ALREADY laden with awards in the US and nominated for seven Oscars, Scott Hicks's Shine shone on its home turf when it was named film of the year by the Film Critics Circle of Australia last week. Not surprisingly, Geoffrey Rush was named best actor for his portrayal of David Helfgott in Shine and Noah Taylor deservedly was voted best supporting actor for playing Helfgott as a young man. However, the award for best director did not go to Scott Hicks but to Chris Noonan for the cherishable Babe, which also won for best original music.

Children of the Revolution took the awards for best actress (Judy Davis) and original screenplay (Peter Duncan). Best supporting actress went to Alice Garner for Love and Other Catastrophes, which is in the Dublin festival next month, as is Rat in the Ranks, which was voted best documentary. The Australians selected Fargo as best foreign film and La Haine as best foreign language film.