page_title: AACTA Awards
section_title: 2011–present: AACTA Awards
hierarchical_section_title: AACTA Awards / History / 2011–present: AACTA Awards
caption_attribution_description: Australian actress Diana Glenn at the AACTA award 2012, Sydney, Australia
context_page_description: The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, both locally and internationally, including the producers, directors, actors, writers, and cinematographers. It is the most prestigious awards ceremony for the Australian film and television industry. They are generally considered to be the Australian counterpart of the Academy Awards for the U.S. and the BAFTA Awards for the U.K.
  The awards, previously called Australian Film Institute Awards or AFI Awards, began in 1958, and involved 30 nominations across six categories. They expanded in 1986 to cover television as well as film. The AACTA Awards were instituted in 2011. The AACTA International Awards, inaugurated on 27 January 2012, are presented every January in Los Angeles.
context_section_description: In June 2011, the AFI announced an industry consultation for an "Australian Academy". The aim of the Academy is to create awareness for Australian film in local and international markets and to improve the way the AFI rewards practitioners with the formation of an "Honorary Council". Of the announcement Damian Trewhella, CEO of the AFI said, "We thought a better way to engage with the industry would be to try and improve our professional membership structure...It's quite a big improvement on the way the AFI does things." The consultation period ended in July 2011 and on 20 July it was announced that the AFI would go ahead with the Australian Academy with Trewhella stating that "[The AFI] envisage that this will lead to greater opportunities for those working in the industry, as well as greater audience recognition and connection with Australian screen content."
  The name of the new Academy was revealed on 18 August 2011 as the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), with the awards renamed to the AACTA Awards. Prior to this announcement, the awards date and location was changed to January 2012 at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney as opposed to Melbourne where it was held for the majority of the AFI Awards history. The date change was made to align the awards with the international awards season. When the Academy announced the dates for the inaugural awards season, they introduced awards which "recognise international excellence within the categories of best film, acting, writing and direction". On 23 November 2011, it was announced that the first award to be handed out since the Academy's inception is the Longford Lyell Award, which was presented to Don McAlpine for his contribution to cinematography, at the inaugural awards luncheon.
caption: Actress Diana Glenn with an AACTA Award in 2012.
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