2011 ACCELERATOR DIRECTORS

 

Alister Lockhart was born in Scotland and educated from the age of nine in Australia. He completed a Bachelor of Graphic Design at the University of Newcastle, graduating in 1993. Alister has worked as a professional commercial illustrator and concept artist in the fields of press, advertising, custom sign art, children’s publishing, comics, traditional animation and television. In between writing and illustrating for various independent Australian comics, he has also written and directed short films and FMV for games such as Warlords Battlecry and Payload. Alister co-wrote and directed the CG animated short film NULLARBOR, which has won several of awards locally and internationally, including the 2012 AACTA Award for Best Animated Short Film.  

 

Andrew Kavanagh is a Melbourne-based writer/director and a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. Premiering Internationally at Locarno, his 2010 graduating film AT THE FORMAL has won numerous awards, including the Transmission Films Emerging Australian Filmmaker Award at MIFF 2011 and Best Short Film at the 2011 Gijon International Film Festival. His second film, MEN OF THE EARTH, will be released in 2012. 

 

Anthony Maras completed a Law Degree from Flinders University, and went on to study film production at the University of California. His first short film AZADI, which followed the plight of Afghan asylum seekers in mandatory detention, was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Short Film and invited to screen at more than 30 international festivals. Following Azadi, Anthony wrote and directed the AFI Award-winning SPIKE UP, a noir-drama starring Marcus Graham and Roy Billing. THE PALACE, an Australian-Cyprus co-production, won Best Short Fiction and Best Short Screenplay at 2011’s AACTA’s, Best Australian Short at 2012’s Flickerfest, and earned Anthony the Best Rising Talent award at the 2011 IF Awards. THE PALACE was also selected for 2011’s Telluride and 2012’s Santa Barbara Film Festivals.

 

Daniel Koerner is a Melbourne-based director. He is a co-founder of digital media collective PLOT Media, an associate of Adelaide experimental performance company The Border Project and a seasonal lecturer in performance at the University of Wollongong. Daniel has a strong passion for inter-disciplinary arts with a focus on integrating digital and interactive media in film and performance.  He has directed two short films, IF I DANCE WILL IT KEEP ME WARM? And YASUE, produced in association with PLOT Media. 

 

David Easteal obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne, also studying Arts, majoring in literature. His short film THE FATHER played at various international festivals, including London, Kiev, and Hamburg, Rio Film Festivals. He is currently in pre-production on a new short. 

 

Jackie van Beek works as an actress, writer and director in theatre and film. She has had a string of plays commissioned and produced, and has devised and toured comedy shows in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. Her first short film grew out of a clown workshop she ran on a town camp in Alice Springs, Australia. Since then, she has gone on to make five more shorts and is currently developing a feature. Her films have played in many festivals including London and Berlin, been acquired for educational purposes in Denmark, France, Australia and the UK and have picked up awards in both New Zealand and Australia. 

 

Jeremy Bliss is a Melbourne filmmaker, actor and student. Born to British-Australian parents, he has lived and studied in Europe and the Middle East and has a background as a theatre and film actor. TOY SOLDIER is Jeremy’s first short film and it was shot in French and Hebrew. TOY SOLDIER went on to a number of festivals, including having it’s European premiere at Bilbao. Jeremy was selected for 2012 Berlinale Talent Campus. He is currently working on a documentary and a feature project.

 

Kevan Funk, director of A FINE YOUNG MAN, was born in Vancouver, B.C. and raised in Banff, Alberta. Being brought up in and around his parents’ grassroots theatre company, Kevan was introduced to the arts at the earliest age. He has spent the majority of his life completely dedicated to filmmaking, directing numerous short films. His work has been showcased at festivals across the world, picking up a handful of awards along the way. He recently completed a bachelor’s degree in Film, Video and Integrated Media at Emily Carr University of Art & Design. 

 

Miranda Nation, director of ELI THE INVINCIBLE, is a Melbourne-based filmmaker and actor. Miranda studied directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, and physical theatre at Jacques Lecoq, Paris. She has performed in film, television and theatre and has written and directed three short films that have screened at numerous international festivals. She is currently developing her first feature, HALFWAY MOTEL. 

 

Nathan Lewis, director of ATTACH BOAT TO MOTOR, graduated from Sydney Film School in 2008, then worked on several short film projects and video clips. Nathan has won the Insight 51 International Film Festival in 2004 and 2006, was chosen as part of the Destination Film Festival in 2008, and received the audience choice, best cinematography and best sound design prizes for his film LIFE WASN’T MEANT TO BE EASY in the 2009 Sydney 24 hour Film Festival. He is currently writing a feature length screenplay, TWO PUNKS. 

