2005 Australian Film Institute Awards

Ceremony

After poor viewership of the 2004 Awards ceremony, the AFI hired live entertainment promoter Paul Dainty to revamp the event. This included splitting the awards into two separate events: The AFI Craft Awards and the AFI Awards Ceremony, which were held on the 25 November and 26 November, respectively. The Craft Awards were presented for technical achievements in feature films, television and non-feature films. The chief executive of the AFI said the reason behind the split was to give "craft nominees more respect, with their own black-tie event." The decision, however, was met with some criticism from industry members, who felt that they were being undermined and overshadowed by the other non-technical categories. Australian Screen Editors said the "split undermines the uniquely collaborative nature of filmmaking and sent the wrong message for the next generation of filmmakers." Guests were entertained at the Craft Awards with performances by Nick Cave and Russell Crowe. Special guest presenters included Geoffrey Rush, Simon Baker, Catherine Martin, Martin Henderson, Christiane Kubrick, Steve Bisley and Paul Grabowsky.

Australian actor Russell Crowe was chosen to host the AFI Craft Awards and the AFI Awards Ceremony. Awards at both presentations were handed out on the 25 November and 26 November, respectively. The latter event received a delayed broadcast on Nine Network at 10:55pm, and a five-minute segment dedicated to the Craft Awards was shown. The ceremony drew in an audience of 900,000 viewers. Crowe's work as host, and the AFI's decision to hire Dainty to produce the event was well received by critics. The Age felt Dainty's involvement in the production of the ceremony "was pivotal to the awards' renaissance", adding that splitting the awards "put an end to the drawn-out ceremonies of years past." Michaela Boland from Variety praised Crowe for his "charming [and] funny" performance hosting the show. Presenters at the Awards Dinner included Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths, Baz Luhrmann, Melissa George, Richard Roxburgh, Simon Baker, Jack Thompson, Claudia Karvan, Saskia Burmeister, Sigrid Thornton, Martin Henderson, Vince Colosimo, Susie Porter, Pia Miranda, Alex Dimitriades and Mick Molloy.

Winners and nominees

The nominations were announced by Australian actors Claudia Karvan and Alex Dimitriades on 21 October 2005 at the Wharf Restaurant in Sydney, New South Wales. Leading the feature film nominees was Little Fish with thirteen. Love My Way gained the most television nominations with six.

Feature Film

Television

Non-feature film

Additional Awards

Individual Awards

Multiple nominations

The following films received multiple nominations.

• 13 nominations: Little Fish
• 12 nominations: The Proposition
• 11 nominations: Look Both Ways
• 6 nominations: Wolf Creek

References

References

1. Urban, Andrew L.. (2005-11-27). "AFI AWARDS 2005 – WINNERS".
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3. Cooper, Callista. (2005-11-26). "'Little Fish' stars win lead awards". ABC News.
4. (6 October 2005). "Russell Crowe to host AFI Awards". Urban Cinefile.
5. Ziffer, Daniel. (22 October 2005). "Three movies chasing the happy endings". Fairfax Media.
6. (25 November 2005). "The week in film". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] (ABC).
7. Maddox, Garry. (24 November 2005). "Nine's AFI 'insult' angers film judge". Fairfax Media.
8. (2 December 2005). "The week in film - Movie Time". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
9. (27 November 2005). "Drama, suspense and Rusty: awards night back". Fairfax Media.
10. Michaela Boland. (5 December 2005). "Crowe's AFI antics". [[Reed Elsevier Inc.]].
11. Pascuzzi, Carmine. "Spotlight - L'Oreal Paris 2005 AFI Awards Nominations". Mediasearch.
12. (21 October 2005). "AFI Nominees". [[Fairfax Media]].
13. (2005-10-21). "'Little Fish' makes a splash in AFI nominations pool". ABC News.