AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

The AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), for an Australian screenplay "based on material previously released or published".^[1] Prior to the establishment of the Academy in 2011, the award was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI) at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (more commonly known as the AFI Awards).^[2] It was first handed out in 1978 when the award for Best Screenplay (which was first presented at the 1974-75 awards) was split into two categories: Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. The award has since been presented intermittently from 1978–1979, 1983–1987, 1989, 1993–2003, 2005–2006, and then from 2008–present.^[2]

Best Adapted Screenplay AACTA Award
Country	Australia
Presented by	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA)
First awarded	1978
Currently held by	Robert Connolly, Harry Cripps, The Dry (2021)
Website	http://www.aacta.org

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years listed correspond to the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the same year. The films and screenwriters in bold and in yellow background have won are the winners. Those that are neither highlighted nor in bold are the nominees. When sorted chronologically, the table always lists the winning screenplay first and then the other nominees.^[3][4]

Contents
AFI Awards (1978-2010) AACTA Awards (2011-present)

  Winner marked in a separate colour

Year	Film	Subject	Source
1970s
1978	The Getting of Wisdom	Eleanor Witcombe	The Getting of Wisdom (novel) by Henry Handel Richardson
	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith	Fred Schepisi	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (novel) by Thomas Keneally
	The Mango Tree	Michael Pate	The Mango Tree (novel) by Ronald McKie
	Weekend of Shadows	Peter Yeldham	The Reckoning (novel) by Hugh Atkinson
1979	My Brilliant Career	Eleanor Witcombe	My Brilliant Career (novel) by Miles Franklin
	Cathy's Child	Ken Quinnell	A Piece of Paper (novel) by Dick Wordley
	The Last of the Knucklemen	Tim Burstall	The Last of the Knucklemen (play) by John Power
	Money Movers	Bruce Beresford	Money Movers (novel) by Devon Minchin
1980s
1983	Careful, He Might Hear You	Michael Jenkins	Careful, He Might Hear You (novel) by Sumner Locke Elliott
	Now and Forever	Richard Cassidy	Now and Forever (novel) by Danielle Steel
	The Wild Duck	Tutte Lemkow, Dido Merwin, Henri Safran, Peter Smalley	The Wild Duck (play) by Henrik Ibsen
	The Year of Living Dangerously	Peter Weir, David Williamson	The Year of Living Dangerously (novel) by Christopher Koch
1984	Annie's Coming Out	John Patterson, Chris Borthwick	Annie's Coming Out (novel) by Rosemary Crossley & Anne McDonald
	BMX Bandits	Russell Hagg	Story by Patrick Edgeworth
	Razorback	Everett De Roche	Razorback (novel) by Peter Brennan
	Strikebound	Richard Lowenstein	Dead Men Don't Dig Coal (novel) by Wendy Lowenstein
1985	Bliss	Peter Carey, Ray Lawrence	Bliss (novel) by Peter Carey
	An Indecent Obsession	Denise Morgan	An Indecent Obsession (novel) by Colleen McCullough
	The Coca-Cola Kid	Frank Moorhouse	The Americans Baby (novel) by Frank Moorhouse
	Rebel	Michael Jenkins	No Names, No Pack Drill (play) by Bob Herbert
1986	The Fringe Dwellers	Bruce & Rhoisin Beresford	The Fringe Dwellers by Peter Carey
	For Love Alone	Stephen Wallace	Stephen Wallace (novel) by Christina Stead
	Kangaroo	Evan Jones	Kangaroo (novel) by D. H. Lawrence
	Playing Beatie Bow	Peter Gawler	Playing Beatie Bow (novel) by Ruth Park
1987	Travelling North	David Williamson	Travelling North (play) by David Williamson
	The Place at the Coast	Hilary Furlong	The Place at the Coast (novel) by Jane Hyde
	Slate, Wyn & Me	Don McLennan	Slate, Wyn & Me (novel) by Georgia Savage
	Vincent	Paul Cox	The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
1989	Evil Angels	Robert Caswell, Fred Schepisi	Evil Angels (novel) by John Bryson
	Campo	Abe Pogos	TBA
	Dead Calm	Terry Hayes	Dead Calm (novel) by Charles F. Williams
	Emerald City	David Williamson	Emerald City (play) by David Williamson
1990s
1993	Blackfellas	James Ricketson, Archie Weller	Blackfellas (novel) by Archie Weller
	Black River	Kevin Lucas	Black River (opera) by Andrew & Julianne Schultz
	No Worries	David Holman	No Worries (play) by David Holman
	The Silver Brumby	Elyne Mitchell, Jon Stephens	Silver Brumby (novels) by Elyne Mitchell
1994	The Sum of Us	David Stevens	The Sum of Us (play) by David Stevens
	Country Life	Michael Blakemore, Anton Chekhov	Uncle Vanya (play) by Anton Chekhov
	Everynight ... Everynight	Ray Mooney, Alkinos Tsilimidos	Everynight ... Everynight (play) by Ray Mooney
	Traps	Robert Carter, Pauline Chan	Dreamhouse (novel) by Kate Grenville
1995	Hotel Sorrento	Richard Franklin, Peter Fitzpatrick	Hotel Sorrento (play) by Hannie Rayson
	Dad and Dave: On Our Selection	Geoffrey Atherden, Steele Rudd	Characters by Steele Rudd
	Sanctuary	David Williamson	Sanctuary (play) by David Williamson
	That Eye, the Sky	John Ruane, Jim Barton	That Eye, the Sky (novel) by Tim Winton.
1996	Cosi	Louis Nowra	Così (play) by Louis Nowra
	Dead Heart	Nick Parsons	Dead Heart (play) by Nick Parsons
	Life	John Brumpton, Lawrence Johnston	Containment (play) by John Brumpton
	What I Have Written	John A. Scott	What I Have Written (novel) by John A. Scott
1997	The Well	Laura Jones	The Well (novel) by Elizabeth Jolley
	Blackrock	Nick Enright	Blackrock (play) by Nick Enright
	Love in Ambush	Carl Schultz	Jarai (novel) by Loup Durand
1998	The Boys	Stephen Sewell	The Boys (play) by Gordon Graham
	Head On	Ana Kokkinos	Loaded (novel) by Christos Tsiolkas
