It will compete with Sweet Country, Boy Erased, Cargo and Simon Baker’s directorial debut Breath, adapted from the Tim Winton novel.
The film, Bruce Beresford’s adaptation Madeleine St John’s 1993 novel The Women in Black, was up for seven other awards which will be announced at the main event on Wednesday night, including best film.
At the industry luncheon on Monday, the film won for best editing, screenplay and cinematography – the third time Thornton has won in that category.
Sweet Country tells the story of an Indigenous man in 1920s central Australia who is forced to flee after killing a white man in self-defence.