The Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA, or Auscritic), formerly known as Melbourne Film Critics' Forum, is an Australian professional association for film critics, reviewers and journalists who work in the media, based in Melbourne. It is a member of the International Federation of Film Critics. The organisation is known for its film and writing awards, formerly Australian Film Critics Association or AFCA Awards, now known as Auscritic Awards. They are awarded annually in many categories.
History Formed in 1996, AFCA began as the Melbourne Film Critics' Forum, expanding to a national organisation in 2004. In the same year, AFCA became an Australian representative of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), which comprises the national organisations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world. FIPRESCI has members in more than 50 countries worldwide. AFCA helped to establish the first FIPRESCI jury at the Adelaide Film Festival.
AFCA's members, several of whom contribute to internationally recognised media outlets, are professional film critics, film reviewers and film journalists, from all media forums, who provide informed discussion, analysis and comment on Australian and world cinema. Here are some of them (past and present): Adam Ross, Lachlan Marks, Alan James, Laura Bennett, Alex Thomas, Lawrence Barber, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Lee Zachariah, Lisa Thatcher, Ashley Beks, Luke Buckmaster, Marcella Papandrea, Bede Jermyn, Madeleine Swain, Mark Lavercombe, Cameron Williams, Matthew Toomey, Carol Van Opstal, Nicholas Brodie, Peter Krausz, Richard Alaba, David O'Connell, Andrew F Peirce, Nadine Whitney, Cerise Howard, Jamie Tran, Stephen A Russell, Travis Johnson, David Heslin, Jake Wilson, Karl Quinn, Glenn Dunks, Greg King, Lindsay Wilkins, Zak Hepburn, Emma Westwood, Thomas Caldwell, Josh Nelson, Lesley Chow, Sarah Ward, Jonathan Spiroff, Dave Griffiths
The body supports both mainstream and independent cinema and highlights significant or challenging films.
Description and activities The Australian Film Critics Association is an Australian professional association for film critics, reviewers, and journalists who work in the media, based in Collins Street West, Melbourne, Victoria. It serves as a network for dialogue among filmmakers, critics and reviewers, distributors, exhibitors, and other members of the film industry in Australia, and is a member of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI).
AFCA hosts and co-hosts events in support of the Australian and international films. The organisation and its members have fostered relationships with the Australian Film Institute, the Melbourne Writers Festival, NFSA, the National Screenwriters Conference, Popcorn Taxi independent film festival and many other international film festivals. It also sponsors various events at film festivals in Australia.
Awards
AFCA is known for its two major groups of awards: AFCA Writing Awards and the AFCA Film Awards.
The inaugural AFCA film awards, for films released in 2007, were announced on 22 January 2008. There were then four categories: Best Australian Film, Best Overseas Film, Best Documentary, and Best Unreleased Film. Since then, the categories have expanded, and now include acting (introduced in 2011), cinematography, screenwriting, and international films. Best Unreleased Film was discontinued.
AFCA writing awards began in 2009.
Now known as Auscritic Film Awards, awards are given in the following categories: Best Australian Film Best Director Best Actor Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Editing Best Screenplay Best Cinematography Best Australian Documentary Best International Documentary Best International Film (English Language) Best International Film (Not in the English Language)
there are five Auscritic Writing and Broadcast Awards, with cash prizes: Ivan Hutchinson Award for best long-form writing on an Australian film ($500; named in honour of critic Ivan Hutchinson) Award for best review of an individual Australian film ($250) Award for best review of an individual non-Australian film ($250) Jim Murphy Broadcast award for best radio show or podcast ($250) Lee Gambin Award for Repertory Film Criticism: Cultural Coverage of a Film Made Prior to 1995 ($250) – in collaboration with Cinemaniacs
Film award winners and nominees
YearBest AustralianBest OverseasBest DocumentaryBest Unreleased2007 Winner: Noise No Country for Old Men (US) Forbidden Lie$ (Australia) The Band's Visit (Israel)Commended: The Home Song Stories The Lives of Others (Germany) Deep Water (UK) -Commended: Romulus, My Father 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania) Sicko (US) -2008 Winner: The Black Balloon There Will Be Blood (US) Man on Wire (UK) In the City of Sylvia (Spain)Commended: The Square The Dark Knight (US) Not Quite Hollywood (Australia) Romance of Astree and Celadon (France/Italy/Spain)2009 Winner: Balibo Let the Right One In (Sweden) Of Time and the City (UK) Un Lac (France)Commended: Mary & Max, Samson and Delilah Moon (UK), Wrestler (US), Up (US) Encounters at the End of the World (Germany), Capitalism: A Love Story (US) Love Exposure (Japan)2010 Winner: Animal Kingdom The Social Network (US) Exit Through the Gift Shop (UK) Air Doll (Japan)Commended: Beneath Hill 60, The Waiting City, Bran Nue Dae Toy Story 3 (US), The Hurt Locker (US), Inception (US/UK) Food, Inc. (US), La Danse (France/US), Gasland (US) Tetro (US/Argentina/Spain/Italy), Film Socialisme (Switzerland/France), Berlin 36 (Germany)
In 2011 acting awards were introduced and the Best Unreleased Film category was discontinued.
