The Chauvel Award is named in honour of two of Australia’s most significant filmmakers, Charles and Elsa Chauvel, and acknowledges a significant contribution to the Australian Screen Industry.
Originally established in 1992, the award was previously held as part of the Brisbane International Film Festival until 2008.
In 2016, Film Fantastic re-established this prestigious industry award and is now presented each year at the Screen Industry Gala Awards as part of the annual Gold Coast Film Festival.
The recipient is determined by a committee of respected and experienced film industry members.
Past Chauvel Award recipients include:
2022 Leah Purcell
2021 Sue Maslin AO
2019 Sigrid Thornton
2018 Sue Milliken
2017 Deborah Mailman
2016 Claudia Karvan
Formerly held as part of the Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF). During the 16 years between 1993 and 2008, The Chauvel Award paid tribute to some of Australia’s most successful and influential industry practitioners.
2008 Heath Ledger (posthumously)
2007 David Stratton
2006 Jack Thompson
2005 David Bradbury
2004 Geoffrey Rush
2003 Anthony Buckley
2002 Jan Chapman
2001 Robin Anderson
& Bob Connolly
2000 Bryan Brown
1999 Bob Ellis
1998 Rolf de Heer
1997 John Seale, ACS, ASC.
1996 Dr. George Miller
1995 Gillian Armstrong
1994 Fred Schepisi
1993 Paul Cox
About Charles & Elsa Chauvel
Their early silent films, Moth of Moonbi and Greenhide, were both set entirely in Queensland, while their later films Sons of Matthew, Heritage and Rats of Tobruk included substantial sequences filmed on location in the Gold Coast hinterland.
Their greatest film, Sons of Matthew, draws on tales of the O’Reilly family and their selection of property around Springbrook on the Lamington Plateau and is the quintessential Australian pioneering epic.
Today, Gold Coast Film Festival venues are within sight of some of the locations that provided inspiration for some of the most stirring sequences in the Chauvel oeuvre.
The Chauvels made nine feature films including:
- Moth of Moonbi 1926
- Greenhide 1926
- In the Wake of the Bounty 1933
- Heritage 1935
- Uncivilised 1936
- Forty Thousand Horsemen 1940
- The Rats of Tobruk 1944
- Sons of Matthew 1949
- Jedda 1955