The 2026 AACTA Awards season has officially kicked off, with winners of the Industry Gala revealed on Wednesday night.
Held at HOTA, Home of the Arts, the ceremony marked the opening night of the five-day AACTA Festival and brought together Australia’s screen industry to celebrate excellence across film, television and online content. Comedian Ed Kavalee hosted the event, which saw 30 craft and industry awards handed out across the evening.
“Bring Her Back” and “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” led the tally, each collecting seven awards, cementing their status as two of the year’s most critically acclaimed Australian productions. Animated sci-fi favourite “Lesbian Space Princess” also enjoyed a strong night, picking up two awards, as did “The Correspondent” and “The People v Robodebt.”
The ceremony featured a broad cross-section of industry presenters, including Celia Pacquola, Costa Georgiadis, Claire Hooper, Shane Jacobson and Brenton Thwaites. A musical highlight came courtesy of Gemma Chua-Tran, who performed the AACTA Award-winning song from “Lesbian Space Princess.”
“AACTA is proud to recognise the incredible depth of talent across Australia’s screen industry,” said AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella. “The AACTA Awards Industry Gala is a fantastic event to kick off AACTA Festival, celebrating some of the incredible artists, productions and practitioners that bring Australian stories to life.”
See the full winners list below.
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The 2026 AACTA Festival will run until Sunday, February 8th, offering a vast range of activities celebrating film, television, and pop culture. Festival goers can enjoy in-depth movie deconstructions, interactive workshops, meet-and-greets, music showcases, masterclasses with renowned filmmakers, outdoor screenings, and a variety of family-friendly activities.
Australian stars Yerin Ha and Dichen Lachman will be in attendance to discuss their roles in “Bridgerton” and “Severance,” respectively. And joining their producers in celebrating Australian horror, Danny and Michael Philippou will attend to discuss their breakout career from YouTube stunts to Hollywood horror stardom.
“Succession” star Sarah Snook will take part in a special ‘In Conversation,’ where she will also be honoured with the prestigious AACTA Trailblazer Award. Snook’s “Succession” costar Brian Cox is confirmed to attend the festival, as well as Dacre Montgomery, Baz Luhrmann, Sam Neill, Joseph Zada, David Wenham, Guy Montgomery, Rove McManus, Delta Goodrem, Steph Tisdell, Pia Miranda and many, many more.
Check out the full program here.
It’s also been confirmed that Australian comedian Celeste Barber will host the 2026 AACTA Awards.
“This is going to be so fun. As I won’t be winning, because I’m not nominated for an AACTA Award this year, I may as well host the show. I’m so bloody excited to celebrate the biggest Australian TV and films of the year,” Barber said.
Bruce Beresford, meanwhile, will receive the Longford Lyell Award at next month’s ceremony, recognition for his lengthy career that has included directing “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Black Robe” and “Breaker Morant.”
The 2026 AACTA Awards nominees were revealed in December, with Nicole Kidman, Jacob Elordi, Sam Neill, Teresa Palmer, Sally Hawkins, and Alison Brie amongst the names.
The 2026 AACTA Awards will be presented at HOTA on the Gold Coast as part of AACTA Festival. The ceremony can be watched on Channel Ten on Friday, February 6 at 7:30pm AEDT. A special extended broadcast, including all awards from the ceremony, will be available from 7:30pm the following day on BINGE and Foxtel (Showcase and available On-Demand).
2026 AACTA Awards Industry Gala winners:
Film
AACTA Award for Best Casting in Film presented by Casting Networks
“Bring Her Back” – Nikki Barrett
AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in Film
“Bring Her Back” – Aaron McLisky
AACTA Award for Best Costume Design in Film
“Bring Her Back” – Anna Cahill
AACTA Award for Best Editing in Film presented by Spectrum Films
“Bring Her Back” – Geoff Lamb
AACTA Award for Best Indie Film
“Lesbian Space Princess” – Tom Phillips – Wemat Studios
AACTA Award for Best Original Score in Film
“Bring Her Back” – Cornel Wilczek
AACTA Award for Best Production Design in Film
“The Correspondent” – Fiona Donovan
AACTA Award for Best Screenplay in Film
“The Correspondent” – Peter Duncan
AACTA Award for Best Sound in Film
“Bring Her Back” – Emma Bortignon, Nick Steele, Hamish Keen, Cameron Grant, Lachlan Harris, Pete Smith
Television
AACTA Award for Best Casting in Television presented by Casting Networks
“Apple Cider Vinegar” – Kirsty McGregor
AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in Television
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” – Episode 1 – Sam Chiplin
AACTA Award for Best Costume Design in Television
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” – Alice Babidge
AACTA Award for Best Direction in Drama or Comedy
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” – Episode 1 – Justin Kurzel
AACTA Award for Best Direction in Nonfiction Television
“The People vs Robodebt” – Episode 2 – Ben Lawrence
AACTA Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program
“The People vs Robodebt” – Paula Bycroft, Michael Cordell, Andrew Farrell – CJZ (SBS)
AACTA Award for Best Editing in Television
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” – Episode 1 – Alexandre de Franceschi
AACTA Award for Best Lifestyle Program
“Grand Designs Australia” – Brooke Bayvel, Michael Collett – Eureka Productions (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Original Score in Television
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” – Episode 1 – Jed Kurzel
AACTA Award for Best Production Design in Television
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” – Episode 1 – Alice Babidge, Bev Dunn, Paul Sarpi
AACTA Award for Best Sound in Television
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” – Episode 1 – Andy Wright, Mick Boraso, Nick Emond, Glenn Newnham
AACTA Award for Best Stand-Up Special
“Celia Pacquola: I’m As Surprised As You Are” – Kevin Whyte, Celia Pacquola
Documentary
AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary
“The Kimberley” – Episode 1 – Jack Riley, Nick Robinson, Caspar Mazzotti, Paul Bell
AACTA Award for Best Editing in a Documentary
“Unbreakable” – The Jelena Dokic Story – Peter Crombie
AACTA Award for Best Original Score in a Documentary
“Journey Home, David Gulpilil” – David Bridie
AACTA Award for Best Sound in a Documentary
“Yurlu | Country” – Sam Hayward, Cameron Grant, Lauren Ligovich, Stuart Melvey
Online
“A Series of Unfortunate Dates” – Amy Raffe – White Bonnet Films
Short Film
AACTA Award for Best Short Film
“I’m The Most Racist Person I Know” – Leela Varghese (Dir.), Suriyna Sivashanker, Shabana Azeez
Other
AACTA Award for Best Hair and Makeup
“Bring Her Back” – Rebecca Buratto, Larry Van Duynhoven, Paul Katte, Nick Nicolaou, Karen Gower, Mariel McClorey
AACTA Award for Best Original Song
“Here I Go” (Leela Varghese, Gemma Chua-Tran, Michael Darren) – Lesbian Space Princess
AACTA Award for Best Visual Effects or Animation
“Tron: Ares” – Jeff Capogreco, Alex Popescu, Jhon Alvarado, Tomasz Wachnik, Kacy McDonald – Industrial Light & Magic