YearBest FilmBest International Film (English Language)Best International Film (Foreign Language)Best Documentary2011 Snowtown The Tree of Life (US) Incendies (Canada) Senna (UK)2012 The Sapphires Hugo (France/UK/US) A Separation (Iran) Searching for Sugar Man (Sweden/UK/Finland)2013 Mystery Road Django Unchained (US) Amour (France/Germany/Austria) Stories We Tell (Canada)2014 The Babadook The Grand Budapest Hotel (US/Germany) Two Days, One Night (Belgium/France/Italy) Jodorowsky's Dune (US/France)2015 Mad Max: Fury Road Birdman (US) Phoenix (Germany) Amy (UK)2016 Girl Asleep Arrival (US) Mustang (France/Germany/Turkey) Sherpa (Australia)2017 Hounds of Love Moonlight (US) Toni Erdmann (Germany/Austria) I Am Not Your Negro (France/US/Switzerland/Belgium)2018 Sweet Country You Were Never Really Here (UK/US/France) Roma (Mexico) Gurrumul (Australia)
Best Film (2019-2023): + Year Film 2019 Sweet Country 2021 Nitram 2022 The Stranger 2023 Of an Age
Writing award winners In conjunction with its 2009 film awards, AFCA announced the results of its inaugural writing awards. The categories and winners are:
YearIvan Hutchinson Award for Writing on Australian FilmAward for Writing on Non-Australian FilmAward for a Review of an individual Australian FilmAward for a Review of an individual Non-Australian Film2009 Loving Samson and Delilah, Therese Davis Fake Politics for the Real America, Martyn Pedler Disgrace, Alice Tynan 2012, Stephen Rowley2010 Some of the Finest Films, Thomas Caldwell A Feast of Love – Eros, Agape and The Food Film, Bernard Hemingway The Loved Ones, Anders Wotzke I'm Still Here, Luke Buckmaster2011 Who's Afraid of the Working Class? We Are, Rebecca Harkins-Cross Islands and Ghosts: Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, Jake Wilson Griff the Invisible, Alice Tynan Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Josh Nelson2012 God in all things: Amiel Courtin-Wilson's Hail, Josh Nelson The Shape of Rage: David Cronenberg's Dangerous Methods, Rebecca Harkins Cross All the Way Through Evening, Michael Scott The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Laurence Barber2013 Launching The Rocket: Beyond the Typical Australian Film, Glenn Dunks Through the Mind: Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, Scott MacLeod The Great Gatsby, Simon Miraudo To the Wonder, Simon Di Berardino2014 Anger and Banality in Ghosts... of the Civil Dead, Thomas Caldwell Time Enough at Last: The Long History of the Long Film, Jake Moody The Babadook, Alexandra Donald Boyhood, Kristen S. He2015 The Shadow of the Rock, Rebecca Harkins-Cross – Mad Max: Fury Road, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Bridge of Spies, Luke Goodsell2016 South of Ealing: recasting a British studio's antipodean escapade, Adrian Danks – Joe Cinque's Consolation, Lauren Carroll Harris No Home Movie, Ivan Cercina2017 Dog Day, Every Day: Gillian Leahy’s Baxter and Me and the Essay Film, Adrian Martin – Ellipsis, Luke Buckmaster Risk, Glenn Dunks2018 The art of metamorphosis: Julian Rosefeldt's 'Manifesto, Gabrielle O'Brien – West of Sunshine, Andrew Peirce Disobedience, Glen Falkenstein
See also List of film awards
References
External links