 

Nick Matthews is an AFI award winning filmmaker who trained in Europe on productions including the HBO series BAND OF BROTHERS and Working Title’s ABOUT A BOY. Since returning to Australia, he has produced, edited, and photographed the feature film 2:37. He also photographed US feature BROKEN HILL and three AFI (now AACTA) best short films SPIKE UP, THE KISS, for which he won the 2010 AFI for best short film screen craft, and in 2012, THE PALACE. In 2010 Nick directed the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) funded short COLLISION. In late 2012 he's directing the feature film thriller ONE EYED GIRL funded by the SAFC’s FilmLab program with producer David Ngo and co-writer Craig Behenna.  

 

Rodd Rathjen, director of THE STRANGER, recently completed a Bachelor of Film and Television with Honours from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).  His graduating film THIRST won best direction at the VCA in 2009 and also earned him the prestigious Grace Marion Wilson Writers scholarship.  With his latest film, THE STRANGER, Rodd has forayed into the deeper facets of life’s physicality, morality and the attitude of society.  His first feature, SEASON OF LIBERTY is in development. 

 

Sam Holst graduated from RMIT University, Melbourne. While studying, he wrote and directed the short film SWING, which screened at various festivals around the world including as finalist in the Young Director Award at the Cannes Lions Festival. His short film MEATHEAD - funded by the New Zealand Film Commission - received Official Selection - In Competition at the 64^th Cannes Film Festival and won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film in Generation at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. He is currently in development on several feature projects. 

 

Tammy Davis, director of EBONY SOCIETY, was born in Wanganui, New Zealand, brought up in Raetihi, and moved to Auckland when he was twelve. After leaving high school, he studied acting at Northland Polytech for two years. He got his first acting break with the role of Mookie in WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN HEARTED. Since then he has had roles in many film and television productions including JACKSONS WARF, WHALE RIDER, FRACTURE and OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE. He has also worked with Jim Moriarty’s Te Rakau Drama Company on intensive drama workshops with at-risk youth, and with Hone Kouka as an Assistant Director on theatre productions. EBONY SOCIETY is the first short film Tammy wrote and directed. It was selected to screen at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival in 2011. He is currently working on his next short Sonny, My Older Brother, which is being funded by the New Zealand Film Commission.

 

 

2011 ACCELERATOR EXPRESS DIRECTORS Selected by Screen Australia's Springboard Program

 

Anna Broinowski is a multiple AFI award-winning director and writer who has been making films since 1995. Her documentaries include FORBIDDEN LIE$, HELEN’S WAR and HELL BENTO!!, all of which screened theatrically. Awards include 3 AFIs, the Rome Film Festival’s.Cult Prize, a Walkley Award, the Russian Film Critics’ prize, the Al Jazeera Golden Award, the 2008 NSW Premier’s Literary Award and Best Director at Films Des Femmes in France. FORBIDDEN LIE$ is one of the top ten highest earning Australian documentaries of all time. It screened across the US, Middle East and Europe, and won the Writer’s Guild of America (East and West) Best Non-fiction Screenplay Award in 2008. Anna is currently developing a slate of features, including feature documentary, AIM HIGH IN CRATION!, and her first drama, PLEASE EXPLAIN, a true-story political satire about Pauline Hanson. 

 

Ben Young began his career as an actor in the mid-1990s, and while he continues to act today, his current focus is on writing and directing. He completed a BA in Film and TV at Curtin University in 2003 and finished his Masters in Professional Communications in 2006. He has directed TV commercials, award-winning music videos, wrote and directed children’s series TRAPPED and CASTAWAY, directed EPK documentaries for LAST TRAIN TO FREO, MARX AND VENUS, THE CIRCUIT and STONE BROTHERS. He has also directed seven short films, five of which he wrote, and has written several more that have been produced. His 2010 short film SOMETHING FISHY has so far screened in twenty domestic and international festivals. His latest short film BUSH BASHER (working title) was financed by Screen Australia under the Springboard program and was shot in May 2011. Ben’s feature project DIEBACK was recently financed under ScreenWest's West Coast Visions initiative. 

 

Luke Doolan's resume encompasses credits as a director, cinematographer, and editor, across music clips, commercials, shorts, and features. His early days of feature film editing were spent assisting legendary editor Jill Bilcock on MOULIN ROUGE. Luke has previously shot and edited previsualisation on Baz Luhrman's ALEXANDER and AUSTRALIA and George Lucas' STAR WARS: EPISODE III. Luke has been co-conceiving and editing for the last four years on director Nash Edgerton’s shorts including SPIDER, LUCKY and FUEL, for which he won Best Editing at The St. Kilda Film Festival. In addition to his short film collaborations with Nash, Luke edited David Michôd's short film CROSSBOW, and Anthony Hayes' debut feature TEN EMPTY. MIRACLE FISH, which Luke wrote and directed and which was produced by Drew Bailey was nominated for Best Live Action Short at the 2010 Academy Awards. Luke recently completed work as second unit director on Baz Luhrman’s THE GREAT GATSBY.

 

Paul Oliverʼs short film, FREEZE, screened at Palm Springs, St Kilda, Brisbane and BBC Shorts. His 50-minute crime drama LENNIE CAHILL SHOOTS THROUGH was broadcast on SBS and won an AFI Award, an AWGIE Award and an ATOM Award. THE FIBROS AND THE SILVERTAILS, his one-hour documentary for ABC, played at the Sydney Film Festival, won an AWGIE and was released on DVD. Paul is the co-creator of OLD SCHOOL, an eight x one-hour crime drama series, based on LENNIE CAHILL SHOOTS THROUGH, which has been optioned by Matchbox Pictures and is in development for ABC TV. Paul wrote and directed the Springboard short, MERCURY, a thriller about climate change, which supports a feature of the same name. Paul has also written the siege movie BLOOD BANK, with Film Victoria assistance. Both features are being financed through Film Camp’s Philippa Campey. 

 

Zak Hilditch studied film at Curtin University where he completed his honours degree in 2004. In 2006, Zak won the Young Filmmaker of the Year award at the WA Screen Awards. Zak’s debut low budget feature THE ACTRESS acquired Australian and New Zealand distribution on DVD through Accent Underground in 2007. In 2010 Zak developed his feature THESE FINAL HOURS through Screen Australia’s Springboard initiative and received funding for a short science-fiction drama titled TRANSMISSION through the same scheme. 

 

 

2011 ACCELERATOR EXPRESS DIRECTORS Selected by South Australian Film Corporation’s (SAFC) FilmLab initiative

 

Christopher Houghton originally trained as a photographer and dancer, running his own fine art studio while choreographing and performing works for theatre before turning to directing in 2001. He is a multi award-winning graduate of the Australian Film, TV and Radio School (AFTRS). After graduating AFTRS with the school’s highest accolades for directors, the ADG Best Director Award Christopher spent three years conducting video interviews of war veterans for the world’s largest video memorial, the Australian’s at War Film Archive. He also directed two sell-out seasons of Alan’s Ball’s Five Women Wearing the Same Dress for the Darlinghurst Theatre in Sydney. His short films have screened at major festivals including Palm Springs, Tribeca, Brief Encounters Bristol, CameraImage Poland, London and Chicago International Film Festivals. In 2007 Christopher directed SWING, financed by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) and the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF). Premiering at AFF in 2007, the film received the Audience Award for Best Short Film. SWING also won Best Film at St. Kilda Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2007 AFI Awards. In 2010 Christopher launched POP Pictures to develop a diverse slate of projects. He is a current initiate in SAFC’s FilmLab initiative and will be directing his first dramatic feature, TOUCH, in 2011. He is also in production as writer and director on a feature length documentary, SONS & MOTHERS with investment from Screen Australia and the SAFC due for completion in 2012. 

 

Dave Wade is a self-taught filmmaker who began his filmmaking journey making no budget short films with some of these films screening at the likes of Dungog, St Kilda, and Bondi. In 2010 he made his first truly-budgeted short film entitled CROPPED, which has been selected to screen at many local and international festivals including Sydney Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival, and was recently nominated for two AACTA awards (best short film and best short screenplay). His next film A Tale of Obsession has just begun its festival journey, premiering at Flickerfest (in competition), and was nominated for six SASA awards including Best Film. 

 

Hugh Sullivan is a writer and director whose work has screened at Palm Springs International Shortfest, Flickerfest and the Melbourne International Film Festival, where he participated in the 2008 Accelerator program. In 2006 he was the recipient of the Spirit of Youth Award – Moving Pictures, which resulted in a one-year mentorship with director Phillip Noyce. Hugh has completed a Master of Arts in Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, and is currently developing a feature film with longtime collaborators Kate Croser and Sandy Cameron. The film has been funded through the South Australian Film Corporation’s FilmLab initiative, and will go into production in 2012. 

