Aquarius Films

Aquarius Films
Company type	Private
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	December 2, 2008
Founders	Angie Fielder; Polly Staniford;
Defunct	2025
Fate	Dissolved
Headquarters	Sydney, Australia
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Angie Fielder (producer); Polly Staniford (producer);
Products	Motion pictures; Television programs;
Services	Film production; Television production;
Website	aquariusfilms.com.au

Aquarius Films was an independent Australian film and TV production company based in Sydney, founded in 2008 by producers Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford. TV credits include Love Me, The Unusual Suspects, The Other Guy and Savage River. Film credits include Lion' starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, produced by Aquarius in association with See-Saw Films and the psychological thriller Berlin Syndrome starring Teresa Palmer and directed by Cate Shortland which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, Dirt Music, directed by Gregor Jordan and starring Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Macdonald and David Wenham and Wish You Were Here, starring Joel Edgerton and Teresa Palmer, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and won two Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, including Best Screenplay, and five Film Critics Circle Awards, including Best Film.^[1]

Romantic drama series Love Me starring Hugo Weaving,^[2] by Aquarius for Warner Bros. Australia and Foxtel's Binge, premiered in the US on Hulu in April 2021, and premiered on Binge in December 2021. Miniseries The Unusual Suspects starring Miranda Otto and Aina Dumlao is streaming on Hulu and premiered on SBS in June 2021 and their 10 x 30’ YA series for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Born to Spy, premiered in December 2021. Additional television credits include The Other Guy^[3] Seasons 1 and 2, a 6 x 30’ comedy-drama, for Stan and Hulu starring Matt Okine, Valene Kane and Harriet Dyer and The Unlisted,^[4] a 15 x 30’ YA sci-fi thriller for Netflix and the ABC. Aquarius Film's final productions were Savage River,^[5] a 6 x 1' crime drama series directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and starring Katherine Langford in 2022 for the ABC,^[6] and the 4 x 1hr mini series Mix Tape directed by Lucy Gaffy screened on Binge, Foxtel, BBC2, BBC iPlayer and RTE in 2025 which won the TV Spotlight Audience Award at the 2025 SXSW Film & Television.^[7]

Aquarius Films received the 2018 NSW Creative Laureate and the 2018 SPA Screen Business Export of the Year Award. In 2022 Aquarius was nominated for two SPA awards; Screen Business Export of the Year and Telemovie or Mini-series Production of the Year for their production The Unusual Suspects.^[8]

In August 2025, Fielder and Staniford announced they would wind down the company.^[9]

Productions

Film

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Notes
2012	Wish You Were Here	Kieran Darcy-Smith	Kieran Darcy-Smith & Felicity Price	Official selection - Sundance Film Festival 2012 8 Nominations – AACTA Awards 8 Nominations – FCCA Award 8 Nominations – Australian Film Critics Association AFCA Nominated – Bronze Horse Best Film Stockholm Film Festival Nominated – Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize World Cinema Dramatic Winner – AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Winner – AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Winner – AFCA Award for Best Actor Winner – Australian Screen Sound Guild Best Achievement for Sound Winner – FCCA Awards x 5 including Best Film
2016	Lion^[10]	Garth Davis	Luke Davies	Nominated – Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated – Dev Patel Nominated – Nicole Kidman Nominated – Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Academy Award for Best Original Score Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Motion Picture Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nicole Kidman Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Dev Patel Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Original Score Winner – British Academy Film Award Best Supporting Actor Dev Patel Winner – British Academy Film Award Best Adapted Screenplay Winner – AACTA Awards x 12 Winner – Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Premiere – Toronto Film Festival
2017	Berlin Syndrome^[11]	Cate Shortland	Cate Shortland	8 Nominations – AACTA Awards inc Best Film & Best Director 5 Nominations – AFCA Awards inc Best Film & Best Director 2 Nominations – Australian Screen Sound Guild ASSC 6 Nominations – Film Critics Circle of Australia FCCA Award Nominated – AWGE Award for best writing Nominated – Dallas International Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Nominated – Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize World Cinema Winner – FCCA Award Best Original Score Premiere – Sundance Film Festival
2019	Dirt Music	Gregor Jordan	Jack Thorne	Nominated – AACTA Award Best Original Score Premiere – Toronto International Film Festival

Television

Year	Show	Writer	Director	Notes
2019	The Unlisted^[12] 15 x 30'	Justine Flynn, Lucy Gaffy, Rhys Graham, Rebecca O’Brien, Neil Sharma, Nicholas Verso	Jane Allen, Tristram Baumber, Nicholas Brown, Rhys Graham, Mithila Gupta, Chris Kunz, Timothy Lee, Alice McCredie-Dando, Natasha Somasundaram, Greg Water.	Winner – Prix Jeunesse International Youth Jury Prize^[13] Winner – Kidscreen Best Inclusivity Award^[14] Winner – Australian Screen Sound Guild Award Best Sound for a Children’s Program^[15] 3 Nominations – AACTA Awards including Best Children’s Program^[16] 2 Nominations – ADG Awards^[17]
2017- 2019	The Other Guy^[18] 12 x 30' Seasons 1 & 2	Kacie Anning, Gracie Otto	Kacie Anning, Tristram Baumber, Becky Lucas, Matt Okine	Nominated – Logie Award Most Outstanding Drama Series Nominated – Logie Award Most Popular Drama Program Nominated – AACTA Best Comedy Series Nominated – AACTA Best New Talent
2021	Born to Spy^[19] 10 x 30'	Created by Justine Flynn, written by Tiffany Zehnal, Tristram Baumber, Michelle Lim Davidson, Melissa Lee Speyer, Undi Lee, David D.S. Park, Sophia Chung, Alice McCredie-Dando, Hyun Lee, Justine Flynn		Produced in Association with Buster Productions
2021	The Unusual Suspects^[20] 4 x 60'	Roger Monk, Vonne Patiag, Jessica Redenback	Natalie Bailey, Melvin J Montalban	Nominated – AACTA Best Miniseries. Nominated – Australian Directors Guild Best Direction in a TV miniseries Nominated – Screen Producers Australia Miniseries Production of the Year Nominated – Logie Award for Most Outstanding Miniseries
2021	Love Me^[21] 6 x 45'	Based on Swedish Series Alska Mig Created by Josaphine Bornebusch Blake Ayshford, Alison Bell, Leon Ford, Adele Vuko	Emma Freeman	Winner – Logie Outstanding Supporting Actress Heather Mitchell Nominated – Logie Outstanding Drama Series Nominated – Logie Popular Drama Program Nominated – Logie Outstanding Actor Nominated – Logie Outstanding Newcomer Nominated – Logie Popular Actor Nominated – Logie Popular Actress Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Drama series Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Direction in Drama Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Screenplay in TV Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Lead Actress Bojana Novakovic Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Lead Actor Hugo Weaving Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Supporting Actress Heather Mitchell Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Casting Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Cinematography Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Costume Design TV Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Production Design TV
2022	Savage River^[22] 6 x 60'	Giula Sandler, Franz Docherty, Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford, Belinda Bradley	Jocelyn Moorhouse	Nominated - Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie^[23] Winner – Screen Producers Australia Telemovie or Mini Series Production of the Year^[24] Winner – AACTA Awards Best Original Score^[25] - Bryony Marks Bryony Marks Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Miniseries Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated – AACTA Awards Best Sound Nominated - CGA Awards - Best Casting Nominated - C21 Drama Awards^[26] - Best Mini Series
2025	Mix Tape 4 x 60'	Jo Spain	Lucy Gaffy	Winner – SXSW TV Spotlight Audience Award^[27]