LINCOLN Among Top Nominees of Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) today announced the nominees in the five AACTA International Award categories, recognising international achievements in film as follows: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.

The nominees are as follows:

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY
• Argo. Chris Terrio
• Django Unchained. Quentin Tarantino
• Lincoln. Tony Kushner
• The Master. Paul Thomas Anderson
• Silver Linings Playbook. David O. Russell
• Zero Dark Thirty. Mark Boal

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
• Argo. Ben Affleck
• Life Of Pi. Ang Lee
• Lincoln. Steven Spielberg
• The Sessions. Ben Lewin
• Silver Linings Playbook. David O. Russell
• Zero Dark Thirty. Kathryn Bigelow

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
• Bradley Cooper. Silver Linings Playbook
• Daniel Day-Lewis. Lincoln
• John Hawkes. The Sessions
• Hugh Jackman. LES MISERABLES
• Joaquin Phoenix. The Master
• Denzel Washington. Flight

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
• Jessica Chastain. Zero Dark Thirty
• Marion Cotillard. Rust and Bone
• Nicole Kidman. The Paperboy
• Jennifer Lawrence. Silver Linings Playbook
• Emmanuelle Riva. Amour
• Naomi Watts. The Impossible

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST FILM
• Argo. Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov
• LES MISERABLES. Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
• Life of Pi. Ang Lee, Gil Netter, David Womark
• Lincoln. Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
• Silver Linings Playbook. Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon
• Zero Dark Thirty. Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Megan Ellison

The 2nd AACTA International Awards recognise film excellence regardless of geography, as determined by a jury of eminent Australian screen practitioners from a cross-section of crafts and with a wealth of local and international experience. Nominees include international screen luminaries such as Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington and Marion Cotillard, through to Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg and Ang Lee.

Australian actors Hugh Jackman (LES MISERABLES), Naomi Watts (The Impossible) and Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy) have also been nominated, and Australian writer-director Ben Lewin has been nominated for Best Direction for The Sessions.

Of the six films competing for the 2nd AACTA International Award for Best Film, Silver Linings Playbook leads with five nominations across each of the five categories. Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty each received four nominations, while Argo has been recognised with three nominations. LES MISERABLES and Life of Pi each have two nominations.

Winners of the 2nd AACTA International Awards will be announced at a special event in Los Angeles in late January 2013.

Speaking of the 2nd AACTA International Awards, AACTA President Geoffrey Rush said:

"In this, the second year of the AACTA International Awards, we're delighted to build on the huge success of our inaugural event held in LA in January 2012. This year's nominees include actors, directors and screenwriters who truly represent international excellence - from French actresses Marion Cotillard and Emmanuelle Riva, to Taiwanese director Ang Lee, and from British actor Daniel Day-Lewis, to US icons Joaquin Phoenix, Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino.

"As the Australian Academy engages in the international Awards conversation, it's brilliant to see Australian performers and practitioners nominated alongside international talent for the 2nd AACTA International Awards. Indeed, the talents of Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts and Ben Lewin stand on their own and will no doubt be honoured by our international screen peers."We look forward with great anticipation to the announcement of the winners of the AACTA International Awards in late January in L.A., the epicentre of international film."

Damian Trewhella, CEO of AACTA and its public engagement body, the Australian Film Institute, said that it was also gratifying to see the talents of so many Australian performers in the nominated international productions - Russell Crowe in LES MISERABLES, Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook, and Joel Edgerton in Zero Dark Thirty.

Trewhella said that with a burgeoning industry and with Australian performers and practitioners consistently acknowledged as among the world's best by other international screen organisations such as AMPAS and BAFTA, it was important that the Australian screen industry could equally recognise the talents of their international peers through the Australian Academy's International Awards.

"The Australian Academy's International Awards are dedicated to identifying and awarding the pinnacle of screen excellence and success regardless of geography. Last year's inaugural AACTA International Awards presaged the huge Academy Awards success of The Artist as well as Meryl Streep's win for her performance in The Iron Lady, and we wait with anticipation to see if there are such synergies between Australian jurors and their international counterparts in this year's Awards season."

The 2nd AACTA International Awards winners' announcement event will be held in L.A., late January 2013.