11 award-winning South Australian releases to stream now

The year is off to a blockbuster start for SA’s screen scene. Our local talent just brought home a huge haul of honours from Australia’s most prestigious film awards, and a jam-packed roster of releases promises to dazzle film and TV enthusiasts all year long.

The glitz and glamour of the 2024 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards saw South Australia’s screen industry win big, with a dazzling haul of 14 awards from 50 nominations. This remarkable achievement underscores the incredible talent and creativity of our screen creatives, proving we can excel in everything from small indie gems to massive global hits.

Amid the sea of stars at the event, including Hollywood heavyweights Margot Robbie, Cate Blanchett, and Rebel Wilson, it was the South Australian screen creatives and films supported by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) that truly stole the show, led by the standout success of the night: Talk to Me.

From YouTube to the big screen

SA-made and SAFC-supported film Talk to Me is the brainchild of Adelaide’s Philippou twin brothers, Danny and Michael. With their debut feature, they’ve catapulted straight from “RackaRacka” YouTube sensations to Hollywood’s hottest new talent. Their smash hit horror movie clinched eight awards: Best Film, Best Direction for the twins, Best Screenplay for Danny Philippou and SA’s Bill Hinzman and Best Lead Actress for rising star Sophie Wilde, as well as Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound for a team including SA’s Pete Smith and Nick Steele, and Best Hair and Makeup for a team including SA’s Rebecca Buratto.

The industry recognition at the AACTA awards is the icing on the cake for Talk To Me, which has proved a huge success at the box office – and already has a sequel in the works. The Causeway Films produced feature, which received support from both the SAFC and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, has grossed more than $100 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing horror film to date from A24 (that’s the super cool entertainment company behind Everything Everywhere All at Once, Midsommar, Lady Bird and Moonlight). Talk to Me has also wowed the critics, with an impressive 95 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a whole lot of praise from top industry publications as well as acclaimed directors including Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, George Miller, Ari Aster and Jordan Peele, and iconic horror writer Steven King.

More SA winners

SA-made and SAFC-supported feature The New Boy snagged four AACTA awards: Best Lead Actor for young newcomer Aswan Reid, Best Supporting Actress for Deborah Mailman, Best Production Design for SA’s Amy Baker and Best Cinematography for Warwick Thornton, who also wrote and directed. Selected to premiere at Cannes last year, this genre-defying feature from Scarlett Pictures and Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films delves into culture and faith from the perspective of an Aboriginal boy wrestling with identity in a remote outback monastery.

Thought-provoking crime drama Limbo from Bunya Productions, written and directed by Ivan Sen and filmed in Coober Pedy starring Simon Baker, took home the award for Best Indie Film. At the other end of the spectrum, blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny won the AACTA for Best Visual Effects or Animation, with Julian Hutchens and Ian Cope of SA PDV (Post, Digital and Visual Effects) company Rising Sun Pictures named in the honours for Walt Disney Pictures. Post production on the film was supported by the SAFC’s SA PDV Rebate.

SA’s global reach recognised

South Australia boasts some of the industry’s most influential figures globally, including plenty of behind-the-camera talent. Producer Bruna Papandrea, another South Australian native who has conquered Hollywood, was honoured with the Byron Kennedy Award for her exceptional contribution to the industry. Bruna has championed female creatives throughout her career, and her producer credits include Academy-award-nominated Wild and Gone Girl, plus Big Little Lies and The Dry.

Similarly, SA’s own Sarah Snook took home the AACTA International Award for Best Actress in a Drama for her unforgettable role as Shiv in Succession – she also stars in recent SA made thriller Run Rabbit Run, filmed in South Australia’s Riverland. Meanwhile, Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) Board member Hugo Weaving – known around the world for his starring roles in The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, and most recently SA made thriller The Royal Hotel – won two acting awards for Love Me and The Rooster.

Why screen industry wins are wins for all South Aussies

South Australia absolutely dominated the nominations for the AACTAs this year. Our 50 nominations for SA-made and SAFC-supported screen productions included three out of the six nominations in both the Best Film and Best Indie Film categories. SA nomination highlights in 2024 included films The Royal Hotel, The Survival of Kindness, Monolith and Run Rabbit Run; documentary The Last Daughter; and TV series Beep and Mort and Gold Diggers. There were also nominations for three local creatives: sound practitioner Tom Heuzenroeder, and actors Teresa Palmer and Shantae Barnes-Cowan.

This is great news for our state’s economy, showcasing our local talent to a wider audience and opening up opportunities for more investment in SA-made productions. Last year saw the biggest Netflix series ever to be filmed in SA, Desert King, employ hundreds of South Australians across crew and cast, while upcoming Stan Original series Thou Shalt Not Steal is expected to give the local economy a $3.6 million boost and create 89 jobs for South Australian crew and cast.

Injecting more than $187 million a year into South Australia’s economy, our super screen industry employs thousands of locals and has a flow-on effect that benefits other sectors – for every four jobs created in the screen sector, another three jobs are supported elsewhere in the state’s economy, like hospitality, tourism and trades. This wouldn’t be possible without the SAFC’s more than 50 years of investment in local industry, and incentives for productions to film here and utilise local talent, businesses and service providers. The SAFC is also an industry partner of the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF), which supports film projects through its Investment Fund as well as providing an annual showcase of new releases from SA, Australia and around the world. You can learn more about how our screen industry punches above its weight here.

What’s in store in 2024

As well as the big-budget Desert King (Netflix) and Thou Shalt Not Steal (Stan) launching later this year, 2024 will bring with it a whole lot more releases made in SA with SAFC support. The all-star drama series Ladies in Black, filmed around the state and at the SAFC’s Adelaide Studios, will screen on ABC and ABC iview in 2024. Animated series Eddie’s Lil’ Homies, from the book series by AFL great Eddie Betts, is streaming on Netflix and SBS On Demand now, while documentary series Australia’s Sleep Revolution with Dr Michael Mosley is also out now on SBS On Demand.

While the program for the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) is yet to be released, three exciting SA made and SAFC supported films have already been announced to premiere at the event: Inspirational mother-daughter story With or Without You, starring Marta Dusseldorp; Kangaroo Island, a family drama showcasing the beauty of one of SA’s most iconic locations; and Lesbian Space Princess, an animated comic space romp from first time filmmakers, developed through the SAFC and AFF’s Film Lab: New Voices program.