The film Nitram, about the events of Australia's worst massacre that killed 35 people, was accused early of possibly glorifying the killer.

But critics were stunned by the intimate family drama about mental illness that exploded into the headlines in 1996.

The film ends in the seconds before Bryant starts shooting at the former convict colony.

With the memory of the massacre still raw, actor Caleb Landry Jones, 31, said "it was very evident that people were going to be angry".

"Some people probably pegged the film to be a certain kind of movie," he said.

"But it is a very sensitive piece and very respectfully made."

Being Texan helped with his role: "The film is in many ways about the Australian male. I found a lot of similarities with Texas. So I knew what that was."

He spent three months trying to get under Bryant's skin.

"I really worked on the dialect for two months in Texas. But I arrived a month before we began shooting and if it wasn't for that I think I would have failed miserably," he said.

As he accepted his award, Jones said: "I can't do this, I am going to throw up."

"Thank you to the jury ... f**k. Thank you Justin ... f**k. I can not do this. I am so sad that I can not do this. Thank you so much. Thank you so much!"

Australian Associated Press