I’ve spotlighted on the home page some of my favourite performances to win Best Actress at Australian film awards over the last four decades. You can see the full list of winners below. It’s a prestigious selection – three of these performances were nominated for American Academy Awards (1989, 1993 and 2010), with Holly Hunter bagging the Oscar.
On 31 January, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) will announce the Best Lead Actress in an Australian feature for 2011.
This year’s nominees are:
- Judy Davis in The Eye of the Storm
- Frances O’Connor in The Hunter
- Charlotte Rampling in The Eye of the Storm
- Emily Watson in Oranges and Sunshine
Sadly, AACTA found no room for my favourite leading female performance of the year – Emily Browning in Sleeping Beauty. Of those that were nominated, O’Connor’s role is probably too small to win. Rampling and Davis are brilliant playing mother and daughter but may cancel each-other out in the voting. My tip for the win is Emily Watson, who appears in almost every scene of Oranges and Sunshine. She plays real-life social worker Margaret Humphreys with dignity and a quiet determination and also gives AACTA the chance to recognise a film unlikely to score wins in many other categories.
Who do you think will win Best Actress this year?
The AACTA Awards are a continuation of 40 years of prize-giving by the Australian Film Institute. The first Best Actress award was in 1971. Click on the film titles below to revisit or discover these performances for yourself. (If there is no link, the film is not yet on the website, but most likely coming soon.)
Learn more about the awards at the AACTA website. Read the recap of Best Actor winners. Next up, a look at Best Picture.
The NFSA is an Official Partner of the Samsung Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.
2010 – Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
2009 – Frances O’Connor in Blessed
2008 – Monic Hendrickx in Unfinished Sky
2007 – Joan Chen in The Home Song Stories
2006 – Emily Barclay in Suburban Mayhem
2005 – Cate Blanchett in Little Fish
2004 – Abbie Cornish in Somersault
2003 – Toni Collette in Japanese Story
2002 – Maria Theodorakis in Walking On Water
2001 – Kerry Armstrong in Lantana
2000 – Pia Miranda in Looking For Alibrandi
1999 – Sacha Horler in Praise
1998 – Deborah Mailman in Radiance
1997 – Pamela Rabe in The Well
1996 – Judy Davis in Children of the Revolution
1995 – Jacqueline McKenzie in Angel Baby
1994 – Toni Collette in Muriel’s Wedding
1993 – Holly Hunter in The Piano
1992 – Lisa Harrow in The Last Days of Chez Nous
1991 – Sheila Florance in A Woman’s Tale
1990 – Catherine McClements in Weekend With Kate
1989 – Meryl Streep in Evil Angels
1988 – Nadine Garner in Mull
1987 – Judy Davis in High Tide
1986 – Judy Davis in Kangaroo
1985 – Noni Hazlehurst in Fran
1984 – Angela Punch McGregor in Annie’s Coming Out
1983 – Wendy Hughes in Careful, He Might Hear You
1982 – Noni Hazlehurst in Monkey Grip
1981 – Judy Davis in Winter of Our Dreams
1980 – Tracy Mann in Hard Knocks
1979 – Michele Fawdon in Cathy’s Child
1978 – Angela Punch McGregor in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
1977 – Pat Bishop in Don’s Party
1976 – Helen Morse in Caddie
1974-75 – Julie Dawson in Who Killed Jenny Langby?
1973 – Judy Morris in Libido: The Child
1972 – Jacki Weaver in Stork
1971 – Monica Maughan in A City’s Child
