2008 Australian Film Institute Awards

The 50th Annual Australian Film Institute Awards were presented at a ceremony in Melbourne's Princess Theatre on 5 and 6 December 2008. During the ceremony, the Australian Film Institute presented Australian Film Institute Awards (commonly referred to as AFI Awards) in 40 categories including feature films, television, animation and documentaries. It was hosted by Stephen Curry.

The nominees for Best Documentary, Best Short Fiction Film and Best Short Animation were announced on 7 August, whilst the rest were announced at the Nominations Announcement at the Sydney Theatre Company in Walsh Bay on 29 October. The Black Balloon had the most nominations, with a total of 11 including Best Film.

Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface; with nominees thereafter.

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Television Screen Craft

 * Steve Evans. Underbelly. For "Editing"

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Short Film Screen Craft

 * Xanthe Highfield. fOUR. For "Production Design"

AFI International Award for Excellence in Filmmaking

 * Peter James ACS ASC. For "Cinematography"

Films

 * 11 nominations: The Black Balloon
 * 10 nominations: Unfinished Sky
 * 7 nominations: The Jammed & The Square

Television

 * 8 nominations: Underbelly
 * 6 nominations: East West 101
 * 3 nominations: Summer Heights High, The Hollowmen & H2O: Just Add Water
 * 2 nominations: The Librarians & Rush

AFI website "contenders"
On the website of the Australian Film Institute, it listed 25 expected nominees for the Best Film category. The 25 contenders were: