The 2011 edition of the annual Jameson IF Awards took place at Luna Park last night and was dominated... by a dog.

Koko, the shining star of Australian film Red Dog, and his supporting cast took home seven IF awards including the Event Cinemas IF Award for Best Box Office Achievement and the Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film – a massive success for what has been one of the most talked about Australian films in quite some time.

The ‘red’ carpet (it was actually quite green) was packed with national and international stars as the exciting pre-show arrivals took place under cover due to the bad weather. Among the celebrities were Ariel Winters (from Modern Family), Stephen Curry, Ronan Keating, and of course Koko the dog (who was surprisingly very modest).

Eddie Perfect, the show’s host for the night, did a great job entertaining the masses and injecting a couple of comedic routines here and there which should make for a very enjoyable watch come the air-date of November 23rd (SBS, 10pm). The highlight came in the form of an uplifting musical about the graphic film Snowtown, based on the infamous ‘barrel murders’ that plagued South Australia in the 90’s. While the contrast was a bit uncomfortable, the short musical skit was hilarious.

The SAE Institute IF Award for Best Music Video was between Guy Franklin (Kimbra – Cameo Lover), Dan Murphy (Olivia Newtown-John – Magic), and Josh Groom (The John Steel Singers – Overpass) – with Dan Murphy emerging as the victor.

Australia’s favourite movie-critiquing couple David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz received recognition by being presented with the Jameson Living Legend IF Award, after which they also provided a little comedic promo that went down well with the audience.

The show was closed by The Whitlam’s Tim Freedman with his new band The Idle. It was really refreshing to see that Freedman is still writing great music and the new band were an excellent complement to the song.

All in all, this year’s Jameson IF Awards continues to develop into one of the most exciting events of the year, and with it the Australian Film industry is becoming stronger and stronger. It was a delight to witness and shouldn’t be one to miss come its air-date.

For the full list of winners see below:

SAE Institute IF Award for Best Music Video
Magic by Olivia Newton-John and WACCI
Director: Dan Murphy
Producer: WACCI

Hackett Films IF Award for Best Short Documentary
Umoja: No Men Allowed
Director: Elizabeth Tadic
Producer: Elizabeth Tadic & Selene Alcock

South Australian Film Corporation IF Award for Best Sound
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Wayne Pashley, Polly McKimm, Derryn Pasquill, Fabian Sanjurjo

Holding Redlich IF Award for Best Short Film
Whenthe Wind Changes
Director: Alethea Jones
Producers: Richard Davies & Veeran Naran

IF Award for Best Script
Red Dog
Daniel Taplitz

IF Award for Best Short Animation
The Missing Key
Director: Jonathan Nix
Producer: Anna McFarlane & Garth Nix

The Out of the Box IF Award
Anna McGahan

AFTRS IF Award for Rising Talent
Anthony Maras

Dyson IF Award for Best Production Design
Oranges and Sunshine
Melinda Doring

IF Award for Best Film Festival
Dungog Film Festival

IF Award for Best Music
Red Dog
Cezary Skubiszewski

IF Award for Best Documentary
I Am Eleven
Director/Producer: Genevieve Bailey

Docklands Studios Melbourne IF Award for Contribution to Television
Rachel Perkins

Event Cinemas IF Award for Best Box Office Achievement
Red Dog

National Film & Sound Archive Independent Spirit IF Award
Mad Bastards Director: Brendan Fletcher
Producers ; David Jowsey, Alan Pigram, Stephen Pigram & Brendan Fletcher

IF Award for Best Cinematography
Red Dog
Geoff Hall

Avid IF Award for Best Editing
Face to Face
Snowtown
Veronika Jenet

Dinosaur Designs IF Award for Best Actress
Emily Watson Oranges and Sunshine

Jameson Living Legend IF Award
Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton

IF Award for Best Actor
Josh Lucas
Red Dog

IF Award for Best Direction
Red Dog
Kriv Stenders

Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film
Red Dog
Director: Kriv Stenders
Producer: Nelson Woss & Julie Ryan

2011 Jameson IF Awards Sydney will be broadcasted as follows:

Wednesday 23rd November – SBS at 10pm
Sunday 27th November – Showcase at 4:55pm and Showcase Two at 6:55pm
Monday 28th November – Showcase at 11:40pm
Tuesday 29th November – Showcase Two at 1:40am
Wednesday 30th November – Showcase at 10:35am, Showcase Two at 12:35pm, Showcase at 5:55pm and Showcase Two at7:55pm
Friday 2nd December – Showtime Premier at 1:45pm and Showtime Two at 3:45pm
Saturday 3rd December – Showtime Two at 3:25am and Showtime Premier at 1:25pm
Tuesday 6th December – Showtime Premier at 11:55pm
Wednesday 7th December – Showtime Two at 1:55am
Thursday 8th December – Showtime Premier at 6:45am and Showtime Two at 8:45am