 

Matt Vesely completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts at Flinders University in 2007. He has since continued to hone his skills as a writer/director, making a number of successful low-budget shorts, including BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, which earned a nomination for Best Comedy at the South Australian Short Screen Awards (SASSA), STREET’S PRESS, which was nominated for Best Documentary at the SASSAs, and the Media Resource Centre (MRC) production A LOAD OF BUCKSHOT. 2009 saw his feature-length screenplay, MY PRIVATE EYE, go into development with the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC). In the same year, he also took part in the SAFC’s inaugural FilmLab. The surreal dramatic short THE THING ABOUT DOLPHINS, produced by Megan Huitema and Sarah MacDonald, was produced in 2010 as part of Matt’s ongoing development with FilmLab, and premiered at the 2011 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival. DOLPHINS was also nominated for Best Drama, Best Screenplay, Best Performance and Best Production Design at the 2011 South Australian Screen Awards. Matt is currently working on another feature screenplay with development funded by the SAFC. 

 

Ursula Dabrowsky went to film school in Montreal where she made several experimental shorts before moveing to Adelaide. In 2005, Ursula wrote her first psychological horror screenplay, FAMILY DEMONS, and shot the ultra low budget film with a small crew in January 2006. In 2009, FAMILY DEMONS had its world premiere at the A Night of Horror International Film Festival in Sydney where Ursula won Best Australian Director. The film has gone on to screen at numerous national and international film festivals and won Best Foreign Film and Best Actress at USA’s Fright Night International Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Actress at the Eerie Horror Film Festival and was shortlisted for the 2009 DigiSPAA Competition. Ursula is currently developing the second instalment of her Demon Trilogy, INNER DEMON, a supernatural horror film that obtained financing through the South Australian Film Corporation's FilmLab.

 

 2010

 

Alethea Jones’ short LEMONADE STAND won 2012’s Tropfest and her documentary, Tissue, aired on the ABC. Since premiering in Accelerator 2010, her short WHEN THE WIND CHANGES has won awards including IF Awards Best Short Film (2011) and Audience Choice at both Flickerfest and St Kilda, where it also won Best Comedy. She's one of three directors on the web series COP HARD who direct under the pseudonym - Charles C. Custer.

 

Ariel Kleiman’s short DEEPER THAN YESTERDAY had its world premiere in 2010 at Cannes Critics Week and was awarded the prestigious Kodak Discovery Award for a short film and Petit Rail d'Or. In the same year, it won the Australian Film Institute award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film. Amongst its slew of awards, it also received the Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Ariel has begun development with Warp Films on his first feature film. Now based in London making TVCs and music videos with production company Partizan, Kleiman won a Global Filmmaker Award at 2012’s Sundance Film Festival for a feature film script he is developing with Warp Films and was invited to attend the Sundance Directors Lab in June to workshop the film.

 

Ashlee Page is working with Robert Connolly as one of 12 writer/directors each adapting a short story from the Tim Winton novel The Turning. She is also writing her SAFC FilmLab feature film that will be shooting in 2012 and has participated in the 2011 Adelaide Film Festival initiative The Hive. After screening at MIFF, her short film THE KISS has gone on to win two Australian Film Institute awards and has screened internationally, premiering at Pusan and at Tribeca.

 

Asuka Sylvie’s PINION travelled to various festivals including the Hamptons, Odense and Uppsala international film festivals, including winning best film at the DaKINO Film Festival in Romania. Asuka is currently in production for her next short with the assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission. 

 

Christopher Dudman has been directing TV commercials and writing a six-hour character based Police series called HARRY, which he will direct next year. He travelled with his short CHOICE NIGHT to London UK, Valladolid Spain, and Tours Ecrans Geneva where it won Best International Short. It also screened in competition at Clermont-Ferrand France in 2011. He is developing his first feature - a psychological crime drama about undercover police infiltrating the gang scene in New Zealand in the mid-1980s.

 

Eddie Martin directed the 2008 feature documentary LIONEL. He is currently in production on his next feature documentary THE PAPPAS BROTHERS (working title) alongside producers George Pank and James Gay Rees (Senna, Exit Through The Gift Shop). He is also in development on dramatic feature projects including Bon Scott, a biopic based on the AC/DC front man with the assistance of Film Victoria and Screen Australia.

 

Edward Housden’s short MUSCLES premiered in Official Selection at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and has since gone on to screen at numerous film festivals including South By Southwest, London Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Stockholm Film Festival and many more. Edward has been prolific in directing music videos, and is now represented for commercials by the UK’s Independent Films. He is currently developing his first feature.

 

Hannah Hilliard was the inaugural recipient of Screen Australia’s new initiative The Acclaim Fund, which is a grant that supports the career development of filmmakers with successful shorts that have won specific awards at high profile festivals. She was eligible based on her wins at Berlin and MIFF 2010. With the grant, she is able to focus on the two features she is developing, GOLDEN PEOPLE, a comedy in the vein of her short FRANSWA SHARL, and KOMODO the story of her Broome pearling families’ experience of war on the remote Indonesian island of Flores.  Hannah is represented by global transmedia company @radical.media as a TVC director.

