The IF Awards, formerly known as the Inside Film Awards, Lexus Inside Film Awards, Kodak IF Awards, and Jameson IF Awards, was an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry. Its name derives from its origins at Inside Film magazine, and changed over the years under different sponsorship. The event was held in Sydney in November each year, apart from between 2006 and 2008, when for three years it was held on the Gold Coast in Queensland. The last awards event was held in 2011.
The Inside Film Awards were created by the founders of Inside Film magazine, Stephen Jenner and David Barda,[1] [2] [3] The awards were determined by a national audience poll, which differentiated it from the Australian AACTA Awards, which are judged by industry professionals.[1]
The IF Awards were first held in 1999, and until 2006 were also known as the Lexus Inside Film Awards, in recognition of its principal sponsor Lexus.[1] The event was held in Sydney in November each year, and was broadcast on SBS Television and Showtime Movie Channels.[1] Guests over this period included Nicole Kidman, Laurence Fishburne, Baz Luhrmann, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Bryan Brown.
In 2007, the Rising Talent and Indy Spirit Awards were open to public entries.[4]
Event partners changed over the years. In 2006, the event moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gold Coast, Queensland, after a contract was signed with the Queensland Government. At that time, Angie Fielder was the general manager of Inside Film Awards.[5] In 2008, the promotional trailer for the event was directed by Bonnie Elliott.[6] In that year, the event was hosted by Julia Zemiro at the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, with Yumi Stynes welcoming the stars. Kate Miller-Heidke performed an acoustic version of her hit song "Can't Shake It" at the event, which was broadcast live on SBS TV.[7]
In 2009, Kodak acquired naming rights for the awards, maintaining the partnership until 2010. Returning to Sydney, the event was variously known as the Kodak Inside Film Awards Sydney, Kodak IF Awards Sydney, or just Kodak IF Awards. Other partners in 2010 included GHD, Jameson Irish Whiskey, M.A.C. Cosmetics, OK! Magazine, SBS Television, and Screen Australia, among others.[8]
In 2011 Jameson Irish Whiskey acquired naming rights,[1] with the event held at Luna Park. Eddie Perfect hosted the event, with presenters including Callan McAuliffe, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Sophie Lowe, Dan Wyllie, and Xavier Samuel.[9] Individual awards were named after various sponsors, such as Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film; Destination NSW IF Award for Best Actor; Dinosaur Designs IF Award for Best Actress; Fox Studios Australia IF Award for Best Direction; AVID IF Award for Best Editing; Dyson IF Award for Best Production Design; ARRI IF Award for Best Cinematography; South Australian Film Corporation IF Award for Best Sound; and many others. The IF Awards for Best Music, Best Script, Best Film Festival, and Best Short Animation were not named. The lifetime achievement award was called the Jameson Living Legend IF Award.[10]
In April 2012, it was announced that the IF Awards would be put "on hold", owing to changing economic circumstances, and competition with the AACTA Awards, which had moved to Sydney in 2011. Living Legend award recipient, film critic Margaret Pomeranz, said about the loss of the awards: "It's a tragedy. They were wonderfully different, focussing not only on our film successes but on emerging talent like Andrew Dominik, Kath Shelper, Ryan Corr, and Anthony Maras. They were irreverent when necessary but also a lovely reflection of Australian audiences' engagement with our films. And it was always the best party in town!".[11] [1]
The IF Awards included, among others, the following categories over the years:[1]
The IF Award for Best Feature Film
The Animal Logic IF Award for Best Director
The Queensland Events Corporation IF Award for Best Actor
The In Style IF Award for Best Actress
The Kodak IF Award for Best Cinematography
The IF Award for Best Music
The Australian Film Commission IF Award for Best Script
The Holding Redlich IF Award for Best Short Film
The Lab Sydney IF Award for Best Short Animation
The SBS IF Award for Best Short Documentary
The IF Award for Best Documentary
The 3 IF Award for Best Music Video
The Production Book IF Award for Best Production Design
The Cutting Edge IF Award for Best Editing
The Zig Zag Lane IF Award for Best Sound
The Independent Spirit IF Award
The Atlab IF Award for Rising Talent
ZTudio What IF? Award for Best Unproduced Screenplay
(Winners in each category are listed first, with nominees in alphabetical order following):
SHOWTIME IF Award for Best Feature Film
Screen Australia IF Award for Best Director
Queensland Events Corporation IF Award for Best Actor
IF Award for Best Actress
Screen Australia IF Award for Best Script
Sony IF Award for Best Cinematography
Dinosaur Designs IF Award for Best Music
Cutting Edge IF Award for Best Editing
The Production Book IF Award for Best Production Design
The Zig Zag Lane IF Award for Best Sound
IF Award for Box Office Achievement
SBS IF Award for Best Documentary
St Arnou IF Award for Best Short Documentary
Holding Redlich IF Award for Best Short Film
Autodesk IF Award for Best Short Animation
3 mobile IF Award for Best Music Video
ZTudio What IF? Award for Best Unproduced Screenplay
Efilm IF Award for Rising Talent
Post Op Group IF Award for Independent Spirit
V Australia IF Award for Living Legend
Inside Film magazine IF Award for Festival of the Year
The winners of the 2010 Kodak IF Awards were:
"The AUTODESK IF Award for Best Short Animation"
The Holding Redlich IF Award for Best Short Film
The FACB IF Award for Best Short Documentary
SBS Best Documentary IF Award
The SAE INSTITUTE IF Award for Best Music Video
The AFTRS IF Award for Best Direction
JAMESON IF Award for Best Script
Events NSW IF Award for Best Actor
The IF Award for Best Actress
The SHOWTIME MOVIE CHANNELS IF Award for Best Feature Film
SA FILM IF Award for Best Sound
Dinosaur Designs IF Award for Best Music
CineAlta by Sony IF Award for Best Cinematography
DYSON IF Award for Best Production Design
AVID IF Award for Best Editing
National Film and Sound Archive Independent Spirit IF Award
EFilm IF Award for Rising Talent
The Media Super Out of the Box IF Award
Docklands Studios Melbourne IF Award for Contribution to TV