Press

Australians in Film's (AiF) 2008 Breakthrough Awards
Honor Abbie Cornish and Mia Wasikowska

BUSINESS WIRE

Posted: 2008-05-28 06:56:40

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)----Los Angeles-based Australians in Film (AiF), the preeminent organization for expatriate Australians in the entertainment industry, is holding its fourth annual Breakthrough Awards to honor up-and-coming Australian actresses Abbie Cornish (Stop Loss) and Mia Wasikowska (In Treatment) on June 5, 2008, it was announced today by Susie Dobson, president of AiF. As part of the organization's program to support emerging talent from Australia, Dobson also announced that AiF has established the Heath Ledger Scholarship Fund which will be presented annually to a young Australia-based actor to help them pursue their dream in Hollywood. The first Scholarship recipient to receive a financial contribution from AiF will be announced in 2009.

The Heath Ledger Scholarship is named in honor of Ledger who was an Ambassador for AiF before his untimely death in January 2008 and has the full support of the Heath Ledger family.

"Australians in Film is pleased to recognize the efforts and talents of Australia's newest faces who are already proving they are on their way to join the ranks of the high-profile Australian talent working in Hollywood," comments Dobson. "We are also thrilled that we will be able to assist burgeoning Australian talent launch their career in the States to become potential future recipients of a Breakthrough Award."

The Breakthrough Awards' exclusive invitation-only evening will again be held poolside at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills and will be attended by 150 of Hollywood's elite. The Master of Ceremonies will be Showtime Australia's award-winning, Hollywood-based entertainment correspondent, Andrew Warne.

Each of the 2008 Breakthrough Award recipients will be presented with AiF's Golden Boomerang award as an acknowledgment of their achievements as Australia's brightest young talents emerging in Hollywood.

Abbie Cornish was first recognized in the U.S. for her award-winning starring role in the independent Australian film Somersault (2004) with Sam Worthington followed by Candy (2006) opposite Heath Ledger. Most recently Cornish was seen in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: the Golden Age with Cate Blanchett, Kimberly Peirce's Stop Loss opposite Ryan Philippe and will soon be seen in Jane Campion's upcoming Bright Star.

Mia Wasikowska first appeared in the Australian hit television series All Saints before appearing as a regular in the HBO psychotherapist drama In Treatment with Gabriel Byrne. Wasikowska will soon be seen in Edward Zwick's Defiance alongside Daniel Craig, Liev Shreiber and Jamie Bell and is currently filming Mira Nair's Amelia with Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.

About Australians in Film

Founded in May 2001, to celebrate and support the work of Australian film and TV makers, Los Angeles based Australians in Film has held nearly 100 screenings, premieres and special events and currently has over 500 members. Australians in Film Ambassadors include Australian Oscar-winning actors Cate Blanchett (The Aviator 2005), Nicole Kidman (The Hours, 2002), Russell Crowe (Gladiator, 2000) and Geoffrey Rush (Shine, 1996), Oscar-winning director Mel Gibson (Braveheart 1995, The Passion of the Christ, 2004) and 30 other internationally known stars and film-makers including Hugh Jackman, Fred Schepisi and Naomi Watts.

Australians in Film is proud to have the support of the Australian Government and to receive the support of Gold sponsors Avid, MacCorkindale Alonso & Holton, Tourism Australia, Qantas and Stacey Testro International. Silver sponsors are AUSFILM, Austrade, Cooronbong, Stage & Screen Travel Services and Tourism Queensland. Bronze sponsors are Loeb & Loeb, Penfolds and Rosemount Estate. AiF's media partner is Getty Images. For further information please visit www.australiansinfilm.org.

AiFSusie Dobson, 310-573-2146susiedobson@labridge.com

05/28/2008 05:15 ET

Career roll taking Mia Wasikowska to the top

November 29, 2007 08:05am

Rising star ... Mia Wasikowska

WHEN schoolgirl Mia Wasikowska quit a promising dancing career to realise her dream of acting, landing a highly sought-after role opposite the current James Bond appeared unachievable.

But the impossible has become reality. The actress is on a dream run having just spent four months alongside 007's Daniel Craig in Lithuania for her first major film, Defiance.

Leading up to her turn in the war drama, the Canberra-born-and-raised beauty has been building a career for herself in Hollywood, where she relocated for three months to feature in new HBO series, In Treatment, with Aussie expat Melissa George.

The 17-year-old says her profile rise has been an unexpected and overwhelming ride, but one she's embraced wholeheartedly.

