Ben Apfelbaum

AACTA AWARDS INDUSTRY LUNCHEON

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards are a continuum of the Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards which recognised screen excellence in Australia since 1958. The first AACTA award had humble origins in that it was presented to a short training film produced by the Federal Government.

The Minister for the Arts Don Harwin made the point that for every dollar the New South Wales Government invested on film and television, the New South Wales economy reaped a benefit of $21.

The Industry Awards recognise film, television and documentary screen craft  merit- including cinematography, costume design, editing, music scoring, sports presentation and online video series.

The ACCTA awards this year, in which more than fifty awards were presented, are often referred to as Australia’s Oscars. However in America television’s preeminent programs and production teams are honoured in the Emmy Awards, in Australia the meritorious tv programs and their production teams are honoured at the Industry Luncheon, along with those behind the scenes  in the film industry, such that 35 awards were presented, with 43 first time ACCTA Award winners.

The luncheon took place at the Star Event Centre on the 3rd December. It was hosted by ACCTA Award winning actress Kat Stewart and ‘Orange is the New Brown’ comedian Nazeem Hussein. Award presenters included  Simon Baker, Stephen and Bernard Curry, Celia Pacquola, Aaron Pedersen, Matt Okine and Leah Purcell.

‘Sweet Country’, ‘Ladies in Black’, ‘Mountain ‘ and ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ were the big winners collecting thee Awards each. As has been the case in previous years with expanding categories in film and television as part of their revolution, a new category was introduced for Best Casting.

The stagecraft people were strongly supported by their onscreen counterparts who enjoyed the self deprecating humour of the presenters. Because it was celebrating its diamond anniversary  there were also warm hearted elements of nostalgia, camaraderie, genuine self satisfaction, gratitude, and collegiate support.

Featured image – Warwick Thornton

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.