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If the 3rd annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards could be categorised as a David vs Goliath battle between The Rocket and The Great Gatsby, Goliath is the hands-down winner.

Baz Luhrmann.s opulent romantic drama won six awards tonight, for best film, director, adapted screenplay, lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, supporting actor Joel Edgerton and supporting actress Elizabeth Debicki.

That.s in addition to the six awards in craft categories plus the Aacta award for outstanding achievement in visual effects bestowed on Luhrmann.s film on Tuesday.

Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket, which had 12 nominations versus 14 for Gatsby, had to be content with just one trophy, for Mordaunt.s original screenplay.

The outcome is likely to reignite the debate about the near-impossibility of comparing a lavishly-mounted 3D film financed by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures, which cost $160 million, with an independently-funded Lao-set film from a first-time director budgeted at about $2 million.

Silver Linings: Morduant’s Debut a Breezy, Formulaic Crowd Pleaser

After winning awards and audience accolades at nearly every film festival it’s screened at (including Berlin, Tribeca, and AFI), Australian documentarian Kim Morduant’s narrative debut, The Rocket, is sure to become an art-house favorite for its heartwarming tale of a young Laotian boy’s struggles, presented as it is without douses of miserablism, melodrama, or exploitation. A unique locale and cinematically underexplored group of people serves an intriguing jumping point into a tale that’s otherwise quite predictable, though enhanced by its ability to remain, simply, a tale of overcoming unfortunate circumstances.

In the Northern mountains of Laos, Mali (Alice Keohavong) gives birth to her son Ahlo, whose large testicles earn him the immediate nickname of “Little Balls” by grandmother Taitok (Bunsri Yindi). But soon after his delivery, she discovers that she’s about to give birth to twins,...

Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket is about a child’s at-times comic battle against the insanity of the post-war culture in Laos. In a country riddled with governmental corruption and inefficiency; in one spattered with the remnants of still-live bombs and other remnants of a lengthy, brutalizing bloodshed; and in one populated by impoverished communities often without such basic necessities as electricity and plumbing, the odds seem stacked against ten-year-old Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe) achieving any lasting happiness in this lifetime.

But matters get worse. He was born a twin, and in his society, all twins are immediately slaughtered because one is blessed and the other cursed, and it's impossible to tell which one has the devil within him. Luckily for Ahlo, his sibling was a stillborn, who’s secretly buried, so no one knows he was a twin except his loving mother Mali (Alice Keohavong) and his bellyaching grandmother who wishes he had never survived.

Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket is about a child’s at-times comic battle against the insanity of the post-war culture in Laos. In a country riddled with governmental corruption and inefficiency; in one spattered with the remnants of still-live bombs and other remnants of a lengthy, brutalizing bloodshed; and in one populated by impoverished communities often without such basic necessities as electricity and plumbing, the odds seem stacked against ten-year-old Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe) achieving any lasting happiness in this lifetime.

But matters get worse. He was born a twin, and in his society, all twins are immediately slaughtered because one is blessed and the other cursed, and it's impossible to tell which one has the devil within him. Luckily for Ahlo, his sibling was a stillborn, who’s secretly buried, so no one knows he was a twin except his loving mother Mali (Alice Keohavong) and his bellyaching grandmother who wishes he had never survived.

The Rocket (Bang fai) Director: Kim Mordaunt Screenwriter: Kim Mordaunt Cast: Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Bunsri Yindi, Sumrit Warin, Alice Keohavong Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 12/12/13 Opens: January 10, 2014 Part National Geographic, part Hallmark Hall of Fame and even some leftist political points make up this exotic fare called “The Rocket.” “The Rocket” is filmed mostly in rural Laos but some in Thailand and is directed by Australian Kim Mordaunt—whose documentary “Bomb Harvest” in 2007 deals with efforts to clean up the unexploded bombs in Laos, known as per capita the most bombed country in the world. “The Rocket” is right up her alley, then, as she focuses [ Read More ]

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The Great Gatsby has been nominated in 14 categories and The Rocket is in contention for 12 at the third annual Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts Awards.

In TV, Top of the Lake top scored with 10 nominations ahead of eight apiece for Mrs Biggs, Power Games: The Packer- Murdoch Story and Redfern Now series 2.

Gatsby and The Rocket are vying for best film with Dead Europe, Mystery Road, Satellite Boy and Tim Winton.s The Turning.

A total of 50 productions has been nominated across 39 awards categories. The Nsw Government announced today it would renew its partnership agreement for a further three years, from 2015-2017.

Aacta has signed a three-year deal with Foxtel which entails pay-tv rights and further collaborations. Aacta/AFI CEO Damian Trewhella tells If that in future years this may take the form of deeper coverage on Foxtel before or after the awards, spotlighting creative talent.

The Gatsby remake...

On the fateful night that Ahlo is delivered into this world, he is followed by a stillborn sibling. Surprisingly, Ahlo's curmudgeonly grandmother (Bunsri Yindi) wants to kill Ahlo instantly. This is because the folklore of their Laotian tribe states that twins always include one child who will be bad luck. It is much easier to kill both babies than to wait and see which twin will be the unlucky one. Luckily for Ahlo, his mother (Alice Keohavong) will not let him die. Several years later, an Australian energy company arrives in their village to announce that a new dam will flood the entire region. So, Ahlo's (Sitthiphon Disamoe) tribe is relocated to a new location where a new home with electricity and water is promised to every family. The energy conglomerate obviously does not follow through with any of their promises and Ahlo’s knack for clumsiness -- or just...