Robbie Williams biopic Better Man and Netflix miniseries Boy Swallows Universe were the big winners of the AACTA Awards, which recognises excellence in Australian film and TV production.

Boy Swallows Universe, adapted from Trent Dalton’s best-selling novel, claimed 12 AACTAs across two ceremonies – the main gala tonight and the industry event on Wednesday – including gongs in the miniseries, acting, screenplay, directing and other technical categories.

The show swept all four drama performance categories, including a win for the series’ breakout star, teenager Felix Cameron, won the lead actor in a drama. Phoebe Tonkin, Deborah Mailman and Lee Tiger Halley also won for their roles.

On the film side, Better Man picked up nine awards including film, directing and acting gongs for Jonno Davies and Damon Herriman.

Better Man’s victory will be welcome relief for its filmmakers and producers after a bruising run at the box office where the film severely underperformed compared to its significant budget.

Williams was present at the ceremony and took to the stage to perform his pop anthem, “Angels”.

The lead actress and supporting actress awards went to Sarah Snook and Jacki Weaver, both for Memoir of a Snail, which will also compete at the Oscars in the animated feature category.

The victories for Davies, Snook and Weaver were unusual in that all three were not onscreen performances. Davies provided the voice and motion-capture performance in Better Man, which portrayed Williams as a CGI chimpanzee. Snook and Weaver were voice performances.

Non-onscreen roles became eligible for AACTA acting gongs for the first time this year.

Special awards were given to Working Dog, Paul Kelly, actor Kartanya Maynard, cinematographer Greig Fraser and unscripted series Unspoiled.

The ceremony was held at HOTA on the Gold Coast. Russell Crowe, the president of AACTA, was the host.