The 2020 AACTA Awards to proceed, reimagined, alongside a new online screen festival

The Australian Academy of Cinema Arts (AACTA) is delighted to announce that the AACTA Awards, presented by Foxtel, will return in 2020, albeit a little differently.

Reimagined to meet COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s luncheon will be presented online, the 2020 AACTA Awards will be held across two sittings due to reduced capacity at The Star Sydney and the inaugural ScreenFest, a free online festival, will run the entire week – connecting industry and fans with the best content and creators from home and abroad.

The screen industry has kept us up-to-date and entertained like never before in 2020 as Australians have been locked down at home during COVID-19. Australians have turned to television, film, streaming and video platforms to be informed, experience some escapism, a little light relief and binge watch thousands of hours of content across multiple genres. 2020 has been a year to reinforce the incredible work of Australia’s acclaimed and loved artists, creatives and productions and how our screens keep us connected.

2020 also marks 10 years since the inaugural AACTA Awards and this milestone will be celebrated by looking back on Australian screen achievements and triumphs here and overseas from across the decade. This year’s event will also incorporate the exciting addition of the AACTA Audience Choice Awards, which will be announced in greater detail later this week.  The reimagined celebration will be broadcast on Channel 7 on Wednesday 2 December, along with highlights from the 2020 AACTA Awards.

2020 AACTA AWARDS – KEY DATES AND CHANGES

Nomination Announcement Dates

5 October:

• Nominees announced for Best Short Film and Best Online Drama or Comedy

1 November:

• Nominees announced for Best Television Program Award categories for Entertainment, Reality, Lifestyle, Drama Series, Comedy, Factual Entertainment, Children’s, Miniseries or Telefeature, Documentary or Factual
• Nominees announced for Best Online Entertainment
• Nominees announced across Film and Documentary categories
• Acting nominees announced across all Television and Film categories

11 November:

• Nominees announced across all TV Craft, Documentary Craft, Casting and VFX

2020 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Industry Luncheon

• This event will become the AACTA Industry Awards presented by Foxtel
• These Awards will be delivered online – streamed on Friday 27 November 

2020 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Ceremony

• The Ceremony will be held at The Star Sydney on Monday 30 November
• The event will be held over two sittings in the interests of guest safety, attendance will be limited to manage a significantly reduced venue capacity, in accordance with a COVID safe plan
• Highlights from the AACTA Awards Ceremony presented by Foxtel will be broadcast nationally on Channel 7 Wednesday 2 December

ScreenFest – AACTA’s New Online Screen Festival

AACTA is committed to connecting everyone to the best content and creators from home and abroad and 2020 is no exception. This exciting new online festival will be available to all, spanning all forms of screen entertainment from social media and short films to insider chats with award-winning cast and crew of some of the world’s biggest television and film productions, and will be held from Friday 27 November – Wednesday 2 December alongside the Awards events. The full program will be announced via aacta.org on 28 October.

AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella, said

“2020 has been an incredibly challenging year for our creative screen industry. As the world ground to a halt with COVID-19 so too did many sections of our thriving community. But one thing has really stood out: screen content has played a crucial role in connecting and entertaining our nation when we have needed it most. This year has also placed unprecedented demands and pressures on our industry, and while it hasn’t been easy, our people have powered through with the immense resilience and creative solutions that Australians are renowned and admired for, both at home and abroad.”

“We are excited to bounce forward and find a way to celebrate all the amazing work of the last year on screen and behind the scenes and look forward to creating a slightly different Awards show this year that will also pay tribute to all we have achieved locally and internationally across the last decade.”

Foxtel Executive Director of Television, Brian Walsh, said:

“As the major sponsor and presenting partner of AACTA, Foxtel is proud to shine the spotlight on Australian content during what has been a very difficult year for all our colleagues in Australian film and television. The opportunity to come together in a new-look format for 2020 speaks to the creativity and ingenuity of our industry. Now, more than ever, it’s vitally important that we showcase the outstanding work of our creative community. We look forward to celebrating the best in Australian story-telling and celebrating ten years of the AACTA awards.”