lives an unsatisfactory life as an usher at the local Multiplex cinema ...

'' *'' The Square'' *''

The Tender Hook ''The Tender Hook'' is a 2008 Australian film noir directed by Jonathan Ogilvie and starring Hugo Weaving, Rose Byrne and Matthew Le Nevez. The film was retitled ''The Boxer and the Bombshell'' for its North American DVD release. Plot synops ...

'' *'' The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark'' *''

Three Blind Mice "Three Blind Mice" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 306. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number o ...

'' *''

References

Australian Film Institute Awards ceremonies 2008 in Australian cinema {{film-award-stub