By Travis Johnson
The nominees for this year’s AWGIE Awards, the Australian Writers’ Guild’s awards for excellence in the field of screen and performance writing have been announced, with Steven McGregor and David Tranter’s script for Sweet Country and Jaime Browne’s work on Brothers’ Nest going head to head for the coveted Feature Film – Original gong.
Feature Film – Adaptation has only one nomination which will be announced on the night, but that’s just being coy – it’s almost certainly Breath, adapted by Gerard Way and Simon Baker from Tim Winton’s novel of the same name. We could be wrong, but we’re probably not.
In the short film section the standout is I Fucked a Mermaid and No One Believes Me, if only because a script half as good as that title deserves praise, while in TV land Mystery Road, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Safe Harbour, and Mr InBetween are all well represented.
And the nominees are:
FEATURE FILM – ORIGINAL
Brothers’ Nest – Jaime Browne
Sweet Country – Steven McGregor with David Tranter
FEATURE FILM – ADAPTATION
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night
SHORT FILM
I Fucked a Mermaid and No One Believes Me – Joel Perlgut
Post Mortem Mary – Joshua Long
Sleepwalking – Melissa Anastasi
DOCUMENTARY – PUBLIC BROADCAST (INCLUDING VOD) OR EXHIBITION
No nominees
DOCUMENTARY – COMMUNITY, EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING (OR OTHERWISE COMMISSIONED TO A SPECIFIC BRIEF)
Cyber Security – The Social Engineer – Sam Meikle
Minibeast Heroes – Tim Bain
Your Posts Are Public – George Catsi
TELEVISION – SERIAL
Home and Away: Episode 6810 – Nick King
Home and Away: Episode 6905 – Fiona Kelly
Neighbours: Episode 7776 – Peter Mattessi
TELEVISION – SERIES OR MINISERIES OF MORE THAN 4 HOURS DURATION, INCLUDING
ORIGINAL AND ADAPTED WORKS
Fighting Season: ‘Heroes’ – Belinda Chayko
Mystery Road: ‘Gone’ – Michaeley O’Brien
Mystery Road: ‘The Waterhole’ – Timothy Lee
Picnic at Hanging Rock: Episode 1 – Beatrix Christian
The Wrong Girl: Season 2, Episode 4 – Vanessa Alexander
TELEVISION – TELEMOVIE OR MINISERIES OF 4 HOURS OR LESS DURATION, INCLUDING
ORIGINAL AND ADAPTED WORKS
Riot – Greg Waters
Safe Harbour – Belinda Chayko, Matt Cameron and Phil Enchelmaier
Sunshine – Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘P’ CLASSIFICATION (PRESCHOOL – UNDER 5 YEARS), ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED, ANIMATED OR PERFORMED
Little J and Big Cuz: ‘Lucky Undies’ – Beck Cole
Little J and Big Cuz: ‘Where’s Aaron?’ – Erica Glynn
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘C’ CLASSIFICATION (CHILDREN’S – 5–14 YEARS), ORIGINAL OR
ADAPTED, ANIMATED OR PERFORMED
Drop Dead Weird: ‘Letter in a Bottle’ – Joel Slack-Smith
Grace Beside Me: ‘Love Me, Love Me Not’ – Giula Sandler
Mustangs FC: ‘Flawless’ – Magda Wozniak
COMEDY – SITUATION OR NARRATIVE
Fucking Adelaide: ‘Maude Loves Us’ – Matthew Cormack
Get Krack!n: Episode 7 – Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan
Mr Inbetween: Episode 3 – Scott Ryan
Ronny Chieng: International Student: ‘Asian Rules Football’ – Declan Fay with Ronny Chieng
Rosehaven: Season 2, Episode 4 – Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola
COMEDY – SKETCH OR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
No nominees
RADIO
My Father’s Wars – Elaine Acworth
Seoul City Sue – Noëlle Janaczewska
STAGE
Atlantis – Lally Katz
Caravan – Angus Cerini, Patricia Cornelius and Melissa Reeves with Wayne Macauley
Mark Colvin’s Kidney – Tommy Murphy
Rice – Michele Lee
The Rasputin Affair – Kate Mulvany
COMMUNITY AND YOUTH THEATRE
promiscuous/cities – Lachlan Philpott
The Hum – Angela Betzien
THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
Emil and the Detectives – Nicki Bloom
My Robot – Finegan Kruckemeyer
Thai-riffic! – Nathan Luff
MUSIC THEATRE
Barbara and the Camp Dogs – Alana Valentine with Ursula Yovich
Muriel’s Wedding the Musical – PJ Hogan
Vigil – Stephen Vizard
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Inside Manus – Lucas Taylor
Ruumu – A Tale of Love, Loss and Effective Home Management – Daniel McMahon with Robot House
ANIMATION
Beat Bugs: Season 2, ‘I’ll Be On My Way’ – Charlotte Rose Hamlyn
Beat Bugs: Season 2, ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ – Cleon Prineas
Lost & Found – Bradley Slabe
WEB SERIES AND OTHER NON-BROADCAST/VOD WORKS
Freudian Slip – Clare Sladden
Homecoming Queens: ‘Beach’ – Michelle Law and Chloë Reeson
Wrong Kind of Black: ‘Lover not a Fighter’ – Nick Musgrove with Boori Monty Pryor
The AWGies will take place on Thursday, August 30, at Sydney’s City Recital Hall. Tickets and info can be found here.
