1980 Australian Film Institute Awards
The 22nd Australian Film Institute Awards ceremony, presented by the Australian Film Institute, honoured the best Australian feature films of 1980, and took place on 17 September 1980 at Regent Theatre, in Sydney, New South Wales. The ceremony was hosted by Graham Kennedy and televised in Australia on ABC.
Breaker Morant was nominated for thirteen awards and won ten, in all categories it was nominated for, including Best Film and Best Direction for Bruce Beresford. Other winners with two were Hard Knocks, and Manganinnie and ...Maybe This Time with one.
When the Australian Film Institute established the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts in 2011, the awards became known as the AACTA Awards.
Winners and nominees
The nominees were announced on 29 August 1980. Breaker Morant received 13 nominations across ten feature film award categories, winning all ten categories it was nominated for including: Best Film, Best Direction for Bruce Beresford, Best Actor for Jack Thompson, Best Supporting Actor for Bryan Brown and Best Screenplay for Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens, Bruce Beresford. Stir received ten nominations in the same categories but walked away with none. The only other winners in the feature film categories was Tracy Mann for Best Actress, for Hard Knocks; Jury Prize for Hard Knocks; Jill Perryman for Best Supporting Actress, for ...Maybe This Time; and Peter Sculthorpe for Best Original Music Score, for Manganinnie.Non-feature films were awarded with a prize at the awards, but are considered the best in their categories by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. Although Bird of the Thunder Woman is considered the winner of the Best Cinematography – Documentary category, it was the recipient of a "silver prize" at the awards, while No Such a Place, also a finalist in the category, was presented with a "bronze prize".
| Category | Winners |
| Best Film | Breaker Morant – Matthew Carroll |
| Best Film | Manganinnie – Gilda Baracchi |
| Best Film | ...Maybe This Time – Brian Kavanagh |
| Best Film | Stir – Richard Brennan |
| Best Direction | Bruce Beresford – Breaker Morant |
| Best Direction | Simon Wincer – Harlequin |
| Best Direction | John Honey – Manganinnie |
| Best Direction | Stephen Wallace – Stir |
| Best Actor | Jack Thompson – Breaker Morant |
| Best Actor | Edward Woodward – Breaker Morant |
| Best Actor | Bryan Brown – Stir |
| Best Actor | Max Phipps – Stir |
| Best Actress | Tracy Mann – Hard Knocks |
| Best Actress | Carmen Duncan – Harlequin |
| Best Actress | Mawuyul Yanthalawuy – Manganinnie |
| Best Actress | Judy Morris – ...Maybe This Time |
| Best Supporting Actor | Bryan Brown – Breaker Morant |
| Best Supporting Actor | Charles Tingwell – Breaker Morant |
| Best Supporting Actor | Lewis Fitz-Gerald – Breaker Morant |
| Best Supporting Actor | Dennis Miller – Stir |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jill Perryman – ...Maybe This Time |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jude Kuring – ...Maybe This Time |
| Best Supporting Actress | Michelle Fawdon – ...Maybe This Time |
| Best Supporting Actress | Lorna Lesley – The Chain Reaction |
| Best Screenplay | Breaker Morant – Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens, Bruce Beresford |
| Best Screenplay | Hard Knocks – Hilton Bonner, Don McLennan |
| Best Screenplay | ...Maybe This Time – Anne Brooksbank, Bob Ellis |
| Best Screenplay | Stir – Bob Jewson |
| Best Cinematography | Breaker Morant – Donald McAlpine |
| Best Cinematography | Manganinnie – Gary Hansen |
| Best Cinematography | Stir – Geoff Burton |
| Best Cinematography | The Chain Reaction – Russell Boyd |
| Best Editing | Breaker Morant – William M. Anderson |
| Best Editing | Harlequin – Adrian Carr |
| Best Editing | Stir – Henry Dangar |
| Best Editing | The Chain Reaction – Tim Wellburn |
| Best Sound | Breaker Morant – Gary Wilkins, William Anderson, Jeanine Chialvo, Phill Judd |
| Best Sound | Harlequin – Gary Wilkins, Adrian Carr, Peter Fenton |
| Best Sound | Stir – Gary Wilkins, Andrew Steuart, Phill Judd |
| Best Sound | The Chain Reaction – Lloyd Carrick, Tim Wellburn, Phill Judd |
| Best Original Music Score | Manganinnie – Peter Sculthorpe |
| Best Original Music Score | ...Maybe This Time – Bruce Smeaton |
| Best Original Music Score | Stir – Cameron Allan |
| Best Original Music Score | The Chain Reaction – Andrew Thomas Wilson |
| Best Art Direction | Breaker Morant – David Copping |
| Best Art Direction | Harlequin – Bernard Hides |
| Best Art Direction | Stir – Lee Whitmore |
| Best Art Direction | The Chain Reaction – Graham Walker |
| Best Costume Design | Breaker Morant – Anna Senior |
| Best Costume Design | Harlequin – Terry Ryan |
| Best Costume Design | Manganinnie – Graham Purcell |
| Best Costume Design | The Chain Reaction – Norma Moriceau |
| Best Documentary | Front Line – David Bradbury |
| Best Short Fiction Film | Gary's Story – Richard Mihalchak |
| Best Short Animation | Pussy Pumps Up – Antoinette Starkiewicz |
| Best Experimental Film | Self Portrait Blood Red – Ivam Durrant |
| Best Cinematography – Documentary | Bird of the Thunder Woman – David Parer |
| Best Cinematography – Documentary | No Such a Place – Peter Butt, Tom Cowan |
Special awards
;Raymond Longford Award- Tim Burstall
- Hard Knocks – Don McLennan