Baz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman snubbed by AFI

AUSTRALIA may have raked in over $37 million at the box office, but its big-ticket stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman have been overlooked for nominations in the 2009 AFI Awards, announced in Sydney this afternoon.

The 51st AFI Awards will be held at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre on December 12.

Baz Luhrmann’s war-time epic Australia is in the running for eight AFI gongs, including Visual Effects, Best Original Music Score, Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actor for young star Brandon Walters.

Pictures: The year's pic of Aussie movies - 2009 AFI nominees

But while the film is among the favourites in the AFI Members’ Choice Award category, it has been snubbed in the Best Film, Director and Actor categories.

With no Nicole Kidman or Hugh Jackman in the running, the strongest contenders for Best Actress and Actor would appear to be Beautiful Kate stars Sophie Lowe and Ben Mendelsohn, along with Balibo’s Anthony LaPaglia, and Frances O’Connor for her strong performance in Blessed.

The Best Film category has been expanded to include six films this year. The nominees are Balibo, Beautiful Kate, Blessed, Mao’s Last Dancer, Mary and Max and Samson & Delilah.

Balibo – Melbourne filmmaker Robert Connolly’s film about Australian journalists killed in East Timor – leads the pack with 14 nominations, followed by Samson & Delilah with 13, Beautiful Kate with 10 and box office hit Mao’s Last Dancer with 9.

Leading the television nominations with seven each are Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and the two-part UKTV telemovie False Witness.