by FilmInk Staff
The Mercury is proud to announce the nominees of the highly-anticipated South Australian Screen Awards (SASAs) and Red Carpet Gala to be held on Saturday 22 November 2025, with tickets on sale from 12noon Friday 24 October.
Celebrating the best screen works from South Australia’s film industry, the SASAs have run for over 20 years. The SASAs provide a vital platform for South Australian screen practitioners to showcase their work, recognising emerging talent and celebrating the people and projects created by the local screen industry.
A combination of cash and in-kind awards will be presented spanning a wide range of format, genre, and craft categories, with 26 award categories presented on Saturday 22 November. There is an award pool exceeding $30,000, with sponsors including South Australian Film Corporation, KOJO, ProAV Solutions, Flinders University, Hanlon Larsen Screen Fellowship, Greenhills Animation, UrbanCine, Heesom Casting, Buckland and Gun, Star Avenue Studios, CrewHQ, State Theatre Company South Australia, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Australian Writers’ Guild SA, Australian Screen Sound Guild, and more.
This year’s nominees represent a mixture of funded projects, Mercury Alumni, student films, and extraordinary independent works. An exciting feature of this year’s nominee list is the strong presence of student films across categories such as Best Experimental Film (Guttercat, Fruit, and You Bring Me Closer) and Best Documentary (Planet of the Tapes).
The frontrunner among the 2025 SASA nominees is the Quicksilver Production Fund short I’m The Most Racist Person I Know, directed and written by Leela Varghese and produced by Suriyna Sivashanker, garnering a remarkable seven nominations, including the SAFC supported Grand Jury Prize, Best Screenplay, Best Directing, and the new category, Best Ensemble. The Secret, directed and written by Lilla Berry and produced by Piri Eddy, scored six nominations, including Best Narrative Film and Best First Nations Works.
With an outstanding calibre of performances, this year’s awards will include two performance-based categories: Best Performer and Best Ensemble, with nominated films in these categories including The Secret, The Knight, and Boyish—all highlighted in the 2025 Adelaide Film Festival.
Sarah Lancaster, CEO of The Mercury said: “This year’s awards shine a spotlight on the incredible creative talent within the local screen sector. With 41 outstanding nominees across short films, music videos, web series and features, the depth of creativity and technical skill in South Australia continues to impress. We’re thrilled to celebrate the remarkable work being produced and proud to support emerging and early career screen makers through this important recognition with the generosity of our many award sponsors.”
Nominee screenings will take place across three sessions prior to the Red Carpet Gala, with tickets now on sale. In addition to the nominees announced today, several awards will be announced on the night including Best Emerging First Nations Screen Practitioner, Best Emerging Producer Award, The Mercury Rising Award, The Mercury Legend Award and Audience Award.
All information can be found HERE
ABOUT THE MERCURY
The Mercury has a legacy spanning 50 years as a member-based centre for screen culture in the heart of Adelaide’s West End. Proudly South Australian, The Mercury is a not-for-profit organisation that operates the independent Mercury Cinema and, utilising funding from the South Australian Film Corporation, provides pathways for emerging filmmakers starting their professional screen industry career. The Mercury’s subscription model at $25/month or $300/year offers unlimited screenings to Silverscreen and Adelaide Cinematheque programs, free entry to the Script Club, Launch Lab, all industry programs, complimentary use of all production facilities and equipment, one-on-one script consultations, industry mentoring, ability to apply to the Quicksilver Production Fund and Hamilton Health and Safety Fund plus a discounted venue hire and South Australian
Screen Award submission fees. With alumni including Emmy award winners, Oscar nominees, a Cannes Special Jury Prize winner and the Best Director winner at Sundance Film Festival, our passion for quality is undeniable. The Mercury also boasts two cinemas – a 186 seat Mercury cinema, and the 36 seat Iris – both of which offer a comprehensive film program of contemporary, classic and cult favourites films. Centrally located, The Mercury neighbours the Jam Factory, Nexus Arts, The Lion Arts Factory, ILA, UniSA West Campus, TAFE SA, AC Arts & the Flinders University Festival Plaza
