Media Release: Friday January 30, 2015
Foxtel’s Arena is thrilled to bring Australians all the glitz and glamour from LA with an exclusive one-hour special of The 4th International AACTA Awards from the G’Day USA Gala, including a front row seat to all the red carpet fashions, this Sunday February 1 at 7.30pm.
Following on from the 4th AACTA Awards held in Sydney last night, the G’Day USA Gala, featuring the AACTA International Awards, presented by Qantas, will take place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on 31 January 2015.
The Awards will feature Hollywood stars and Australian icons including Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Chris Hemsworth, John Travolta, Mel Gibson, Scarlett Johansson, Jacki Weaver, Rachel Griffiths, Rebel Wilson and Tim Minchin. And in a special presentation, Chris Hemsworth will be honored with an Excellence in Film Award, presented by his Avengers co-star Scarlett Johansson.
This year the awards have been completely re-imagined for 2015 to celebrate the new partnership of the AACTA International Awards and G’Day USA’s LA Gala, creating new opportunities for the promotion of the Australian screen sector in North America.
The Awards honour the world’s leading screen performers and practitioners in seven categories: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
Birdman leads the nominations tally with a total of seven nominations, including Best Supporting Actress, Naomi Watts, marking a strong year following her recent SAG Award nomination for her role in St Vincent. Watts’ last collaboration with Birdman writer/director/producer, Alejandro González Iñárritu, was 21 Grams, for which she received an Oscar nomination.
Fellow Australian actress Essie Davis has been nominated for Best Lead Actress for her performance in the Australian film The Babadook. Davis was also nominated for this performance at the 4th AACTA Awards, held in Sydney last night and screening on Arena on Saturday January 31at 7.30pm.
Other top nominated films include Boyhood and The Imitation Game which received five nominations each, including Best Film, Best Direction and Best Screenplay. Whiplash followed closely with four nominations, and The Grand Budapest Hotel rounded out the top five nominated films, receiving three nominations. The remaining nine films nominated for the 4th AACTA International Awards all received nominations in acting categories, including Foxcatcher and The Theory of Everything, which each received two nominations.
The complete list of nominations, previous award winners and other news and information is available at www.aacta.org
The 4th International AACTA Awards from the G’Day USA Gala premiere Sunday February 1 at 7.30pm only on Foxtel’s Arena.
The 4th AACTA Awards will screen Saturday January 31at 7.30pm on Foxtel’s Arena.
-Brad