Australian director Jennifer Kent has created a record at recently held Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards as she became the first woman to receive awards in three major categories, for the same film in a single year.
She bagged the Best Feature Film (which she shared with co-producer Kristina Ceyton, Bruna Papandrea and Steve Hutensky), Best Direction and Best Screenplay award for her period drama film The Nightingale. The film also won an award in another major category as its female lead, Aisling Franciosi, received a Best Actress award.
The Nightingale, in total, took home six awards with debutante Magnolia Maymuru winning Best Supporting Actress and Nikki Barrett winning for Best Casting at the AACTA Craft awards earlier this week.
The film follows a young woman convict seeking revenge for her family’s murder. It has received polarizing response from the audience. The film was screened at the Venice Film Festival where it received a special jury prize.
Other major winners at the event includes Damon Herriman who was honoured with the Best Actor Award for Judy & Punch, while Joel Edgerton won best supporting actor for Netflix’s The King. The historical drama also won in the Best cinematography, Best costume design and Best production design.
Hotel Mumbai and Danger Close took home the award for Best editing and Best sound, respectively.