	Oscar and Lucinda	Laura Jones	Oscar and Lucinda (novel) by John Brumpton
	Radiance	Louis Nowra	Radiance (play) by Louis Nowra
1999	Praise	Andrew McGahan	Praise (novel) by Andrew McGahan
2000s
2000	Looking for Alibrandi	Melina Marchetta	Looking for Alibrandi (novel) by Melina Marchetta
	Chopper	Andrew Dominik	The autobiographies of Mark "Chopper" Read
	The Magic Pudding	Harry Cripps, Greg Haddrick, Simon Hopkinson	The Magic Pudding (book) by Norman Lindsay
2001	Lantana	Andrew Bovell	Speaking In Tongues (novel) by Andrew Bovell
	He Died with a Felafel in His Hand	Richard Lowenstein	He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (novel) by John Birmingham
	The Monkey's Mask	Anne Kennedy, Dorothy Porter	The Monkey's Mask (novel) by Dorothy Porter
	Silent Partner	Daniel Keene	Silent Partner (play) by Daniel Keene
2002	Australian Rules	Paul Goldman, Phillip Gwynne	Deadly, Unna? (novel) by Phillip Gwynne
	Molokai: The Story of Father Damien	John Briley	Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (novel) by Hilde Eynikel
	Rabbit-Proof Fence	Christine Olsen	Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (novel) by Doris Pilkington
	Swimming Upstream	Tony Fingleton	Swimming Upstream (autobiography) by Diane & Tony Fingleton
2003	The Rage in Placid Lake	Tony McNamara	The Cafe Latte Kid (play) by Tony McNamara
	Blurred	Stephen Davies, Kier Shorey	Blurred (play) by Stephen Davis
	Ned Kelly	John Michael McDonagh	Our Sunshine (novel) by Robert Drewe
	Teesh and Trude	Vanessa Lomma	Teesh and Trude (play) by Wilson McCaskill
2005	Three Dollars	Robert Connolly, Elliot Perlman	Three Dollars (novel) by Elliot Perlman
	Hating Alison Ashley	Christine Madafferi	Hating Alison Ashley (novel) by Robin Klein
	The Illustrated Family Doctor	David Snell, Kriv Stenders	The Illustrated Family Doctor (novel) by Robert Drewe
	The Widower	Lyndon Terracini	Evening Alone at Bunyah, Noonday Axeman, The Widower in the Country, Cowyard Gates and The Last Hellos (poems) by Les Murray
2006	Candy	Neil Armfield, Luke Davies	Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction (novel) by Luke Davies
	The Book of Revelation	Andrew Bovell, Ana Kokkinos	The Book of Revelation (novel) by Rupert Thomson
	Jindabyne	Beatrix Christian	So Much Water So Close to Home (short story) by Raymond Carver
	Last Train to Freo	Reg Cribb	The Return (play) by Reg Cribb
2008	Unfinished Sky	Peter Duncan	The Polish Bride (1998 screenplay) by Kees van der Hulst
	All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane	Stephen Vagg	All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane (play_ by Stephen Vagg
2009	Balibo	Robert Connolly, David Williamson	Cover-Up (novel) by Jill Jolliffe
	Beautiful Kate	Rachel Ward	Beautiful Kate (novel) by Newton Thornburg
	Blessed	Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves and Christos Tsiolkas	Who's Afraid of the Working Class? (play) by Andrew Bovell
	Mao's Last Dancer	Jan Sardi	Mao's Last Dancer (autobiography) by Li Cunxin
2010s
2010	Tomorrow, When the War Began	Stuart Beattie	Tomorrow, When the War Began (novel) by John Marsden
	Bran Nue Dae	Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins	Bran Nue Dae (musical) by Jimmy Chi
	The Boys Are Back	Allan Cubitt	The Boys Are Back In Town (novel) by Simon Carr
	The Tree	Julie Bertuccelli	Our Father Who Art in the Tree (novel) by Judy Pascoe
AACTA Awards
2011 (1st)	Snowtown	Shaun Grant	The Snowtown murders
	The Eye of the Storm	Judy Morris	The Eye of the Storm (novel) by Patrick White
	The Hunter	Alice Addison	The Hunter (novel) by Julia Leigh
	Red Dog	Daniel Taplitz	Red Dog (novel) by Louis de Bernières
2012 (2nd)	The Sapphires	Tony Briggs, Keith Thompson	The Sapphires (play) by Tony Briggs
	Lore	Robin Mukherjee, Cate Shortland	The Dark Room (novel) by Rachel Seiffert
2013 (3rd)	The Great Gatsby	Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce	The Great Gatsby (novel) by F. Scott Fitzgerald
	Adoration	Christopher Hampton	The Grandmothers (short story collection) by Doris Lessing
	Dead Europe	Louise Fox	Dead Europe (novel) by Christos Tsiolkas
	The Turning	The Turning Ensemble	The Turning (short story collection) by Tim Winton
2014 (4th)	The Railway Man	Frank Cottrell Boyce, Andy Paterson	The Railway Man (novel) by Eric Lomax
	Predestination	The Spierig Brothers	All You Zombies (novel) by Robert A. Heinlein
2015 (5th)	Last Cab to Darwin	Reg Cribb, Jeremy Sims	Last Cab to Darwin (play) by Reg Cribb
	Holding the Man	Tommy Murphy	Holding the Man (autobiography) by Timothy Conigrave
	Ruben Guthrie	Brendan Cowell	Ruben Guthrie (play) by Brendan Cowell
2016 (6th)	The Daughter	Simon Stone	The Wild Duck (play) by Henrik Ibsen
	Girl Asleep	Matthew Whittet	Girl Asleep (play) by Matthew Whittet
2017 (7th)	Lion	Luke Davies	A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose
	Berlin Syndrome	Shaun Grant	Berlin Syndrome (book) by Melanie Joosten
	Don't Tell	Anne Brooksbank, Ursula Cleary, James Greville	Based on a true story
	Jasper Jones	Shaun Grant, Craig Silvey	Jasper Jones (book) by Craig Silvey
2018 (8th)
	Boy Erased	Joel Edgerton	Boy Erased: A Memoir by Garrard Conley
	Breath	Simon Baker, Gerard Lee, Tim Winton	Breath (novel) by Tim Winton
	Cargo	Yolanda Ramke	Cargo (short film) by Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke
	Ladies in Black	Bruce Beresford, Sue Milliken	Ladies in Black (play) by Carolyn Burns
2021 (11th)
	The Dry	Robert Connolly, Harry Cripps	The Dry (novel) by Jane Harper
	Penguin Bloom	Shaun Grant, Harry Cripps	Penguin Bloom (novel) by Bradley Trevor Greive
	Peter Rabbit 2	Patrick Burleigh, Will Gluck	Peter Rabbit (stories) by Beatrix Potter
	Rams	James Duncan	Rams (2015 film) by Grímur Hákonarson

