MIFF Awards 2024
In 2024, MIFF recognised filmmaking excellence across a suite of six award categories. Along with the third iteration of the festival’s prestigious Bright Horizons Award and the return of the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award and the Intrepid Audience Award, this year also marked the renaming of The Uncle Jack Charles Award – presented in collaboration with Kearney Group – in honour of the late, great actor and activist. Elsewhere, the 63rd MIFF Shorts Awards celebrated the best in short-form filmmaking, while the MIFF Schools Youth Jury named the best title from the MIFF Schools program.
Bright Horizons Award
PRESENTED BY
Presented by VicScreen, the flagship Bright Horizons Award celebrates filmmakers on the ascent, as chosen from within the Bright Horizons film competition. Awarding AUD$140,000 to the winner, it is one of the most substantial film prizes in the world.
The 2024 recipient of this award was chosen by a distinguished jury of industry figures: jury president Ivan Sen, one of Australia’s most revered filmmakers; visionary American writer and director David Lowery; Oscar-winning costume designer Deborah L. Scott; pioneering Indonesian film producer Yulia Evina Bhara; and celebrated Australian actor Jillian Nguyen.
Winner
Director: Matthew Rankin
Jury Statement:
Our task as jury was joyful, invigorating and inspiring. It was also incredibly arduous, heartbreaking and some might even say cruel, because how could anyone choose a favorite or pick a winner from such an incredible lineup of films … [Universal Language] represented all of the facets of the Bright Horizons Award – a film whose cultural specificity transcends borders, whose cinematic playfulness is matched equally by its sensitivity, and whose very form is in conversation with cinema past, present and future.
Special Jury Award
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Jury Statement:
We would also like to recognise a movie that not only had a profound impact on us as jury members, but which through its grace, empathy and universality will leave a mark on cinema and the world at large.
Other Nominees
- Good One (dir. India Donaldson)
- Hoard (dir. Luna Carmoon)
- Inside (dir. Charles Williams)
- Janet Planet (dir. Annie Baker)
- Julie Keeps Quiet (dir. Leonardo Van Dijl)
- On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (dir. Rungano Nyoni)
- Sweet Dreams (dir. Ena Sendijarević)
- The Village Next to Paradise (dir. Mo Harawe)
Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award
PRESENTED BY
The Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award recognises an outstanding Australian creative within a film playing in the MIFF program with a A$70,000 cash prize. The prize can be awarded to a director or a technical or creative lead.
The 2024 recipient of this award was chosen by the same jury as that for the Bright Horizons Award.
Winner
Jaydon Martin – director
Film: Flathead
Jury Statement:
We were captivated and affected by director Jaydon Martin’s visually arresting and very moving portrait of individuals often forgotten about in society – in this case, the real people of small-town Bundaberg. Flathead’s seamless merging of realities and fiction, both so raw yet so cinematic, had a profound effect on our jury. We hope all of you have a chance to watch this brilliant, sensitive examination of survival, of humanity and of mortality, which will stay with you for days to come.
Other Nominees
- Audrey Lam (Us and the Night) – director
- Steven Boyle (The Demon Disorder) – VFX executive producer
- Adam Elliot (Memoir of a Snail) – director
The Uncle Jack Charles Award
PRESENTED BY
The Uncle Jack Charles Award in collaboration with Kearney Group recognises an outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creative within a film playing in the MIFF program. The recipient is awarded a A$20,000 cash prize and A$25,000 worth of financial services with Kearney Group.
The pool of contenders is drawn from across all film creative departments including directing, producing, screenwriting, composing, editing, cinematography, acting, production design, art direction and sound design. The prize is awarded to the creative deemed to have demonstrated excellence and commitment in their relevant craft, as selected by a film jury of three key industry personnel.
The 2024 winner was selected by a jury of celebrated Australian First Nations creatives including Bidjara, Wakka Wakka and Gubbi Gubbi producer, writer, actor and VicScreen executive Davey Thompson; Kamilaroi actor and writer Thomas Weatherall; and Kurnai/Gunai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta writer, actor and activist Nayuka Gorrie.
Winner
April Phillips – lead artist
Title: kajoo yannaga (come on let’s walk together)
Jury Statement:
This bold and refreshing animation made us all feel a childlike sense of wonder with its stunning technicolour visuals and immersive sound design that built a world that felt ancient and futuristic all at once. Lead artist April Phillips has a strong and clear artistic vision and we were all left wanting more.
Other Nominees
- Jon Bell (The Moogai) – writer/director
- Semara Jose (Voice) – co-director
- Danielle MacLean (Like My Brother) – co-director
- Jake Duczynski (‘Gilay Gabinya’, Magic Beach) – animator/writer/director
Intrepid Audience Award
PRESENTED BY
Love it? Hate it? Rate it! This award, presented by Intrepid, crowns viewers’ favourite title from the festival, as determined through online and app votes.
Voice
Directors: Krunal Padhiar, Semara Jose
Left Write Hook
Director: Shannon Owen
Click here for previous Audience Award winners.
MIFF Schools Youth Jury Award
Alemania
Director: María Zanetti
Jury Statement:
Of all the amazing movies presented, Alemania really felt like it achieved what it was aiming to do. It ticked all the boxes for a coming-of-age film while remaining engaging the whole way through. The visuals and cinematography were beautiful and felt really in tune with the overall aesthetic, as well as the fact that the character depth, relationships, themes and plot felt really grounded and flowed beautifully throughout the film.