AFI - NOISE WINS TOP PRIZE AT AFCA AWARDS

Police thriller NOISE has been hailed as the best Australian film of 2007 by the Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) at the organisation's inaugural awards ceremony. The gritty movie, directed by Matthew Saville, stars actor Brendan Cowell as a policeman who helps a community in Melbourne to recover after a shooting massacre. The film beat off competition from My Father, The Home Song Stories and Romulus - which was a favourite at the 2007 Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards - to take home the top prize at Tuesday's (22Jan08) awards show. AFCA chairman Peter Krausz says, "I think because it was such an unusual film in many respects. "It stood out from all the other Australian films this year because of its very strong storyline, because it was very well directed indeed, the performance by Brendan Cowell, and it went against the grain of what is regarded as a typical Australian film." Meanwhile, the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men was named Best Overseas Film; Israeli movie The Band's Visit was credited as Best Unreleased Film, and Australian movie Forbidden Lies$ won Best Documentary.