The winners of the 53rd Annual ACS National Awards for Cinematography 2023 were announced at a ceremony in Sydney last night.
I was also fortunate to pick up an award on the night. You can watch a replay of the live stream of the event above, but I do warn you that it goes for almost 5 hours.
The big winner on the night was Mandy Walker AM ACS ASC who won the Milli Award for Cinematographer of the Year, as well as the Golden Tripod for Feature Film with a budget of over $2m for her work on Elvis. The Milli Award is the highest award an Australian director of photography can receive from the ACS.
Mandy also won a BAFTA and an ASC award for Elvis. She was also a 2023 Nominee for an Oscar in Best Achievement in Cinematography.
Full List of Winners
Golden Tripod
Mandy Walker AM ACS ASC – Elvis
Awards of Distinction
Stephen F. Windon, ACS, ASC – The Grey Man
Golden Tripod
Bob Nguyen ACS for Muoi – The Curse Returns
Award of Distinction
Maxx Corkindale for The Survival of Kindness
Golden Tripod
Jules O’Loughlin ACS ASC for The Old Man
Award of Distinction
Tyson Perkins for Mystery Road: Origin
Golden Tripod
Edward Goldner ACS for The Story of Dan Murphy
Award of Distinction
James L Brown ACS Destination NSW – FEEL
Golden tripod
Liam Gilmour ACS for Crown Towers
Award of Distinction
Matthew Davies for Cotton Australia ‘Anything Is Possible’
Golden Tripod
Christian Fitzpatrick ACS for King Island Distillery
Award of Distinction
Jeremy Rouse ACS for Qantas ‘I Still Call Australia Home’
Golden tripod
Matthew Allard ACS for Culinary Journey with Marriott Bonvoy
Award of Distinction
Jacob Williams for Captain Kelly’s Cottage
Golden Tripod
Bob Nguyen ACS for Black Hen
Award of Distinction
Ross Metcalf for Coming Home – The Ballet
Gold Tripod
Alice Stephens for Faces by Stephanie Cherote
Award of Distinction
Allan Hardy ACS for Glitch – Parkway Drive
Gold Tripod
Dave May for Andrea Lam – Live at Sydney Opera House
Award of Distinction
Casimir Dickson ACS for Silent without the Sun
No awards were given in this category
Award of Distinction
Susan Stitt ACS for The Exchange
John Bowring ACS Station Breaks & Promos
Golden Tripod
Tony Luu ACS for the SBS “We All” Campaign
Award of Distinction
Tony Luu ACS for ABC 90 years Brand
Golden Tripod
Carl Allison for Mad Martha
Award of Distinction
Cmos Le for Veil
Gold Tripod
Mitchell Woolnough for Dead on arrival
Award of Distinction
Johanis Lyons-Reid for Black Empire
Gold Tripod
Benjamin Cunningham ACS for The Mating Game – Fiddler Crabs
Award of Distinction
Nick Hayward David Attenborough’s Wonder of Song
Gold Tripod
Mathew Marsic for Pacific Capture
Award of Distinction
Mitchell Woolnough for Apprentice of the Year
Neil Davis International News
Gold Tripod
James Cannon ACS for War in Ukraine – Retreat from Iprin
Award of Distinction
James Cannon ACS for War in Ukraine – Hostomel
Award of Distinction
Stephen Cavenagh ACS for Cattle Queen
Student Cinematography
Golden tripod
Jonathon Le Grice for Echoes of Darkness.
Award of Distinction
Jake Frazer for Wil Frazer Designs
National Judges Merit Award
Jonathon Le Grice – Echoes of Darkness
Cine Kids
Golden Tripod
Cathryn Alford for The Last Haven
Other Awards
Hall of Fame Awards were presented to David Gribble ACS, Laurence McManus ACS and Robert Krasker BSC ASC. The Life Membership Award went to Mark Evans and the Ron Windon ACS Contribution Awards went to Richard Chataway ACS and James Cunningham. Joanna Cameron was given the John Leake OAM ACS Emerging Cinematographer Award. The Bob Miller ACS Technical & Innovation Achievement Award was taken out by Mark Ruff.
Australian cinematographers continue to shine on the world stage. Jules O’Loughlin ACS ASC recently won the ASC’s Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Episode of a One-Hour Commercial Television Series award and Greig Fraser ACS ASC who was nominated for the ASC’s best cinematography award for his work on The Batman.