 

Irina Goundortseva is developing her feature film DOG CLUB, which is an amalgamation of her skills - a live action film with the distinctive playfulness typical of animation. In 2009, it was nominated for the prestigious Australian Writer's Guild AWGIE Award for Best Unproduced Feature Film Script.

 

James Cunningham has been developing three feature projects and has also made three more short films since MIFF 2010. One is a zombie-romantic-comedy called ROTTING HILL, which has picked up several awards at various festivals. Another is called THE DEADLIEST GAME and is based on the wild world of Dr Grordbort, created by Weta artist Greg Broadmore. He is in post-production on a fourth film at the moment. It's about robot redundancies and is titled SHELVED.

 

Kazik Radwanski’s OUT IN THAT DEEP BLUE SEA was nominated for a Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival. Together with producer Daniel Montgomery, he has followed that up with another short GREEN CRAYONS, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and was also invited to the 2011 Berlin Film Festival.

 

Matthew Bate’s debut feature documentary SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE was selected in Competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, as part of the World Cinema Documentary program. The film was also chosen as part of the 40th New Directors / New Films Festival at New York's Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center, and received a Special Jury mention at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2011. Matthew's short film The Mystery of Flying Kicks (which won the 2010 MIFF prize for Best Short Doc) went on to win Best Short Doc at New Zealand's Documentary Edge Festival 2011.

 

Olivia Peniston-Bird has, since Accelerator, produced a baby girl, and is in the early stages of developing a feature project.

 

Sam Peacocke shot a successful Volkswagen TVC and an online music promo that was a finalist at SXSW and also picked up a Gold Axis award. His 2010 MIFF Accelerator film MANUREWA won a Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival Generation 14plus section for best short. He moved to Europe finding commercial representation with Rokkit in the UK and Irene in France. Sam has a number of new projects on the boil including his first documentary and a feature length art film about racing cars.

 

2009

 

Adrian Francis participated in the 2010 Berlinale Talent Campus to develop his documentary feature TEN VIEWS OF TOKYO. In 2011, he was invited to participate in the inaugural 5x5x5 workshop in Switzerland's Winterthur International Short Film Festival in which five emerging documentary filmmakers from around the world were selected, one from each continent, and then given five weeks to make a 10-15 minute documentary related to the town of Winterthur itself and then the films screen towards the end of the festival.

 

Ainsley Gardiner is producer of Taika Waititi’s acclaimed short films and features as well as a writer/director in her own right.  She co-produced the feature film BOY, New Zealand’s highest grossing local film ever, which won the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Grand Prix at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival.  She produced the Oscar-nominated short film TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT.  She is currently developing a number of short and feature film projects.

 

Alexandra Schepisi has completed her second short film LOIS, shot in Australia and Greece, starring Jacki Weaver. She is currently acting in ABC telemovie DEVIL’S DUST, in production in Sydney until early May and will be appearing in the MTC's production of Queen Lear in July.

 

Corrie Chen’s 2010 VCA Masters film, WONDER BOY, enjoyed a successful run on the festival circuit including Munich, San Francisco, Flickerfest, and picked up a few awards along the way. In 2011 she was a recipient of Screen Australia's Raw Nerve short film fund, writing and directing the short BRUCE LEE PLAYED BADMINTON TOO. She is currently writing her first feature based on the short with Mondayitis Films and Producer Marc Gracie. She is also working with Brisbane-based writer Michelle Law on the short film BLOOMERS, as well as co-writing a TV comedy series.

 

Corrie Jones' film WATER won Best Short Film in the 15-30 minutes category at the 2010 Milan International Film Festival. He is currently working on a feature script.

 

Dena Curtis’ short Jacob won an award at the Harlem International Film Festival in 2010. She is currently working at the ABC as series producer for MESSAGE STICK.

 

Dominic Allen is currently producing JOMO, his second feature with Rwandan Director Kivu Ruhorahoza. The pairs' first film GREY MATTER, won two awards when it premiered at Tribeca and played at MIFF 2011. JOMO was a 2012 IFFR Cinemart BOOST! and Cannes La Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde development project. Allen is also currently producing a TV series BACK OF HOUSE about Australian artist Jeff Martin and directing a short based on Emma Magenta's A Gorgeous Sense of Hope.

 

Eddie White is currently developing an animated feature length film to be co-written and co-directed with his co-director from THE CAT PIANO. The film is being produced by Jessica Brentnall (SLEEPING BEAUTY).

 

Edwin McGill is currently developing a feature film and directing out of Melbourne production house Renegade Films.

 

Gaysorn Thavat was commissioned to write and direct an ambitious international campaign for MTV London and is developing her first feature film.

