31 Jan 2013

Sapphires sweeps Australian film awards

9:56 am on 31 January 2013

The Australian movie The Sapphireshas taken home six prizes at the nation's premier film awards.

The feel-good musical tells the story of an indigenous girl band in the 1960s, and has been a box office success.

At the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards on Wednesday night it won best film, best director for Wayne Blair, and best lead actress for Deborah Mailman.

Chris O'Dowd picked up the best actor award for his roles in the film, while co-star Jessica Mauboy won best supporting actress.

It also won best adapted screenplay, bringing its total number of AACTA awards to 11 following Monday's earlier presentation of technical awards, the ABC reports.