2013 AACTA International Awards – winners

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) today announced the winners of the 2nd AACTA International Awards, recognising international excellence across five categories, as determined by a jury of eminent Australian screen practitioners working in the U.S. and Australia from a cross-section of crafts: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Also announced were two AACTA International Awards as determined by the Australian Film Institute (AFI) | AACTA Board of Governors. These discretionary Awards were presented for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Winners were announced at the 2nd AACTA International Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, with Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Australian Film Institute Award winning actor Russell Crowe leading fellow Australians presenting Awards at the Ceremony, Jacki Weaver and Scott Hicks.

Funny, brave and humane, Silver Linings Playbook was the big winner at the AACTA International Awards, winning Best Film for producers Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon; Best Direction for David O. Russell; and Best Lead Actress for Jennifer Lawrence.

The offbeat comic drama sees Lawrence playing a reckless young widow who befriends a bipolar schoolteacher (Bradley Cooper) who is obsessing about his ex-wife. Rounding out the film's stellar cast are Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker.

The AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor was presented to Daniel Day-Lewis for his virtuosic performance as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's historical drama. Set in 1865, Lincoln centers on the final four months in the life of the 16th President of the United States, in which he battled for constitutional reform to abolish slavery.

Hot on the heels of his Golden Globe win for Best Screenplay for Django Unchained, writer and director Quentin Tarantino today won the AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay for his scripting of the fast-paced and talkative epic western. Set in America's Deep South, Django Unchained follows a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) and a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) as they go on a quest to free his wife (Kerry Washington) from the grips of a cruel plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).

The two discretionary AACTA International Awards went to Robert De Niro for his role as an obsessive compulsive football-crazed father in Silver Linings Playbook, and to Jacki Weaver, for her role as De Niro's tolerant and forgiving wife in the film.

Nominations for the 2nd AACTA International Awards


Complete list of winners for the 2nd AACTA International Awards

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY
Django Unchained. Quentin Tarantino

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
Silver Linings Playbook. David O. Russell

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis. Lincoln

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence. Silver Linings Playbook

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST FILM
Silver Linings Playbook. Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon

Discretionary AACTA International Awards

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert De Niro. Silver Linings Playbook

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jacki Weaver. Silver Linings Playbook