 

Grant Major did production design on THE GREEN LANTERN. He has also worked on a couple of commercials and a segment of a 3D feature on the Cirque du Soleil and worked designing major New Zealand feature film MR PIP.

 

Mads Matthiesen’s first feature film TEDDY BEAR had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2012 where it won Best Director for a Foreign Film. The Australian premiere is yet to be announced.

 

Michael Latham has continued working as a cinematographer in numerous formats over the last few years. He plans to delve back into directing and make several short films and possibly a documentary whilst travelling through India.

 

Nassiem Valamanesh’s latest work titled DISTANT WORDS was photographed while travelling through Iran and combines animation, text and bold imagery to tell a story of isolation and abandonment that comes when you lose your voice. The work was recently exhibited at Wollongong City Gallery. His 2009 film SIDE BY SIDE screened at MIFF, the European Media Art Festival and International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Flickerfest and won Best Achievement in Visual Effects at the St. Kilda Film Festival in 2010. It also played at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2011. At present, he is working on a feature script titled STRANGE HUE.

 

2008

 

Aaron Wilson is working on his debut feature film with shooting in Singapore and rural Victoria for a 2012 completion.

 

Anthony Chen was accorded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2009, one of the most prestigious accolades for the arts in Singapore. He completed an MA in Film Directing at the UK’s National Film and Television School, with a scholarship from the Media Development Authority of Singapore. After completing his short film HOTEL 66, he is currently developing his first feature film in Singapore. Anthony works between London and Singapore.

 

Callum Cooper completed his Master’s degree at London’s Royal College of Art. His most recent short Little Brother screened at Sundance 2011 and VICTORIA, GEORGE, EDWARD and THATCHER at the Toronto International Film Festival 2010. Callum is currently developing his debut feature with the support of Screen Australia.

 

Dustin Feneley was born in Sydney in 1982 and is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts Film School. His short films as writer and director (NIGHT, SNOW, HAWKER, ESKIMO KISS) have won numerous awards and screened at more than 100 film festivals, including official selections at Cannes, London, Cinema Jove, Bucharest, Melbourne and Sydney international film festivals. In 2006, his student film SNOW premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cinéfondation selection and in 2011 he was awarded the Filmmaker Grand Prix at the Sapporo International Short Film Festival for his body of work in short films. His debut feature STRAY has been selected as one of eight projects worldwide to be developed at the 2012 Directors Lab at the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam.

 

Hugh Sullivan is a writer and director whose work has screened at Palm Springs International Shortfest, Flickerfest and the Melbourne International Film Festival, where he participated in the 2008 Accelerator program. In 2006 he was the recipient of the Spirit of Youth Award – Moving Pictures, which resulted in a one-year mentorship with director Phillip Noyce. Hugh has completed a Master of Arts in Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, and is currently developing a feature film with longtime collaborators Kate Croser and Sandy Cameron. The film has been funded through the South Australian Film Corporation’s FilmLab initiative, and will go into production in 2012. 

 

Jason Stutter’s short film CAREFUL WITH THAT AXE won the Golden Spike Award for Best Short Film at the 53rd Valladolid International Film Festival 2008. He followed that up with CAREFUL WITH THAT POWER TOOL in 2009 and CAREFUL WITH THAT CROSSBOW in 2010.

 

Jeremy Cumpston is developing two feature film projects – DYING FOR CAKE, based on Louise Limerick’s award winning novel, and the thriller, THE HIDDEN, set in Hill End, NSW.

 

John Alsop’s 15-minute short HE, SHE, IT., developed during his 2007 Asialink Manila residency and filmed the following year has toured festivals extensively in Australia and internationally. He is continuing to develop a feature length comedy set in Melbourne during the late 1970s, of which three of the seven main roles are for characters originally from Manila.

 

John Evagora won Best Short Film at MIFF 2008 for 296 SMITH STREET, which also received the CRC Award at the 2008 Sydney Film Festival.

 

Jonathan auf der Heide won the Emerging Australian Filmmaker Award at MIFF 2008 for his short HELL’S GATES that he later made into the feature film VAN DIEMEN’S LAND, which screened at MIFF 2009. He has since co-directed and produced the web series COP HARD.

 

Julius Avery won the Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for his short JERRYCAN, which was also awarded Honourable Mention at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and a Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival the same year.

 

Katie Wolfe's second short REDEMPTION screened at Sundance 2011. She also directed a telemovie KAWA (based on Witi Ihimaera's book Nights In the Gardens In Spain). It premiered at the Hawaiian International Film Festival and will also screen in San Francisco, L.A. and Washington D.C. in 2011. Katie has two features in development with the New Zealand Film Commission, KINGI and ME AND KIRIKIRI HAEHAE.

