2022 Australian Academy Awards (AACTA) nominations: ‘Elvis’ leads with 15
The 2022 Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AACTA) nominations for Australian-based productions have been announced and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis leads the way with a whopping 15 nods, earning a spot in every category except Best Actress.
The flashy Elvis Presley biopic earned nominations for Best Film, director, lead actor (Austin Butler), supporting actor (Tom Hanks), supporting actress (Olivia DeJonge) and every craft and technical category the AACTA offers.
The AACTA Awards (formerly the AFI Awards) have awarded screen excellence in Australia since the first (then) AFI Awards were held in 1958. Held annually in Sydney in recognition and celebration of Australia’s highest achievements in film and television, the AACTA Awards present over 55 awards across two major ceremonies. The peer-assessed AACTA Awards are the only Australian industry body to award practitioners across all crafts and industry sectors, including feature film, documentary, short film, television, online, visual effects and animation.
Just behind the nomination totals were Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson and George Millers’s Three Thousand Years of Longing with 13 apiece and Thomas M. Wright’s The Stranger with 11. The AACTA International Awards nominations will be announced in November.
The 2022 AACTA Industry Awards will be held on Monday, December 5 and the 2022 AACTA Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, December 7. Both ceremonies will be presented by Foxtel Group and will be held at The Hordern, in Sydney’s iconic Entertainment Quarter.
Here is the complete list of nominations:
Best Film
Elvis
Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss
Here Out West
Sheila Jayadev, Annabel Davis, Bree-Anne Sykes
Sissy
Lisa Shaunessy, John De Margheriti, Jason Taylor, Bec Janek
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Bain Stewart, David Jowsey, Angela Littlejohn, Greer Simpkin, Leah Purcell
The Stranger
Rachel Gardner, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Joel Edgerton, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Kim Hodgert
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Doug Mitchell, George Miller
Best Indie Film
A Stitch In Time
Sasha Hadden (Dir.)
Akoni
Genna Chanelle Hayes (Dir.)
Darklands
Scott Major (Dir.), Sarah Mayberry, Christopher Gist, Shane Isheev
Lonesome
Craig Boreham (Dir.), Ben Ferris, Dean Francis, Ulysses Oliver
Pieces
Martin Wilson (Dir.), Nicole Ferraro
Smoke Between Trees
Michael Joy (Dir.), Mieke van Opstal
Best Direction in Film presented by Filmology Finance
Elvis
Baz Luhrmann
Sissy
Hannah Barlow, Kane Senes
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Leah Purcell
The Stranger
Thomas M. Wright
Three Thousand Years of Longing
George Miller
Best Lead Actor in Film
Austin Butler
Elvis
Rob Collins
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Joel Edgerton
The Stranger
Idris Elba
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Damon Herriman
Nude Tuesday
Best Lead Actress in Film
Aisha Dee
Sissy
Leah Purcell
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Julia Savage
Blaze
Tilda Swinton
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Jackie van Beek
Nude Tuesday
Best Supporting Actor in Film
Simon Baker
Blaze
Jemaine Clement
Nude Tuesday
Malachi Dower-Roberts
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Tom Hanks
Elvis
Sean Harris
The Stranger
Best Supporting Actress in Film
Jada Alberts
The Stranger
Jessica De Gouw
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Olivia DeJonge
Elvis
Joanna Lumley
Falling For Figaro
Yael Stone
Blaze
Best Screenplay
Elvis
Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, Jeremy Doner
Nude Tuesday
Jackie van Beek
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Leah Purcell
The Stranger
Thomas M. Wright
Three Thousand Years of Longing
George Miller, Augusta Gore
Best Cinematography
Blaze
Jeremy Rouse
Elvis
Mandy Walker
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Mark Wareham
The Stranger
Sam Chiplin
Three Thousand Years of Longing
John Seale
Best Costume Design
Elvis
Catherine Martin
Here Out West
Wendy Cork
Pieces
Monique Wilson, Kristie Rowe
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Tess Schofield
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Kym Barrett
Best Editing in Film presented by Spectrum Films
Blaze
Dany Cooper
Elvis
Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond
Nude Tuesday
Nick Meyers
The Stranger
Simon Njoo
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Margaret Sixel
Best Production Design
Elvis
Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Beverley Dunn
Interceptor
George Liddle
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Sam Hobbs
The Stranger
Leah Popple
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Roger Ford
Best Original Score
A Stitch In Time
Angela Little
Elvis
Elliott Wheeler
Falling For Figaro
Cezary Skubiszewski
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Salliana Seven Campbell
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Tom Holkenborg
Best Sound
Bosch & Rockit
Angus Robertson, Sam Hayward, Scott Mulready, Leah Katz, Cameron Grant, Les Fiddess
Elvis
David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson, Michael Keller
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Liam Egan, Nick Emond, Leah Katz, Robert Sullivan, Tom Heuzenroeder, Les Fiddess
The Stranger
Andy Wright, Will Sheridan, Beth Bezzina, Chris Goodes
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Robert Mackenzie, Ben Osmo, Yulia Akerholt, James Ashton
Best Hair and Makeup presented by HASK
Elvis
Jason Baird, Mark Coulier, Louise Coulston, Shane Thomas
Gold
Jennifer Lamphee
The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson
Beth Halsted, Simon Joseph, Jennifer Lamphee
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Lesley Vanderwalt
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse
Rachel Scane, Helen Magelaki, Mariel McClorey
Best Casting Presented by Casting Networks
Elvis
Nikki Barrett, Denise Chamian
Heartbreak High
Amanda Mitchell
Love Me
Nathan Lloyd
The Stranger
Anousha Zarkesh
The Twelve
Kirsty McGregor
Best Visual Effects or Animation
DC League of Super-Pets
Sharna Hackett, Feargal Stewart, Christian So, Miles Green, Etienne Marc
Elvis
Tom Wood, Fiona Crawford, Julian Hutchens, Joshua Simmonds, Adam Hammond
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Kelly Port, Julia Neighly, Brendan Seals, Kilou Picard
Thor: Love and Thunder
Jake Morrison, Lisa Marra, Dan Oliver, Dan Bethell, Ian Cope
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Jason Bath, Paul Butterworth, Chris Spry, Alastair Stephen, Roy Malhi, Chris Davies
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) - November 21, 2024
- 2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards - November 21, 2024
- Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives - November 21, 2024
2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 72 – ‘Three Colours: Blue’ (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993) 
2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards 
Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives