The 51st Annual Australian Film Institute Awards ceremony, honouring the best in film and television acting achievements for 2009 in the

cinema of Australia The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internati ...

, took place over two nights on 5 December 2009 and 11 December 2009. During the ceremonies, the

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...

presented

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

(AFI awards) in 40 categories, including

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, and documentary. The ceremony was hosted by Julia Zemiro of SBS's '' RocKwiz''. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface; with nominees thereafter.

AFI Film Awards

AFI Young Actor Award

Marissa Gibson Marissa Gibson (born c. 1995) is an Australian actress. She played the central role of Delilah in the 2009 film ''Samson and Delilah''. The film won the Caméra d'Or award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and Best Film at the 2009 AFI Awards. G ...

Rowan McNamara Rowan McNamara is an Aboriginal Australian actor, best known for his role in ''Samson and Delilah Samson and Delilah are Biblical figures. Samson and Delilah may also refer to: In music * ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Sai ...

. ''Samson & Delilah'' ** Brandon Walters. ''Australia'' **

Sebastian Gregory Sebastian Gregory (born 3 March 1990) is an Australian actor and musician. He is a self-taught guitarist, drummer and songwriter, who formed a band called Menace when he was thirteen. After being spotted in his own music video, Gregory was signe ...

. ''Beautiful'' ** Toby Wallace. ''

Lucky Country ''The Lucky Country'' is a 1964 book by Donald Horne. The title has become a nickname for Australia and is generally used favourably, although the origin of the phrase was negative in the context of the book. Among other things, it has been use ...

AFI Highest Grossing Film Award

* ''

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

''. Marc Wooldridge, Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown, Catherine Knapman, Paul Watters, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, Richard Flanagan ** ''

Charlie & Boots ''Charlie & Boots'' is a 2009 Australian film starring Paul Hogan and Shane Jacobson. It had the best opening weekend for any Australian film in 2009 when it was released on Father's Day (1 September 2009). The film features many small towns in ...

''. Andrew Mackie, Michael Selwyn, David Redman, Dean Murphy, Shana Levine, Stewart Faichney ** '' Mao's Last Dancer''. Joel Pearlman, Troy Lum, Jane Scott, Bruce Beresford, Jan Sardi

AFI Television Awards

AFI Award for Best Television Drama Series

AFI Award for Best Telefeature, Mini-Series or Short-Run Series

AFI Award for Best Direction in Television

AFI Award for Best Screenplay in Television

AFI Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama

* Roy Billing. ''Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities''. Nine Network **

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

. ''3 Acts of Murder''. ABC1 **

Don Hany Don Hany (born 18 September 1975) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role in the series ''White Collar Blue'', Dr. Chris Havel in ''Offspring'', and the leading role of Zane Malik in the SBS series '' East West 101''. He is also ...

. ''East West 101'' (Season 2). SBS ** Dougray Scott. ''False Witness''. UKTV

AFI Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama

Susie Porter Susie Porter (born 1970 or 1971) is an Australian television, film and theatre actress. She made her debut in the 1996 film '' Idiot Box'', before rising to prominence in films including '' Paradise Road'' (1997), ''Welcome to Woop Woop'' (1997) ...

. ''East West 101'' (Season 2). SBS **

Rachael Blake Rachael Morelle Blake (born May 26, 1971) is an Australian actress. Early life Blake was born in Perth, Western Australia. At the age of 18 months, she moved to England with her English parents, only to return to Perth at age 11. Blake was b ...

. ''False Witness''. UKTV **

Rebecca Gibney Rebecca Catherine Gibney (born 14 December 1964) is a New Zealand actress known for her roles on Australian television in ''The Flying Doctors'', ''Halifax f.p.'', ''Packed to the Rafters'', ''Winter (TV series), Winter'' and ''Wanted (2016 Aus ...

. ''Packed to the Rafters''. Seven Network ** Asher Keddie. ''Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities''. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama

* Damian De Montemas. ''Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities'' (Episode 11, "The Brotherhood"). Nine Network ** Bille Brown. ''3 Acts of Murder''. ABC1 **

Jeremy Lindsay Taylor Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (born Sydney, 19 September 1973) is an Australian actor. Education He finished his education at Newington College in 1991 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in drama and sociology, from the Universi ...

