The Longford Lyell Award is a lifetime achievement award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is "to identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television." The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for technical achievements in feature film, television, documentaries and short films. From 1968 to 2010, the award was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the Academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards). When the AFI launched the Academy in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current award being a continuum of the AFI Raymond Longford Award.
Originally named after Australian prolific producer, director, writer and actor Raymond Longford (1878–1959), the award recognises "a person who has shown an unwavering commitment over many years to excellence in the film and television industries and has, through their body of work to date, contributed substantially to the enrichment of Australian screen culture", and is the highest honour the Academy bestows. In 2015, the name of the award was changed to Longford Lyell Award in recognition of Longford's creative and life partner, actress and filmmaker Lottie Lyell.
Recipients of this award are film and television directors, directors, producers, actors, cinematographers and film editors. People of Australian origin dominate the list, but European-born Australian citizens have also been recognised. The award was first presented to film director and editor Ian Dunlop. The award has also been made posthumously to actor John Meillon in 1989 who died that year.
Recipients Year Image Name Country of origin Notes Ref(s) AFI Raymond Longford Award 1968 Director 1970 Director, producer 1976 Director 1977 Director, producer, writer 1978 Filmmaker Filmmaker Filmmaker 1979 Founding Director of AFTRS 1980 Director 1981 Producer, journalist 1982 Animator 1983 Film technician 1984 Exhibitor, distributor 1985 Actor 1986 Federal Minister & first Chairman of AFTRS 1987 First Director of NSW Film Corp 1988 Cinematographer 1989 Actor 1990 Director 1991 Director 1992 Director 1993 Producer 1994 Actor 1995 Director 1997 Producer 1998 Actor 1999 Exhibitor, distributor 2000 Producer 2001 Film critic 2002 Producer 2003 Writer, producer, director, choreographer 2004 Producer 2005 Actor 2006 Writer, producer, director 2007 Producer 2008 Dione Gilmour Natural History filmmaker 2009 Actor 2010 Broadcaster, producer, entrepreneur Raymond Longford Award 2012 Cinematographer 2013 Producer 2014 Actress Longford Lyell Award 2015 Writer, producer Actress 2016 Actor 2017 Director 2018 Actor 2019 Actor 2021 Actor 2022 Costume & production designer 2025 Working Dog Productions (founded by , , , , and ) Production company 2026 Director
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