LEXUS IF (INSIDE FILM) AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

Gettin’ Square and Japanese Story, the people’s choice in Australian film

Winners for the 2003 Lexus IF (Inside Film) Awards were announced in Sydney tonight at a prestigious event staged at Wharf 8 in Pyrmont. Hosted by Deborah Mailman, the live broadcast was followed by a celebratory party presented by Autore South Sea Pearls. Gettin' Square and Japanese Story earned the highest accolades on the night. Japanese Story collected four IF awards including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Gettin' Square won five IF awards including Best Actor, Best Script, Best Music, Best Sound and Best Editing.

This year's star studded awards event was attended by luminaries of the Australian film industry and supported by high profile identities from fashion, art and music. Guests included Toni Collette, Deborah Mailman, Geoffrey Rush, Stephen Fry, Bryan Brown, Rachel Ward, Claudia Karvan, Rose Byrne, Rachael Blake, Barry Otto, Helen Buday, Kick Gurry, Leona Edmiston, Sigrid Thornton, Jill Bilcock, Robert Connolly, Akira Isogawa, Sophie Lee, Peter Morrissey, The Hon. Bob Carr MP, Sarah Jane Clarke, Heidi Middleton, Peta Wilson, Gillian Armstrong, Sam Worthington and Jan Chapman.

The winner of the SHOWTIME IF Award for Best Feature Film is Japanese Story (Prod: Sue Maslin)

Sue Brooks was awarded the Animal Logic IF Award for Best Direction for Japanese Story.

Gettin' Square's Chris Nyst won the Mushroom Pictures IF Award for Best Script.

The winner for the Kodak IF Award for Best Cinematography was Ian Baker for Japanese Story.

The Autore South Sea Pearls IF Award for Best Actor was awarded to David Wenham for his unforgettable performance in Gettin' Square.

Toni Collette's powerful performance in Japanese Story earned her the Instyle IF Award for Best Actress.

The winner of the Gray & Perkins Lawyers IF Award for Best Short Film was Roy Höllsdotter Live (Prod: Trevor Blainey and Dir: Matthew Saville).

The winner of the Rising Sun Pictures IF Award for Best Animation went to Ward 13 (Prod / Dir: Peter Cornwell).

The Odyssey Channel IF Award for Best Short Documentary was awarded to Painting With Light in a Dark World (Prod: Renata Shuman and Dir: Sascha Ettinger).

Wildness (Prod: Michael McMahon and Dir: Scott Millwood) was awarded the Discovery Channel IF Award for Best Documentary.

The Yalumba Independent Spirit Award was awarded to Khoa Do for his powerful debut feature The Finished People.

The winner of the Ztudio What IF? Award for Best Unproduced Screenplay was Rie Natalenko for Heloise.

The BMG IF Award for Best Music went to Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab and 3K Short from Machine Gun Fellatio for Gettin' Square.

The winners of the Tracks IF Award for Best Sound were John Schiefelbein, Antony Gray and Ian McLoughlin for Gettin' Square.

The LaB sydney IF Award for Best Production Design was awarded to Steven Jones-Evans for Ned Kelly.

The Frameworks IF Award for Best Editing went to Ken Sallows ASE for Gettin' Square.

Jill Bilcock was recognised for her outstanding contribution to the Australian film industry as an editor, as the recipient of the Freixenet Living Legend IF Award.

Australian comedy, Crackerjack, was awarded the Film Finance Corporation Australia IF Award for Box Office Achievement.

Matthew Saville was awarded the Lexus IF Award for Rising Talent for his comic writing and directing talent shown in his short film Roy Höllsdotter Live. His short feature was screened this year at the Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide film festivals and on SBS. In June 2003, the film won the Dendy Award for Best Short Film (over 15mins) at the Sydney Film Festival and Best Original Script for Television at the 2003 Australian Writers' Guild Awards, and has been nominated for two AFI awards.

The Inside Film Magazine IF Award for Film Festival of the Year was awarded to Popcorn Taxi.

Lexus IF Awards 2003, started by Inside Film (IF) magazine and now in their fifth year, are the people's choice awards for Australian film and are recognised as a major event on the entertainment industry calendar. Deborah Mailman hosted the prestigious awards ceremony held on Wednesday November 12th at Wharf 8, Sydney.