. ''False Witness'' (Episode 2). UKTV ** Richard Roxburgh. ''False Witness'' (Episode 2). UKTV

AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama

* Anni Finsterer. ''3 Acts of Murder''. ABC1 **

Claire Forlani Claire Antonia Forlani (born 17 December 1971) is an English actress. She became known in the mid-1990s for her leading role in the film ''Mallrats'', and in the Jean-Michel Basquiat 1996 biopic, ''Basquiat''. In 1998, she achieved wide recog ...

. ''False Witness'' (Episode 1). UKTV **

Kathryn Beck Kathryn Beck (born 1 March 1986) is an Australian television and theatre actress. In 2007, she played Lily Nelson in the soap opera ''Home and Away'' and the following year, she appeared in ''East of Everything''. In 2013, Beck began appearing i ...

. ''Scorched''. Nine Network **

Kate Ritchie Katherine Leigh Ritchie is an Australian actress, radio presenter and children's author, she remains best known for her long-running role as original character Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera '' Home and Away'', for which she won tw ...

. ''Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities'' (Episode 4, "Business as Usual"). Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Children's Television Drama

* ''

The Elephant Princess ''The Elephant Princess'' is an Australian children's television series that first screened on Network Ten in 2008. The series is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions. A second season began screening in 2011. The series revolves around a ...

''. Jonathan M. Shiff, Joanna Werner. Network Ten ** ''

Time Trackers ''Time Trackers'' is a children's television series produced for the Seven Network in Australia and TV2 in New Zealand. The 13 half-hour episodes first screened in 2008. The series is a co-production of Gibson Group in New Zealand and Taylor Med ...

''. Sue Taylor, Donna Malane, Dave Gibson,

Paula Boock Paula Boock (born 1964) is a New Zealand writer and editor. Biography Born in Dunedin, Boock is a member of a sporting family. She is the sister of four brothers,

. Seven Network

AFI Award for Best Children's Television Animation

* ''Figaro Pho''. Luke Jurevicius. ABC1 ** ''The Adventures of Charlotte and Henry''. Paige Livingston. Seven Network ** ''Classic Tales''. Noel Price. ABC ** '' Zeke's Pad''. Avrill Stark, Delna Bhesania, Liz Scully, Leonard Terhoch. Seven Network

AFI Award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series

* '' Spicks and Specks''. Anthony Watt. ABC ** ''

The Gruen Transfer ''Gruen'' (previously known as ''The Gruen Transfer'') is an Australian television program focusing on advertising, which debuted on the ABC on 28 May 2008. The program is hosted by Wil Anderson and produced by Andrew Denton's production co ...

'' (Series 2). Andrew Denton, Anita Jacoby, Jon Casimir, Debbie Cuell. ABC ** '' RocKwiz''. Brian Nankervis, Ken Connor, Peter Bain-Hogg, Joe Connor. SBS

AFI Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy

* Phil Lloyd. ''Review with Myles Barlow''. ABC **

Robyn Butler Robyn Butler is an Australian writer, actress and producer who is best known for her starring role in the television comedy series '' The Librarians''. Butler hosted a radio program called ''Tough Love'' on the Triple M network. She is married to ...

. ''The Librarians'' (Series 2). ABC **

Kym Gyngell Kym Gyngell (born 15 April 1952), sometimes also credited as Kim Gyngell, is an Australian comedian and film, television and stage actor. Gyngell won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1988 for his role as ...

. ''Very Small Business''. ABC1 **

Wayne Hope Wayne Hope is an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer. Career Television Hope's acting career began in 1996, when he appeared on ''The Glynn Nicholas Show''. Some of his acting roles have been in the following shows: *'' The Gly ...

. ''Very Small Business''. ABC1

AFI Award for Best Television Comedy Series

* ''

Review with Myles Barlow ''Review with Myles Barlow'' is an Australian satirical black comedy television series which screened on Thursday nights on ABC2 and Friday nights on ABC 1. The series began screening on 16 October 2008. It is co-written and directed by Trent O' ...

''. Dean Bates. ABC ** ''

Chandon Pictures ''Chandon Pictures'' is an Australian comedy television series that premiered on Movie Extra on 10 November 2007 and ended on 7 May 2009. The series featured sixteen episodes and was a spin-off from a Tropfest short film produced by Rob Carlton ...

''.

Rob Carlton Rob Carlton (born 4 May 1971) is a Logie Award winning Australian actor and writer. He is best known for writing and starring in the comedy series ''Chandon Pictures''. He also had starring roles in the comedy satire ''The Hollowmen'' and the chi ...