"I was a bit scared of coming over (to Los Angeles) because it's so far from what I know and it's a different world over here. It's nothing like home and I didn't warm to this kind of life because this town is so superficial, but I am enjoying it," Wasikowska says.

"I have lived in Canberra my whole life and it's probably the most opposite you can get (to Hollywood).

When I leave to come home I will be ready to come home, but it will be so strange going from a busy, crazy life to sleepy Canberra."

Wasikowska's break came with her work in gritty drama Suburban Mayhem, which earned the teenager a young actor of the year nomination at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards last year.

From her humble beginnings with a guest spot on All Saints, the Year 11 student has sunk her teeth into some diverse and meaty roles, including featuring in the crocodile horror thriller Rogue, and her latest flick, September.

Set in the Australian wheat belt in 1968, September is a character-driven film about two 15-year-old boys, Paddy (Clarence Ryan) and Ed (Xavier Samuel) - one black, one white - and the demise of their friendship under the stress of a changing world.

While the turbulent and political climate adds its own tension, the introduction of a friend to their circle, new girl Amelia (Wasikowska), throws a spanner in the works as she increasingly becomes the focus of Ed's attention, while best mate Paddy is left behind.

Making his directorial feature film debut, intellectual property lawyer and filmmaker Peter Carstairs delves into the issues of Aboriginal slave labour and the inequality of black and white Australians during the late 1960s in September. With a budget of $2.4 million, the film took 25 days to shoot and while it is set in Western Australia, it was filmed in country NSW.

"I am still exhausted from the shoot and we started shooting a year ago," Carstairs laughs.

The director raves about Ryan, Samuel and Wasikowska's moving performances. He says Wasikowska has what it takes for international stardom.

"All of them were amazing, but Mia is in an exceptional class as an actor. She is one of those gifted actors who doesn't appear to be doing anything. You just put a camera on her and she hardly moves, but is just so engaging."

If Wasikowska's latest projects are anything to go by, Carstairs is right. She's on a career roll.
"It's all been a huge learning curve and really unexpected to be where I am at the moment," she says. "I want to just do my job and do it well."

* September opens today

girls on film

A new group of Australian starlets are taking Hollywood by storm

Photo: Corbis / Scott McDermott

WORDS KATE ATKINSON

Australia has produced its fair share of female ? film stars over the years. From Cate Blanchett’s performance in the Oscar-winning Babel and Nicole Kidman’s in the likewise lauded The Hours, through to memorable roles in ?films like Moulin Rouge and Muriel’s Wedding, movie buffs and ? film critics just can’t get enough of Aussie screen sirens. Over the last decade, Toni Collette, Rachel Grif?ths, Naomi Watts, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman have been the household names to keep an eye on. And now, thanks to a plethora of impressive domestic releases, the next wave of female acting talent making an impact on the big screen are ready for their close-ups. We zoom in.

MIA WASIKOWSKA

At 17, most girls are preoccupied with ?nishing school, passing their final year with flying colours and what they’re going to wear to the year 12 formal dance. Mia Wasikowska has more important things to worry about – like which superstar film role to audition for next! Shooting to star status in her role alongside Australian Film Industry (AFI) award-winner Emily Barclay in Suburban Mayhem, former ballet dancer Wasikowska has traded pirouettes for performances of a different kind.

“I just wanted to try a different type of performance – ballet is more an image of perfection, and film can show a grittier side… sometimes it’s the more realistic topic of real life that really intrigues me,” she says.

It’s Wasikowska’s ability to deal with heavy themes that’s made her the critics’ pick and saw her nominated for a Young Actor Afi award last year. In her role as beauty therapist Lilya, alongside the racy Katrina (Barclay), Wasikowska was asked to tackle the issues of sex, drugs and violence in a film about a teenage girl’s murder of her father.

Mia Wasikowska Emily Barclay Suburban Mayhem “It really taught me the importance of character research and development… it raised the bar for everything I have done after it and I am really grateful for the experience,” she says.

The bar has rocketed sky-high for Wasikowska, with roles in the US TV pilot In Treatment, alongside Melissa George and Jindabyne lead actor Gabriel Byrne; in croc thriller Rogue; and John Polson and Peter Carstairs’ film September. Canberra-born Wasikowska also recently caught the eye of US agency Endeavour, which represents actors Keira Knightly and Jude Law. Need we say more? Say hello to Australia’s next leading lady.

Australians in Film's (AiF) 2008 Breakthrough Awards Honor Abbie Cornish and Mia Wasikowska

Career roll taking Mia Wasikowska to the top

girls on film

Australians in Film's (AiF) 2008 Breakthrough Awards
Honor Abbie Cornish and Mia Wasikowska