Aacta awards 2019: The Nightingale and its star Damon Herriman lead nominations
Jennifer Kent’s colonial-era thriller The Nightingale has raked in 15 nominations and actor Damon Herriman has made history in this year’s Aacta awards.
Nominees for the 2019 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts awards, Australia’s annual film and television industry honours, were announced on Wednesday morning, with Herriman breaking the record for actors receiving the most individual nominations across performance categories in a single year.
Herriman is best known for his dual turn as Charles Manson – in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and in the Netflix thriller, Mindhunter. For the Aactas, though, he has been recognised for his performances in The Nightingale, Judy and Punch, and television shows Mr Inbetween
and Lambs of God.
Jennifer Kent’s blockbuster film, which Guardian reviewer Larissa Behrendt called “difficult and complex but urgent”, has received nominations for best film, best direction, best screenplay and best cinematography, among others.
Other contenders for best film are Hotel Mumbai, Judy and Punch, The King, Top End Wedding and Michelle Payne biopic, Ride Like a Girl.
Foxtel’s subversive religious drama Lambs of God has dominated the television categories with a total of 18 nominations, four of them being subscription TV awards. Two of its leads, Ann Dowd and Essie Davis, are up for the best actress in a television drama nod.
Dowd and Davis are up against Jenna Coleman in The Cry, Deborah Mailman in Total Control, and Anna Torv in Secret City: Under the Eagle.
Lambs of God received a nomination for best telefeature or miniseries, but not for best drama series – that will be battled out between Stan’s Bloom, ABC’s Total Control, and Foxtel’s Mr Inbetween, Wentworth and Secret City: Under the Eagle.
Top End Wedding actress Miranda Tapsell received her first Aacta nods for best lead actress and best performance in a television comedy in Get Krack!n.
Nazanin Boniadi (Hotel Mumbai), Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale), Teresa Palmer (Ride Like a Girl) and Mia Wasikowska (Judy and Punch) are competing for best lead actress in the film section.
Best lead actor in film nominees include Timothée Chalamet (The King), Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale), Damon Herriman (Judy and Punch), Dev Patel (Hotel Mumbai) and Hugo Weaving (Hearts and Bones).
Patrick Brammall (Glitch), Bryan Brown (Bloom), Ewen Leslie (The Cry), Sam Reid (Lambs of God) and Scott
Ryan (Mr Inbetween) are up for best lead actor in a television drama.
Reality television newcomers Lego
Masters Australia and The Masked Singer are both up for best entertainment program against Hard Quiz, Australia’s Got Talent and Australian Ninja Warrior.
Recognising the popularity of YouTube, there will also be an inaugural award for best online entertainment with toy reviewers, a comedian, a beauty vlogger and more in the running. The full list of nominees can be found on the Aacta website. Winners will be announced at the Aacta awards luncheon and ceremony on 2 and 4
December respectively.