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.

Feature Film

Television

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Television Screen Craft

Non-Feature Film

AFI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Short Film Screen Craft

Additional Awards

AFI International Award for Excellence in Filmmaking

Individual Awards

Multiple nominations

Films

Television

Controversies and comments

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: