Inside Film Awards
The IF Awards, formerly known as the Inside Film Awards, Lexus Inside Film Awards, Kodak IF Awards, and Jameson IF Awards, was an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry. Its name derives from its origins at Inside Film magazine, and changed over the years under different sponsorship. The event was held in Sydney in November each year, apart from between 2006 and 2008, when for three years it was held on the Gold Coast in Queensland. The last awards event was held in 2011.
History
The Inside Film Awards were created by the founders of Inside Film magazine, Stephen Jenner and David Barda, The awards were determined by a national audience poll, which differentiated it from the Australian AACTA Awards, which are judged by industry professionals.The IF Awards were first held in 1999, and until 2006 were also known as the Lexus Inside Film Awards, in recognition of its principal sponsor Lexus. The event was held in Sydney in November each year, and was broadcast on SBS Television and Showtime Movie Channels. Guests over this period included Nicole Kidman, Laurence Fishburne, Baz Luhrmann, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Bryan Brown.
In 2007, the Rising Talent and Indy Spirit Awards were open to public entries.
Event partners changed over the years. In 2006, the event moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gold Coast, Queensland, after a contract was signed with the Queensland Government. At that time, Angie Fielder was the general manager of Inside Film Awards. In 2008, the promotional trailer for the event was directed by Bonnie Elliott. In that year, the event was hosted by Julia Zemiro at the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, with Yumi Stynes welcoming the stars. Kate Miller-Heidke performed an acoustic version of her hit song "Can't Shake It" at the event, which was broadcast live on SBS TV.
In 2009, Kodak acquired naming rights for the awards, maintaining the partnership until 2010. Returning to Sydney, the event was variously known as the Kodak Inside Film Awards Sydney, Kodak IF Awards Sydney, or just Kodak IF Awards. Other partners in 2010 included GHD, Jameson Irish Whiskey, M.A.C. Cosmetics, OK! Magazine, SBS Television, and Screen Australia, among others.
In 2011 Jameson Irish Whiskey acquired naming rights, with the event held at Luna Park. Eddie Perfect hosted the event, with presenters including Callan McAuliffe, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Sophie Lowe, Dan Wyllie, and Xavier Samuel. Individual awards were named after various sponsors, such as Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film; Destination NSW IF Award for Best Actor; Dinosaur Designs IF Award for Best Actress; Fox Studios Australia IF Award for Best Direction; AVID IF Award for Best Editing; Dyson IF Award for Best Production Design; ARRI IF Award for Best Cinematography; South Australian Film Corporation IF Award for Best Sound; and many others. The IF Awards for Best Music, Best Script, Best Film Festival, and Best Short Animation were not named. The lifetime achievement award was called the Jameson Living Legend IF Award.
In April 2012, it was announced that the IF Awards would be put "on hold", owing to changing economic circumstances, and competition with the AACTA Awards, which had moved to Sydney in 2011. Living Legend award recipient, film critic Margaret Pomeranz, said about the loss of the awards: "It's a tragedy. They were wonderfully different, focussing not only on our film successes but on emerging talent like Andrew Dominik, Kath Shelper, Ryan Corr, and Anthony Maras. They were irreverent when necessary but also a lovely reflection of Australian audiences' engagement with our films. And it was always the best party in town!".
Categories
The IF Awards included, among others, the following categories over the years:- Contribution to Television
- Independent Spirit
- Best Unproduced Screenplay
- Living Legend
- Best Animation
- Best Feature Film
- Best Script
Nominations and winners
2007 nominees
IF Award for Best Feature Film- The Home Song Stories – directed by Tony Ayres and produced by Michael McMahon & Liz Watts
- The Jammed – directed by Dee McLachlan and produced by Sally Ayre-Smith, Andrea Buck & Dee McLachlan
- Lucky Miles – directed by Michael James Rowland and produced by Jo Dyer & Lesley Dyer
Queensland Events Corporation IF Award for Best Actor
InStyle IF Award for Best Actress
Kodak IF Award for Best Cinematography
- The Home Song Stories – Nigel Bluck
- The Jammed – Peter Falk
- Lucky Miles – Geoff Burton, ASC
- The Home Song Stories – Antony Partos
- The Jammed – Grant Innes McLachlan
- Noise – Bryony Marks
- The Jammed – Dee McLachlan
- The Home Song Stories – Tony Ayres
- Lucky Miles – Michael James Rowland & Helen Barnes
- Crocodile Dreaming – directed by Darlene Johnson & produced by Sue Milliken
- Nana – directed by Warwick Thornton & produced by Kath Shelper
- Soul Mates – directed by Naomi Rossdeutscher & produced by Rachel Clements and Paul Howard
