Joel Edgerton, Baz Luhrmann, Jacki Weaver to Be Honored at Australians in Film Awards

Warner Bros.' Steve Papazian will also be recognized for his contribution to the Australian film industry.

Joel Edgerton, Baz Luhrmann and Jacki Weaver will be among the beneficiaries at Oct. 24’s Australians in Film Awards dinner, instituted by Australians in Film, the Los Angeles-based industry guild for Australian filmmakers and performers in the United States.

Edgerton and his acting, directing and producing colleagues at the Sydney-based collective Blue Tongue Films will receive the Orry Kelly International award. Blue Tongue members include Kieran Darcy-Smith, Luke Doolan, Edgerton and his sibling Nash Edgerton, Mirrah Foulkes, David Michod and Spencer Susser – who have made films including Animal Kingdom and Wish You Were Here -- are being recognized for their success in introducing Australian filmmakers to an international audience.

They will share the Orry Kelly International Award with The Great Gatsby writer, director and producer Luhrmann, who is being recognized for his continued input and development of Australian talent at home in Sydney and abroad.

The international award is named after Australian costume designer Orry George Kelly, who moved from Australia to the U.S. in 1921. Kelly was Australia’s most prolific Oscar-winning costume designer, winning three statues in the 1950s for An American in Paris, Les Girls and Some Like It Hot.

A second international award, named by locations marketing agency Ausfilm, is being given to Warner Bros. president of worldwide physical production Steve Papazian, who is being honored for his work in bringing 38 projects totaling nearly $2 billion to Australia over several decades. Projects include 1992 TV movie Survive the Savage Seas to more recent films like Gatsby, made entirely in Australia, and Gravity, with Adelaide-based Rising Sun Pictures a key visual effects provider on the film.

The L.A.-based organization that serves as the industry guild for Australian filmmakers and performers will also present actors Alex O'Loughlin and Animal Kingdom's Sullivan Stapleton and Weaver with the AiF Breakthrough Award.

According to Australians in Film president Tracey Viera, the Breakthrough award, handed out for the past seven years, is given to Australian actors whose talent has catapulted them into the international spotlight, while the international award honors those who are nurturing colleagues’ careers in Australia and making a meaningful contribution to the Australian film industry. Last year’s inaugural international award recipient was Harvey Weinstein.

O’Loughlin currently stars in CBS' Hawaii Five-0, while Stapleton appears in the upcoming Warner Bros./Legendary feature 300: Rise of an Empire. The in-demand Weaver stars opposite Cate Blanchett in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.

The AiF Awards benefit dinner is aimed at supporting the organization’s mission: helping usher Australian filmmakers into the international market and to provide educational programs for the 500 AiF members.

Presenters include Robert Pattinson, David O. Russell, David Michôd and Andy and Lana Wachowski. Other new initiatives for the organization are also expected to be announced at the dinner.

The AiF Awards dinner takes place during Ausfilm Week in Los Angeles, which kicks off Sunday, Oct. 20.