Women competitive at AFI awards

SYDNEY -- The Australian Film Institute has acknowledged 2010 as a “landmark year” for female filmmakers in Australia, with eight of the 19 feature films named in contention for this year’s AFI Awards helmed by women.

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“In an international industry where women are still significantly under-represented, Australia is heading in the right direction.  While earlier this year Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Direction, Australian female directors are among some of the most prolific and respected, here and overseas,” AFI CEO Damian Trewhella said Wednesday announcing the AFI best feature shortlist.

Those directors represented include Jane Campion (“Bright Star”), Nadia Tass (“Matching Jack”), Julie Bertucelli (“The Tree”), Sue Brooks (“Subdivision”), Belinda Chayko (“Lou”), Claire McCarthy (“The Waiting City”), Rachel Perkins (“Bran Nue Dae”) and Daina Reid (“I Love You Too”).

In all the roster of 19 films for 2010 represented “an exceptional year for Australian screen production” with “works from both world renowned and exceptional emerging talents illuminating a refreshingly diverse and exciting slate of Australian films that are creating waves at home and abroad,” Trewhalla added.

Films by established directors such as Scott Hicks (“The Boys Are Back”) sit alongside filmmakers making their feature debut including Stuart Beattie (“Tomorrow When The War Began”) and David Michôd (“Animal Kingdom”), and new films from Jeremy Sims (“Beneath Hill 60”) and Michael and Peter Spierig (“Daybreakers”).

Other films to be shortlisted include “The Horseman,” “Blame,” “The Tumbler," “The Loved Ones,” “Accidents Happen” and “Mother Fish."

The final nominees for the AFI Awards will be announced in October after several months of screenings of the shortlisted films around the country. The AFI Awards will be handed out over two nights in December in Melbourne.