. Movie Network ** ''

Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure ''Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a six-part Australian television comedy series, starring and primarily written by Melbourne comedian Lawrence Leung and produced by Chaser Broadcasting. The series was filmed over nine weeks fr ...

''. Nathan Earl, Andy Nehl, Craig Melville. ABC1 ** '' Very Small Business''.

, Robyn Butler. ABC1

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Television Screen Craft

* Luke Jurevicius. ''Figaro Pho''. For "Creative Excellence"

AFI Non-Feature Film Awards

AFI Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary

* '' Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts''.

Scott Hicks Scott Hicks may refer to: * Scott Hicks (basketball) (born 1966), American former college basketball coach * Scott Hicks (director) Robert Scott Hicks (born 4 March 1953), known as Scott, is an Australian film director, producer and screenwrit ...

, Susanne Preissler ** ''Bastardy''. Philippa Campey, Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Lynn-Maree Milburn, Andrew de Groot ** ''The Choir''. Chris Hilton, Michael Davie ** ''Lionel''. Lizzette Atkins

AFI Award for Best Direction in a Documentary

* ''The Choir''. Michael Davie ** ''Bastardy''.

Amiel Courtin-Wilson Amiel Courtin-Wilson is an Australian filmmaker. He has directed over 20 short films and several feature films. His debut feature film, ''Hail'', premiered internationally at Venice Film Festival in 2011. He is also a musician, music producer, a ...

** ''

First Australians ''First Australians'' is an Australian historical documentary series produced by Blackfella Films over the course of six years, and first aired on SBS TV in October 2008. The documentary is part of a greater project that further consists of a ...

'' (Episode 4, "There is No Other Law"). Rachel Perkins. SBS ** ''The Love Market''. Shalom Almond. National Geographic

AFI Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary

* ''Cracking the Colour Code'' (Episode 2, "Making Colours"). Ian Batt, Vincent Fooy. SBS ** ''Beyond Kokoda'' ("Buying Time"). Stig Schnell, Shaun Gibbons, Brett Murphy, Ben Nunney. Foxtel ** ''My Asian Heart''. David Bradbury ** ''

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

''. Murray Fredericks. ABC

AFI Award for Best Editing in a Documentary

* ''How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer''. Zen Rosenthal. ABC ** ''Bastardy''. Bill Murphy, Jack Hutchings, Richard Lowenstein ** ''Cracking the Colour Code'' (Episode 2, "Making Colours"). Lawrie Silvestrin. SBS ** ''Yes Madam, Sir''. Megan Doneman, Annie Collins

AFI Award for Best Sound in a Documentary

* ''Intangible Asset Number 82''. Matthew Ferris, Michael Gissing, Andrew McGrath ** ''The Choir''. Sam Hayward, Phil Judd, Felicity Fox, Alli Heynes, Phil Vail, David White ** ''Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts''. Stephen R. Smith, Peter Smith, Tom Heuzenroeder, Adrian Medhurst ** ''Lionel''. Nick Batterham, Keith Thomas,

Cezary Skubiszewski Cezary Skubiszewski is a Polish-born Australian film and television composer. Among others, he has composed film scores for '' Red Dog'', '' Two Hands'', '' The Sapphires'', and TV series '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''. Career Skubiszewski first m ...

AFI Award for Best Documentary Under One Hour

* ''Solo''.

Jennifer Peedom Jennifer Peedom is a BAFTA-nominated Australian director. Her documentary ''Solo'' (co-directed with David Michôd) won the 2009 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Documentary in Under One Hour. Her film ''Sherpa'', which was filmed ...

. ABC1 ** ''The Love Market''. Shalom Almond. National Geographic ** ''

''. Michael Angus. ABC ** ''Tackling Peace''. Marc Radomsky. Network Ten

AFI Award for Best Documentary Series

* ''

''. Darren Dale, Rachel Perkins, Helen Panckhurst. SBS ** ''Beyond Kokoda''. Stig Schnell, Shaun Gibbons. Foxtel ** ''Once Bitten''. Beth Frey, Janette Howe. SBS ** ''Voices from the Cape''. David Selvarajah Vadiveloo, Anna Kaplan. ABC1

AFI Award for Best Short Animation

* '' The Cat Piano''. Jessica Brentnall, Eddie White, Ari Gibson ** ''Chicken of God''. Jodi Satya, Frank Woodley ** ''The Not-so-Great Eugene Green''. Melanie Brunt, Michael Hill ** ''Reach''. Luke Randall

AFI Award for Best Short Fiction Film

* ''

Miracle Fish ''Miracle Fish'' is a 2009 Australian short film. It was written, directed, and edited by Luke Doolan, and produced by Drew Bailey. The film stars Karl Beattie, Brendan Donoghue and Tara Morice. It was nominated for Best Live Action Short at the ...

