DAVID Wenham said there were "no fisticuffs" when deciding the winner of this year's CinÃ©festOZ $100,000 Film Prize.
Speaking ahead of the announcement of Australia's biggest film prize at Busselton last night, The Lord of the Rings and Van Helsing star, who chairs the Film Prize jury, said the judges were "strangely" on the same page after watching each film.
"But we have felt the weight of the decision because we realise that is a lot of money," Wenham, who is also a festival patron, said.
His five fellow judges included Australian actress Sarah Snook and The Sapphires director Wayne Blair.
The jury also featured These Final Hours producer Liz Kearney, who was among those to take home last year's gong for Paper Planes, and casting director Annie Murtagh-Monks.
Five Australian films, which were seen by the jury at premiere events throughout the five-day South West festival, were in the running ahead of last night's announcement.
Celebrity guests included Hugo Weaving, who was being honoured as this year's Screen Legend during the ceremony, Lucy Durack and Holding the Man actor Ryan Corr.
The short-listed films included Michael Petroni-directed Backtrack, which stars Adrien Brody and Sam Neil, and the Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler film Now Add Honey, which features Durack.
Also in the running were low budget feature Pawno, documentary Putuparri and the Rainmakers, and The Daughter.
CinÃ©festOZ continues today with tickets available from www.cinefestoz.com.KRISTY SYMONDS