1979 Australian Film Institute Awards

The 21st Australian Film Institute Awards ceremony, presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), honored the best Australian feature films of 1979.

1979 Australian Film Institute Awards
Date	Wednesday, 18 September 1979
Site	Regent Theatre Sydney, New South Wales
Hosted by	Graham Kennedy
Television coverage
Network	ABC

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and marked in a separate colour, in boldface.

Category	Winners
Best Film	My Brilliant Career  – Margaret Fink
	Cathy's Child  – Tom Oliver, Errol Sullivan
	In Search of Anna  – Esben Storm
	Mad Max  – Byron Kennedy
Best Actor	Mel Gibson – Tim
	Alan Cassell – Cathy's Child
	Richard Moir – In Search of Anna
	Michael Preston – The Last of the Knucklemen
Best Actress	Michelle Fawdon – Cathy's Child
	Judy Davis – My Brilliant Career
	Sigrid Thornton – Snapshot
	Ruth Cracknell – The Night the Prowler
Best Supporting Actor	Alwyn Kurts – Tim
	Hugh Keays-Byrne – Mad Max
	Robert Grubb – My Brilliant Career
	Michael Duffield – The Last of the Knucklemen
Best Supporting Actress	Patricia Evison – Tim
	Aileen Britton – My Brilliant Career
	Patricia Kennedy – My Brilliant Career
	Wendy Hughes – My Brilliant Career
Best Original Screenplay	In Search of Anna – Esben Storm
	Kostas – Linda Aronson
	Mad Max – James McClausand, George Miller
	Palm Beach – Albie Thoms
Best Screenplay Adapted From Other Material	My Brilliant Career – Eleanor Witcombe
	Cathy's Child – Ken Quinnell
	The Last of the Knucklemen – Tim Burstall
	Money Movers – Bruce Beresford
Best Cinematography	My Brilliant Career – Donald McAlpine
	Mad Max – David Eggby
	In Search of Anna – Michael Edols
	Snapshot – Vincent Monton
Best Editing	Mad Max – Tony Paterson, Clifford Hayes
	Money Movers – William M. Anderson
	My Brilliant Career – Nicholas Beauman
	The Odd Angry Shot – Brian Kavanagh
Best Original Music Score	Mad Max – Brian May
	The Night the Prowler – Cameron Allen
	In Search of Anna – John Martyn
	The Last of the Knucklemen – Bruce Smeaton
Best Costume Design	My Brilliant Career – Anna Senior
	Mad Max – Clare Griffin
	The Night the Prowler – Luciana Arrighi
	The Last of the Knucklemen – Kevin Regan

External links

• The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts official website