''. Drew Bailey, Luke Doolan ** ''Burn''. Anna Kaplan, David Selvarajah Vadiveloo ** ''Liebermans in the Sky''. Jessica Redenbach, Richard Vilensky ** ''Water''. Sarah Shaw, Corrie Jones

AFI Award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film

* ''

''. Luke Doolan ** ''Boxer''. Michael Latham ** ''Liebermans in the Sky''. Richard Vilensky ** ''Water''. Corrie Jones, Sarah Shaw, Ian Meadows

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Short Film Screen Craft

* Andrew McLeod. ''Water''. For "Cinematography"

AFI Special Film Awards

Byron Kennedy Award

* Ray Brown

News Limited Readers' Choice Award

* '' Mao's Last Dancer''. Jane Scott ** ''

''. Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown, Catherine Knapman ** ''

''. David Redman, Dean Murphy, Shana Levine ** '' Samson & Delilah''. Kath Shelper

AFI International Award for Best Actor

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

. '' State of Play'' ** Martin Henderson. ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

''. Network Ten **

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

. ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

''. Nine Network ** Guy Pearce. ''

Bedtime Stories A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep. The bedtime story has long been considered "a definite institution in many families".Dickson, Marguerite Stockma ...

AFI International Award for Best Actress

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, includ ...

. ''

United States of Tara ''United States of Tara'' is an American television comedy-drama created by Diablo Cody, which aired on Showtime from 2009 to 2011. The series follows the life of Tara (Toni Collette), a suburban artist and mother coping with dissociative identit ...

''. ABC1 ** Rose Byrne. '' Damages''. Foxtel **

Melissa George Melissa George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian actress and entrepreneur. A former national artistic rollerskating champion and model, George began her acting career playing Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993– ...

. '' In Treatment''. Foxtel ** Mia Wasikowska. ''In Treatment''. Foxtel

AFI Members' Choice Award

* '' Samson & Delilah''. Kath Shelper ** ''

''. Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown, Catherine Knapman ** ''

Balibo Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately from the Indonesian border. It is located in the subdistrict of Balibo, Bobonaro District. It was estimated by Human Rights Watch that 70 per cent of the town was destroyed during th ...

''. John Maynard, Rebecca Williamson ** ''

Beautiful Kate ''Beautiful Kate'' is a 2009 Australian drama film directed by Rachel Ward and starring Ben Mendelsohn, Rachel Griffiths, Bryan Brown, Maeve Dermody and Sophie Lowe. Ward adapted the script from a 1982 novel of the same name by Newton Thornburg; ...

''. Leah Churchill-Brown, Bryan Brown ** '' Mao's Last Dancer''. Jane Scott ** '' Mary and Max''. Melanie Coombs

AFI Visual Effects Award

* ''

''. Chris Godfrey, James E. Price, Andy Brown, Rob Duncan ** ''Death of the Megabeasts''. Matt Drummond, Mike Dunn ** ''Plastic''. Sandy Widyanata, Eric So, Mathew Mackereth, Christopher Jackson ** ''Scorched''. Bertrand Polivka, Soren Jensen. Nine Network

AFI International Award for Excellence in Filmmaking

* Nathan McGuinness. Senior Visual Effects Supervisor. ''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'', ''The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3'', ''Terminator: Salvation'', ''The Unborn'', ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''

AFI Outstanding Achievement Dinner

The following two AFI Awards were presented at the AFI Outstanding Achievement Dinner in August.

AFI Raymond Longford Award

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy ...

AFI Award for Screen Content Innovation

* ''Gallipoli: The First Day''. Sam Doust, Meena Tharmarajah, Astrid Scott ** ''Forlorn Gaze''. Sarah-Jane Woulahan ** ''Scarygirl''. Sophie Byrne, Nathan Jurevicius ** ''Scorched''. Ellenor Cox, Marcus Gillezeau {{Australian Film Institute Awards

Film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

A A AFI AFI