 

Leo Woodhead’s short ZERO, starring Emily Barclay, premiered at 2010’s Berlin Film Festival. He is shooting another short in 2011 called COLD SNAP. He has also been shooting commercials for boutique agency Thick As Thieves and prepping a feature film.

 

Michelle Savill was awarded the 2011 Script to Screen US Screenwriting Scholarship to spend three months interning at Killer Films in New York.

 

Steph Green’s short NEW BOY was nominated for an Oscar in 2009 and received a Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008.

 

2007

 

Adam Arkapaw is a cinematographer who worked on Julius Avery’s short film JERRYCAN, which received the Jury Award at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Adam recently shot David Michôd’s ANIMAL KINGDOM, and Justin Kurzel’s SNOWTOWN.

 

Darlene Johnson completed documentary RIVER OF NO RETURN for the National Indigenous Documentary Fund, which was selected for competition at MIFF 2008, had its North American premiere as opening night film at imagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto and was accepted into New York’s prestigious Margaret Mead Film Festival. Darlene was shortlisted for the Kit Denton Scriptwriting Fellowship 2008 and is currently completing her first feature script OBELIA to be produced by Phillip Noyce.

 

David Michôd’s debut feature ANIMAL KINGDOM won the Grand Jury Prize (Drama) in the International Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. He also co-wrote (with director Spencer Susser) the feature film HESHER, which screened in Sundance 2010's US Competition. His documentary SOLO (co-directed with Jen Peedom) won the award for Best Documentary Under One Hour at the 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Short Documentary in 2010. ANIMAL KINGDOM has since gone on to win 10 AFI Awards, earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for supporting actress, Jacki Weaver, and was named Best First Film by the New York Film Critics Circle. Most recently, David co-wrote Nash Edgerton's short film BEAR, which played in Official Competition at Cannes 2011, and produced (with Michael Cody) Mirrah Foulkes's short film DUMPY GOES TO THE BIG SMOKE which will play MIFF 2012. Most recently, David co-wrote Nash Edgerton’s short film, BEAR, which played in official competition at Cannes 2011, and produced (with Michael Cody) Mirrah Foulkes’ short film, DUMPY GOES TO THE BIG SMOKE.

 

Grant Scicluna directed THE WILDING, a Screen Australia Springboard project, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, was a Teddy Award finalist and won the City of Melbourne Emerging Filmmaker Award at Melbourne Queer Film Festival for Best Australian Short in 2012. Grant’s short film NEON SKIN won the NFSA Orlando Award for Best Australian Queer Short and he also directed GOLDEN GIRL, a Film Victoria-funded adaptation of the Janette Turner Hospital short story. He is writing features for Australian and UK producers.

 

Kasimir Burgess's films have screened broadly and won over twenty five awards, including THE CRYSTAL BEAR at The Berlin Int'l Film Festival 2011. His latest short, THE MAN WHO COULD NOT DREAM, is a dark comedy, which features the narration of Geoffrey Rush. Kasimir is currently in pre-production on his first feature film FELL, to be produced by veteran Australian producer John Maynard.

 

Kole Onile-ere has recently made a short film called BLAME aimed at educating young people on the dangers of carrying knives.

 

Leon Ford completed his first feature film GRIFF THE INVISIBLE, which was released in March 2011. He was accepted into the 2010 Binger Writer's Lab in Amsterdam to develop his next film, THE MECHANICALS.

 

Mark Albiston won a Special Mention for his short THE SIX DOLLAR FIFTY MAN at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. He is currently developing a feature titled SHOPPING.

 

Nash Edgerton’s first feature film THE SQAURE was released in the US in April 2010 after being nominated for seven Australian Film Institute awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay in 2008. Over the last couple of years, he has directed a handful of music videos including two for Bob Dylan and one for Brandon Flowers starring Charlize Theron. Most recently, Nash has completed a sequel to his multi-award winning short SPIDER called BEAR, and has another feature film in development.

 

Paul Andersen directed a short film for Coca Cola called HAPPY ACCIDENT, which premiered to wide acclaim at Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films. His first TV commercial, THIS IS WHAT WE AUSTRALI-ARE (made for GetUp!) won the national award at a gala event at the Sydney Opera House. Most recently, Paul directed two comedy shorts in New York City, now in post-production. He is developing his feature slate.

 

Sean Byrne is writing the follow-up to his debut feature MIFF Premiere Fund co-financed THE LOVED ONES, which premiered at MIFF 2009, received the Midnight Madness Award at Toronto International Film Festival 2009 and played in local theatres in 2010. 

