The Longford Lyell Award is a lifetime achievement award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is "to identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television."^[1] The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for technical achievements in feature film, television, documentaries and short films.^[2] From 1968 to 2010, the award was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the Academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards).^[3] When the AFI launched the Academy in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current award being a continuum of the AFI Raymond Longford Award.^[3]

Originally named after Australian prolific producer, director, writer and actor Raymond Longford (1878–1959), the award recognises "a person who has shown an unwavering commitment over many years to excellence in the film and television industries and has, through their body of work to date, contributed substantially to the enrichment of Australian screen culture", and is the highest honour the Academy bestows.^[4][5] In 2015, the name of the award was changed to Longford Lyell Award in recognition of Longford's creative and life partner, actress and filmmaker Lottie Lyell.^[6]

Recipients of this award are film and television directors, directors, producers, actors, cinematographers and film editors. People of Australian origin dominate the list, but European-born Australian citizens have also been recognised. The award was first presented to film director and editor Ian Dunlop (director).^[7] The award has also been made posthumously to actor John Meillon in 1989 who died that year.^[7]

Winners

Year	Image	Name	Country of origin	Notes	Ref(s)
AFI Raymond Longford Award
1968	—	Ian Dunlop	United Kingdom	Director	[7]
1970	—	Stanley Hawes	United Kingdom	Director, producer	[7]
1976	—	Ken G. Hall	Australia	Director,	[7]
1977		Charles Chauvel	Australia	Director, producer, screenwriter	[7]
1978		Marie Lorraine	Australia	Filmmaker, actress	[7][8]
1978		Paulette McDonagh	Australia	Filmmaker, director, screenwriter	[7][8]
1978		Phyllis McDonagh	Australia	Filmmaker, producer, art director, production designer	[7][8]
1979	—	Jerzy Toeplitz	Russian Empire	Founding director of AFTRS	[7][9]
1980	—	Tim Burstall	United Kingdom	Director	[7][10]
1981		Phillip Adams	Australia	Journalist, producer	[7][11]
1982	—	Eric Porter	Australia	Animator	[7][12]
1983	—	Bill Gooley	Australia	Film technician	[7]
1984	—	David Williams	Australia	Distributor, exhibitor	[7]
1985	—	Don Crosby	Australia	Actor	[7][13]
1986		Barry Jones	Australia	Federal Minister, first Chairman of AFTRS	[7]
1987	—	Paul Riomfalvy	Hungary	First director of NSW Film Corp	[7]
1988	—	Russell Boyd	Australia	Cinematographer	[7]
1989		John Meillon	Australia	Actor	[7]
1990		Peter Weir	Australia	Director	[7]
1991		Fred Schepisi	Australia	Director	[7][14]
1992	—	Lee Robinson	Australia	Director	[7]
1993	—	Sue Milliken	Australia	Producer	[7]
1994		Jack Thompson	Australia	Actor	[7]
1995		George Miller	Australia	Director, screenwriter, producer	[7]
1997	—	Jan Chapman	Australia	Producer	[7]
1998		Charles "Bud" Tingwell	Australia	Actor	[7][15]
1999	—	John Politzer	Australia	Exhibitor, distributor	[7]
2000	—	Anthony Buckley	Australia	Producer	[7][16]
2001		David Stratton	United Kingdom	Film critic	[7]
2002	—	Patricia Edgar	Australia	Television producer	[7][17]
2003		Ted Robinson	Australia	Television director, producer, screenwriter and choreographer	[7]
2004	—	Patricia Lovell	Australia	Producer	[7][18]
2005		Ray Barrett	Australia	Actor	[7][19]
2006	—	Ian Jones	Australia	Television director, producer, screenwriter	[7][20]
2007	—	David Hannay	New Zealand	Producer	[7][21]
2008	—	Dione Gilmour	Australia	Natural history filmmaker	[7][22]
2009		Geoffrey Rush	Australia	Actor	[7][23]
2010		Reg Grundy	Australia	Broadcaster, entrepreneur, producer	[7][24]
Raymond Longford Award
2012	—	Don McAlpine	Australia	Cinematographer	[25]
2013	—	Al Clark	United Kingdom	Film producer	[26]
2014		Jacki Weaver	Australia	Actress	[27]
Longford Lyell Award
2015	—	Andrew Knight	Australia	Television writer, producer	[28]
2015		Cate Blanchett	Australia	Actress	[6]
2016		Paul Hogan	Australia	Actor and television presenter	[29]
2017		Phillip Noyce	Australia	Director (film and television)	[30]
2018		Bryan Brown	Australia	Actor	[31]
2019		Sam Neill	New Zealand	Actor	[32]
2021		David Gulpilil	Australia	Actor	[33]
2022		Catherine Martin	Australia	Costume, production and set designer	[34]