# 1977 Australian Film Institute Awards

The 1977 Australian Film Awards ceremony, presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), honoured the best Australian films of 1976 on 21 September 1977 at Regent Theatre, in Sydney, New South Wales. It was televised on ABC. Actors Keir Dullea and Karen Black, and former Australian Prime Minister John Gorton hosted the show.
Don's Party won six awards including Best Direction and Best Actress. Other winners were The Picture Show Man with four awards, and Storm Boy with two awards including Best Film and the Jury Prize. Charles Chauvel was posthumously awarded the Raymond Longford Award.

## Ceremony

The ceremony was held on 21 September 1977 at Regent Theatre, in Sydney, New South Wales. It was hosted by actors Keir Dullea and Karen Black, and former Australian Prime Minister John Gorton. Films were nominated for awards in thirteen categories, marking the first time the awards were presented competitively and not as a film prize like previous years, with the exception of the non-feature film categories. The Awards were televised on ABC.

## Winners and nominees

The Australian Film Institute (AFI) presented awards across eighteen categories. Three new award categories were presented for Best Achievement in Sound, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction, and the award for Best Original Music Score was reinstated after it had not been given since 1973. The recipients of the peer voted feature-film awards included the film Storm Boy, for Best Film; Bruce Beresford for Best Direction, for Don's Party; John Meillon for Best Actor, for The Fourth Wish; and Pat Bishop for Best Actress, for Don's Party. Charles Chauvel received the Raymond Longford Award posthumously for his contribution to Australian screen culture and environment, and was presented to his wife Elsa Chauvel. Storm Boy was nominated for nine awards but only received two; and Don's Party won five of the six awards it was nominated for, winning the most awards at the ceremony. Non-feature films were presented with a gold, silver or bronze prize, or an honourable mention, and the awards were determined by a jury. The Love Letters from Teralba Road received a gold and silver prize, and a special award for creativity.

### Peer voted awards

Winners of competitive awards marked first in boldface and highlighted in gold.
| Category | Winners and nominees |
| Best Film | Storm Boy – Matt Carroll |
| Best Film | Break of Day – Patricia Lovell |
| Best Film | Don's Party — Phillip Adams |
| Best Film | The Picture Show Man — Joan Long |
| Best Direction | Bruce Beresford – Don's Party |
| Best Direction | Philippe Mora – Mad Dog Morgan |
| Best Direction | Chris Löfvén – Oz |
| Best Direction | Henri Safran – Storm Boy |
| Best Actor | John Meillon – The Fourth Wish as Casey |
| Best Actor | Noel Ferrier – Eliza Fraser as Captain James Fraser |
| Best Actor | David Gulpilil – Storm Boy as Fingerbone |
| Best Actor | John Meillon – The Picture Show Man as Maurice 'Pop' Pym |
| Best Actress | Pat Bishop – Don's Party as Jenny |
| Best Actress | Jeanie Drynan – Don's Party as Kath Henderson |
| Best Actress | Sara Kestelman – Break of Day as Alice |
| Best Actress | Robyn Nevin – The Fourth Wish as Connie |
| Best Supporting Actor | John Ewart – The Picture Show Man as Freddie Graves |
| Best Supporting Actor | John Ewart – Let the Balloon Go as PC Baird |
| Best Supporting Actor | Bill Hunter – Mad Dog Morgan as Sgt. Smith |
| Best Supporting Actor | Christopher Pate – Raw Deal as Dick |
| Best Supporting Actress | Veronica Lang – Don's Party as Jody |
| Best Supporting Actress | Anne Haddy – The Fourth Wish as Dr. Kirk |
| Best Supporting Actress | Ingrid Mason – Break of Day as Beth |
| Best Supporting Actress | Judy Morris – The Picture Show Man as Miss Lockhart |
| Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) | Don's Party – David Williamson |
| Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) | Storm Boy – Sonia Borg |
| Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) | The Fourth Wish – Michael Craig |
| Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) | The Picture Show Man – Joan Long |
| Best Art Direction | The Picture Show Man – David Copping |
| Best Art Direction | Break of Day – Wendy Dickson |
| Best Art Direction | Oz – Robbie Perkins |
| Best Art Direction | Storm Boy – David Copping |
| Best Costume Design | The Picture Show Man – Judith Dorsman |
| Best Costume Design | Let the Balloon Go – Ron Williams |
| Best Costume Design | Oz – Robbie Perkins |
| Best Costume Design | Storm Boy – Helen Evans |
| Best Sound | Don's Party – William M. Anderson |
| Best Sound | Oz – Les Luxford |
| Best Sound | Raw Deal – Bruce Lamshed |
| Best Sound | Storm Boy – Bob Cogger |
| Best Original Music Score | The Picture Show Man – Peter Best |
| Best Original Music Score | Storm Boy – Michael Carlos |
| Best Original Music Score | Mad Dog Morgan – Patrick Flynn |
| Best Original Music Score | Oz – Ross Wilson |
| Best Cinematography | Break of Day – Russell Boyd |
| Best Cinematography | Storm Boy – Geoff Burton |
| Best Cinematography | Raw Deal – Vincent Monton |
| Best Cinematography | Summer Of Secrets – Russell Boyd |
| Best Editing | Don's Party – William M. Anderson |
| Best Editing | Oz – Les Luxford |
| Best Editing | The Fourth Wish – Gerard Turney-Smith |
| Best Editing | Deathcheaters – Ron Williams |

### Jury voted prizes

Winners of the gold prize. Winners of the silver prize. Winners of the bronze prize.
| Category | Winners |
| Jury Prize | Storm Boy – Matt Carroll |
| Best Documentary | We Are All Alone My Dear – Paul Cox |
| Best Documentary | Greg – Tom Manefield |
| Best Documentary | Here's To You Mr. Robinson – Peter Tammer, Gary Patterson (Honourable mention) |
| Best Short Fiction Film | The Love Letters from Teralba Road – Richard Brennan |
| Best Short Fiction Film | The Singer and the Dancer – Gillian Armstrong |
| Best Short Fiction Film | Do I Have to Kill My Child? – Janet Isaac |
| Best Short Fiction Film | The Idyll – Aphrodite Jansen (Honourable mention) |
| Best Short Fiction Film | In The Beginning – Mark D'Arcy-Irvine (Honourable mention) |
| Best Cinematography – Documentary | The Love Letters from Teralba Road – Tom Cowan |
| Best Cinematography – Documentary | The Last Harvest – David Foreman |
| Advertising | Italy – Adrian Ussher |

### Special awards
#### Raymond Longford Award

* Charles Chauvel

#### Jedda Award

* Storm Boy – Matt Carroll

#### Creativity award

* Tom Cowan – Journey Among Women
* Stephen Wallace – The Love Letters from Teralba Road
* Alexander Stitt – Rover
* Adrian Ussher – Phone Home To...

#### Macro Photography

* Densey Clyde, Jim Frazier – Garden Jungle