NSW SECURES AACTA AWARDS UNTIL 2020

From L to R: Geoff Lee Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier,
Western Sydney and Multiculturalism; actress Shabana Azmi;
 actor Sunny Pawar; and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian

NSW has retained its crown as Australia’s premier state for film and television production by renewing the rights to host the annual AACTA Awards – Australia’s equivalent of the Oscars – for another two years until 2020.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian made the announcement while officially launching the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) 2018 Asia International Engagement Program in Mumbai, encouraging the Indian film and TV industries to film productions in Australia.

“NSW has a proud history of working with Indian film productions – since 2008 more than 10 Indian productions have filmed in NSW, generating estimated direct production expenditure of more than $14 million,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Ms Berejiklian also presented the 2017 AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor to budding Indian film star Sunny Pawar, whose debut performance in the Oscar-nominated Lion earned widespread critical acclaim and made him the youngest ever recipient of the prestigious acting prize.

The 8th AACTA Awards will be held in Sydney in December 2018. For more information on the announcement, click here.