See also

• AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
• AACTA Award for Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted
• AACTA Award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film
• Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay
• AACTA Awards

References

1. "Rule 5.5 –Special Rules for Screenplays". 2011 AFI Awards Rule Book. Australian Film Institute (AFI). Archived from the original on 8 August 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
2. "AFI Feature Film Award Winners: 1958-2010" (PDF). Australian Film Institute (AFI). 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
3. Winners and nominees by year:

   • 1978: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1970-1979 - 1978". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1979: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1970-1979 - 1979". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1983: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1980-1989 - 1983". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1984: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1980-1989 - 1984". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1985: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1980-1989 - 1985". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1986: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1980-1989 - 1986". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1987: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1980-1989 - 1987". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1989: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1980-1989 - 1989". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1993: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1990-1999 - 1993". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1994: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1990-1999 - 1994". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1995: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1990-1999 - 1995". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1996: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1990-1999 - 1996". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1997: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1990-1999 - 1997". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1998: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1990-1999 - 1998". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 1999: "AACTA - Past Winners - 1990-1999 - 1999". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2000: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2000". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2001: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2001". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2002: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2002". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2003: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2003". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2004: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2004". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2005: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2005". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2006: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2006". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2007: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2007". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2008: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2008". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2009: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2009". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2010: "AACTA - Past Winners - 2000-2010 - 2010". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
   • 2011: "AACTA - Winners and Nominees - 2011". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
4. Additional nominees for 2002 and 2006: French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM). p. 175. ISBN 1-876467-20-7.

External links

• The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Official website