LOS ANGELES: Parasite film has been named best picture of the year at the annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards on Friday night in Los Angeles.
Korean maestro Bong Joon Ho’s film, a front-runner for the best international feature film at Oscars, was named the best film of the year. The award season favorite about a dirt-poor family that slides itself into the life of a wealthy young couple, beat out competition from The Irishman, Joker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The King for the best film title.
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ was the top winner of the night, taking home wins in two of the five nominated categories — best direction by Quentin Tarantino and best supporting, actor for Brad Pitt for his portrayal as the fictional stuntman Cliff Booth.
Adam Driver won for best actor for his star turn in Marriage Story, while Saoirse Ronan earned the best actress trophy for her lead role in Little Women. The best supporting actress prize went to Margot Robbie for her lead role in the the drama Bombshell.
Robbie had been nominated twice in the supporting actress category, but ended up taking home the trophy for her work in Bombshell over her portrayal of the late Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Robbie was the lone Aussie to win an award on Friday night nominated alongside her countrywomen Nicole Kidman and Toni Collette. The best screenplay award went to Taika Waititi for his Nazi Germany satire Jojo Rabbit.
Netflix’s The Irishman was shunned after coming into AACTA awards competition with a field-leading six nominations over seven categories, followed by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with five nods.
Joker and Parasite each earned four nominations for the AACTA Awards, where the Australian film industry honours the best movies of the year regardless of geography.
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