'Mad Max' Wins Best Picture & Director At Australian Academy's International Awards

Winners of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts’ International Awards were announced in LA this evening. The 5th annual AACTAs honor big-screen excellence from the last year. While these are international prizes, they did largely go to a film with an Aussie pedigree. George Miller’s hit return to the road warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road, which has 10 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, scooped Best Film and Director at the AACTAs.


The wins follow Fury Road‘s eight laurels at AACTA’s domestic ceremony n Sydney last month, which also included Best Film and Directing nods.
Carol, which was the nominations leader going into tonight, picked up Best Actress for Cate Blanchett and Best Supporting Actress for Rooney Mara. Those perfs are both nominated at tomorrow night’s SAG Awards, as well as at BAFTA and the Oscars. Blanchett has now won a prize from the Oz academy seven times in 19 years.
Oscar Best Picture nominees Bridge Of Spies, The Revenant and Spotlight also each took an international AACTA tonight.
Australian Film Institute/AACTA CEO, Damian Trewhella, said, “This year marks the first time we’ve seen an Australian film, Mad Max: Fury Road, win at our domestic Awards in Sydney and then again at our International Awards in LA, and we’re delighted to see our U.S. and British counterparts also recognize this excellence with Oscar and BAFTA nominations. Over the past five years we’ve seen AACTA International Award winners go on to win 16 BAFTAs and 14 Oscars, and we look forward with great anticipation to seeing if this trend again continues this year. We congratulate all winners, and wish them every success as we head towards the pointy end of this competitive awards season.”

Here’s the full list of winners:

AACTA International Award for Best Film
Mad Max: Fury Road

AACTA International Award for Best Direction
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, Spotlight

AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol

AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies

AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress
Rooney Mara, Carol