Simon Duggan ACS wins Milli Award for ‘Australian Cinematographer of the Year’ at the 2018 ACS National Awards for Cinematography – by Salvatore Di Muccio
At this year’s Fujinon Fujifilm ACS National Awards, the Society’s night of nights, held at Brisbane’s prestigious Customs House it was Simon Duggan ACS (Hacksaw Ridge) who took out the coveted Milli Award for Australian Cinematographer of the Year.
Duggan, unable to collect the award in person due to overseas shooting commitments, had already received critical international acclaim for the Mel Gibson-directed Hacksaw Ridge and was truly humbled as he accepted the award by recorded video saying, “I’m very honoured to receive this year’s Milli Award. As we know it’s always a collaboration between a great director, cast and crew to achieve such an amazing result. I’ve always enjoyed the local and international films I’ve shot here in Australia and I’ve managed to have the very best Australian crews behind me over the years. I would like to thank the Society and President Ron Johanson OAM ACS, along with all the committee members and all the sponsors who have made tonight and so many other ACS events possible.”
ACS National President Ron Johanson OAM ACS said, “Simon is an incredibly talented cinematographer and very worthy winner of the Milli Award. Tonight has been another wonderful night for the ACS and our members and I would like to thank our national sponsors for their continued generous support and the Queensland ACS committee for hosting these 2018 Awards.”
Some of the other winning entrants included Maxim Hussey who won the CineKids Award for Piezza Promo, and Nathaniel Kelly in ‘Student Cinematography’ for Curriculum. Ben Allan ACS earned a Gold Tripod in Experimental & Specialised for the incredible 270° cinema installation Wild Squad Adventures for Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, while Tony Luu ACS earned Gold for his Eurovision Promo in the ‘John Bowring ACS TV Station Breaks & Promos’ category.
Queensland’s Allan Hardy received the Gold Tripod in ‘Music Videos’ for Bliss n Eso’s Moments, Aaron Hollet who took the ‘Current Affairs’ Gold Tripod for Highway to Hell, and in ‘Entertainment & TV Magazine’ Ian Peterson ACS earned Gold for his work on Who Do You Think You Are? – ‘Delta Goodrem.
Academy Award-winner Dion Beebe ACS ASC won his first of two Gold Tripods on the night in ‘Corporate and Educational’ for Burberry: Tale of Thomas Burberry, later winning again in ‘Advertising – National/International’ for his Guinness: Hammond commercial. Beebe videoed in his acceptance speeches from Colombia, where he is currently shooting with director Ang Lee.
Last year’s Milli Award winner Abraham Joffe ACS picked up two Gold Tripods, one in ‘Documentaries’ for his work on Tales By Light: Life and Death, and a second in the ‘Ron Taylor AM ACS Wildlife & Nature’ category for Tales By Light: Misunderstood Predators.
Tim Tregoning earned a Gold Tripod for Tourism Tasmania’s Go Behind The Scenery campaign in ‘Advertising – Local & Regional’, while Ross Giardina ACS earned Gold for Real Destinations in ‘Dramatised Documentaries’, and Emilio Abbonizio earned the Gold Tripod in ‘Short Films’ for Third World Man.
Geoffrey Hall ACS took home Gold in the ‘Drama or Comedy Series & Telefeatures’ for his work on Wake In Fright, the Drew Llewelyn ACS Camerimage Scholarship went to Sissey Reyes, Ossie Emery ACS, Alan Cole ACS and JoAnne Bouzianis-Sellick were inducted into the ACS Hall of Fame, the ‘Bob Miller – ACS Technical & Innovation Achievement Award’ went to Tom Waugh & Chris Fox from Ignite Digi, and the The ACS-John Leake OAM ACS Emerging Cinematographer Award went to Ben Cotgrove.
Salvatore Di Muccio is the owner of Well Above.