Australia's first Aboriginal language movie has dominated the country's top cinema awards.
Ten Canoes won six Australian Film Institute awards, including best film and best direction, at the star-studded ceremony in Melbourne.
Director Rolf de Heer said the film, set in the days before Europeans arrived, had touched its audiences.
The awards were hosted by Geoffrey Rush and attended by Heath Ledger, Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett.
Ledger won best actor for his role in Brokeback Mountain, while Rachel Griffiths won a best international actress award for her work on US TV hit Six Feet Under.
Ten Canoes, which also won awards for best original screenplay, best cinematography, best editing and best sound, will be entered in the foreign language film category at next year's Oscars.
Filmed in the remote crocodile-infested swamps of northern Australia and starring a clutch of untrained actors, Ten Canoes revolves around the story of a young man who has taken a fancy to an older man's wife.
De Heer, who co-directed the movie with Peter Djigirr, was pleased the film had been so well received.
"Audiences everywhere find something in it," he said.
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