2021 Honorees

Image: Steven Chee
Image: Steven Chee

Cate Blanchett

Lifetime Achievement Award

Image: Uber Photography

Liane Moriarty

Excellence in Literature

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of eight internationally bestselling novels, Three WishesThe Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story and the number one New York Times bestsellers The Husband’s SecretBig Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty and most recently Nine Perfect Strangers. Her books have sold over fifteen million copies worldwide, including three million in Australia and New Zealand.

Screen rights have been sold to all of Liane Moriarty‘s novels. A TV series is in development for Three Wishes, Nicole Kidman has bought the rights to The Last Anniversary, film rights to What Alice Forgot have been pre-empted by Sony TriStar with Jennifer Aniston starring as Alice and Heather Graham will star in an adaptation of The Hypnotist’s Love Story.

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Aaron Pedersen

Excellence in Television

Aaron Pedersen started his acting career in 1994 where he starred in the television miniseries Heartland. He then proceeded to star in television series Wildside in 1997 and Water Rats for two seasons from 1999. He went on to have roles in MDA and the multi award winning series Secret Life of Us. The SBS drama The Circuit, where Aaron played an Indigenous lawyer, was produced and shot in Broome WA and then Aaron went on to star in City Homicide. Jack Irish was his next television series where he worked alongside Guy Pearce.

In 2013 Aaron was cast in the lead role for the feature film Mystery Road playing Detective Jay Swan. Due to the success of Mystery Road the sequel Goldstone was produced in 2016. Aaron’s performance in both films saw him nominated for an Asia Pacific Screen Award in the Best Actor category and also won him an Australian Film Critics Association in the Best Actor category. Aaron’s other feature films include Killing Ground and 1%.

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