- Richard – directed & produced by Mick Elliott
- Sweet & Sour – directed by Eddie White & produced by Sam White and The People's Republic of Animation
- Flour, Sugar, Tea – directed by Lee Willis & produced by Gina Twyble
- My Brother Vinnie – directed by Steven McGregor & produced by Sarah Bond
- Nigger Lovers – directed by Rhonda Hagan & produced by Daryl Sparkes & Stephen Hagan
- Bomb Harvest – directed by Kim Mordaunt & produced by Sylvia Wilczynski
- 4 – directed by Tim Slade & produced by Joanna Buggy
- Unlikely Travellers – directed by Michael Noonan & produced by Michael Noonan and John Hart
- God Told Me To – directed by Natasha Pincus. Artist: Paul Kelly
- Hearts a Mess – directed by Brendan Cook. Artist: Gotye
- I Thought About You – directed by Kiku Ohe. Artist: The Beautiful Girls
- Clubland – Nell Hanson
- The Home Song Stories – Melinda Doring
- Lucky Miles – Pete Baxter
- The Jammed – Anne Carter & Dee McLachlan
- Lucky Miles – Henry Dangar, ASE
- Noise – Geoff Hitchins
- Clubland – Liam Egan, Ian McLoughlin, Andrew Neil & Steven Jackson Vaughan
- The Home Song Stories – Craig Carter, John Wilkinson, James Harvey & Andrew Neil
- Noise – Emma Bortignon, Doron Kipen & Philippe Decrausaz
- Cross Life – Claire McCarthy
- Searching 4 Sandeep – Poppy Stockell
- Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story – Julian Shaw
- Philippa Campey
- Bonnie Elliott
- Ben Hackworth
- Erin White
- The Adventures of Abigail Storm – Luke Preston
- The Farm – Peter Dai Evans
- Intersection – Robin de Crespigny
2008 nominees and winners
:Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film
- MEN'S GROUP – Michael Joy & John L. SimpsonThe Black Balloon - Elissa Down & Tristram Miall
- Son of a Lion – Benjamin Gilmour & Carolyn Johnson
- PETER DUNCAN – Unfinished Sky
- Elissa Down – The Black Balloon
- Andrew Traucki & David Nerlich – Black Water
IF Award for Best Actress
Screen Australia IF Award for Best Script
- MEN'S GROUP – Michael Joy & John L. Simpson
- The Black Balloon – Elissa Down & Jimmy The Exploder
- Unfinished Sky – Peter Duncan
- JULES O’LOUGHLIN ACS – September
- Denson Baker ACS – The Black Balloon
- Robert Humphreys ACS – Unfinished Sky
- AMANDA BROWN – Son of a Lion
- Michael Yezerski – The Black Balloon
- Haydn Walker – Men's Group
Production Book IF Award for Best Production Design
- LAURIE FAEN – Unfinished Sky
- Nicholas McCallum – The Black Balloon
- Sam Hobbs – September
- SAM PETTY, ROB MACKENZIE, YULIA AKERHOLT, PETER GRACE & MICHAEL MCMENOMY – The Square
- Paul Pirola & Ben Osmo – The Black Balloon
- Andrew Plain, Annie Breslin, Will Ward & John Scheifelbein – Unfinished Sky
SBS IF Award for Best Documentary
- THE BURNING SEASON – Cathy Henkel, Jeff Canin & Trish Lake
- The Oasis – Ian Darling & Sascha Ettinger Epstein
- Playing in the Shadows – Sascha Ettinger Epstein & Marco Ianniello
- UNDRESSING VANESSA – Matthew Pond & Tina Lymberis
- Mad Morro – Kelrick Martin & Tom Zubrycki
- Rare Chicken Rescue – Randall Wood & Vickie Gest
- fOUR – Erin White & Zyra McAuliffe
- Spider – Nash Edgerton & Nicole O'Donohue
- You Better Watch Out – Steve Callen & Jules Callen
- THE COVENANT OF MR KASCH – Joshua Beahan & Ruwan De Silva
- Dog with Electric Collar – Steve Baker & Damon Escott
- Mutt – Glen Hunwick & Beth Frey
- JUST A BOY by Angus & Julia Stone – Angus & Julia Stone, Josh Groom, Andrew Yoole, Madeleine Milasas & Jodie Passmore
- Emergency! Emergency! by The Hot Lies – Luke Eve & Simon Ritch
- If You Keep Losing Sleep by Silverchair – Stephen Lance, Damon Escott & Leanne Tonkes
- MEMORIAL DAY – Kieran Darcy-Smith
- Get Black – Matthew C Vaughan
- Red Light Revolution – Sam Voutas
- LEON FORD
- Amy Gebhardt
- Cris Jones
- BENJAMIN GILMOUR & CAROLYN JOHNSON – Son of a Lion
- Jason Byrne – Rats & Cats
- Christopher Weekes – Bitter & Twisted
Inside Film Magazine IF Award for Festival of the Year
2010 winners
The winners of the 2010 Kodak IF Awards were:Autodesk IF Award for Best Short Animation
- The Lost Thing – Directors: Shaun Tan, Andrew Ruhemann, Producer: Sophie Byrne
- Celestial Avenue – Directors: Colin & Cameron Cairnes, Producer: Scott Alexander
- From Dope to Dalai Lama – Director: Jason Raftopoulos, Producer: Jason Raftopoulos
- Strange Birds in Paradise – Director: Charlie Hill-Smith, Producer: Jamie Nicolai, John Cherry
- "Big Jet Plane" – Angus & Julia Stone – Director: Kiku Ohe, Producer: Richard Halstead
Jameson IF Award for Best Script
Events NSW IF Award for Best Actor
IF Award for Best Actress
Showtime Movie Channels IF Award for Best Feature Film
SA FILM IF Award for Best Sound
- Beneath Hill 60 – Robert Sullivan, Liam Egan, Mark Cornish, Tony Murtagh
CineAlta by Sony IF Award for Best Cinematography
- The Waiting City – Denson Baker
AVID IF Award for Best Editing
National Film and Sound Archive Independent Spirit IF Award
- Caught Inside – Directed by Adam Blaiklock, Produced by Paul S Friedman
Media Super Out of the Box IF Award
Docklands Studios Melbourne IF Award for Contribution to TV