 

Sophie Hyde produced the feature documentary SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE in 2010 which premiered at Sundance 2011 and recently screened as part of New Directors / New Films at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).  She executive produced the half hour documentary STUNT LOVE, which also screened at MOMA and the Adelaide Film Festival and will air on the ABC. She produced and co-directed the feature documentary LIFE IN MOVEMENT about choreographer Tanja Liedtke, which premiered at Adelaide Film Festival 2011 and screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest and the Edinburgh Film Festival. Her triptych of short dance films NECESSARY GAMES (MIFF 2009) won the Reeldance award for Best Work and Best Experimental Film at ATOM, Brooklyn International and Melbourne International Film Festival. Her short film ELEPHANTIASIS, which screened at MIFF 2010, won Best Director at the World of Women Film Festival 2011. She is in production on her first feature drama 52 TUESDAYS began shooting in July 2011, every Tuesday, for one year.

 

Stephen Carroll recently won SHOTS new director of the year for Asia Pacific. Currently based out of the production company The Otto Empire, he will be shooting a new film MONARCH in 2011.

 

Zia Mandviwalla was named New Zealand's New Filmmaker of the year in 2009 and in 2010 her latest short film AMADI screened as part of MIFF's International Shorts section. Zia’s latest short film NIGHT SHIFT was selected to screen in competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

 

2006

 

Amy Gebhardt has received development investment from Screen Australia to write her feature FALLEN. She wrote and directed a Screen Australia and YouTube funded short film INTO THE SUN and on the basis of which she was selected by Dr George Miller to make WE WERE HERE that was recently nominated for Best Short Documentary at the IF Awards. She also shot & directed an ABC half hour documentary CARNIVAL QUEEN that was nominated for the Foxtel Best Australian Documentary Award. She is currently represented by Exit Films.

 

Ben Phelps’ award-winning, second short film, NICE SHOOTIN’ COWBOY, made the final 80 films for the 2011 Oscars after winning the Narrative Short Jury Award at the Austin Film Festival. He has been working on feature screenplays since Accelerator, including a crime/romance titled THE HITMAN’S COOKBOOK.

 

Denie Pentecost’s film SEXY THING has been travelling to and winning awards at many film festivals worldwide and screened on SBS Television. She is currently writing a feature.

 

Glendyn Ivin‘s debut feature film LAST RIDE won a jury prize at the Rome International Film Festival and a Black Pearl at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival for Best New Director. As well as working on commercials via Exit Films, he directed episodes of Network Ten's OFFSPRING and the Nine Network’s BEACONSFIELD telemovie. Glendyn is in development of his second feature film, CHERRY BOMB.

 

Heng Tang completed short film MOONCAKE & CRAB.

 

Jane Shearer made a short titled BIRD in 2008 and is currently developing a feature version of the successful short THE FRENCH DOORS with writing partner Steve Ayson.

 

Lily Coates formed The Apiary with Gavin Youngs in 2009, specialising in films about, and made in collaboration with, musicians, theatre-makers, dancers and visual artists.

 

Rene Hernandez’s short THE GROUND BENEATH, a 20-minute film funded by the Australian Film Commission, screened at MIFF 2008 and won the 2008 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film.

 

Rhys Graham’s most recent feature documentary MURUNDAK – SONGS OF FREEDOM (co-directed with Natasha Gadd) won the Grand Prix at both Seminci, Spain and FIFO Tahiti, as well as a UN Media Peace Award. In mid 2012 he is directing one of the parts of the Robert Connolly produced portmanteau film THE TURNING, adapted from the Tim Winton novel, and in late 2012, he will be directing his feature drama GALORE (produced by Philippa Campey).

 

Sian Davies was a key director on the feature LITTLE DEATHS (which won Best Independent Feature at DigiSPAA in 2010) and has been busy directing TV, most recently OFFSPRING and RUSH. She is developing a feature adaptation of the Booker Prize nominated novel Carry Me Down.

 

Te Arepa Kahi has completed the film TAUA: WAR PARTY, a cultural epic of a short film involving a 56 foot war canoe laden with humans that is being dragged by 35 warriors through a forest. He is developing a feature project called A GIFT TO ZION with which he participated in the 2008/09 IndiVision Project Lab, and he is a key creative for NZ’s Maori TV.

 

2005

 

Alex Badham made a short in 2006 called SONGS IN THE KEY OF DEATH.

 

Ali Kasap’s short film BROKEN ENGLISH was funded by the Australian Film Commission in 2006. He now has two TV series in development and is completing his honours degree at the Victorian College of the Arts.

 

Catriona McKenzie has directed TV since Accelerator, including THE CIRCUIT and SATISFACTION, and in 2012 completed her first feature film, SATELLITE BOY.

 

Erin White signed with Verve Films as a commercials director and acquired the rights to a novel, which she is adapting with producer Carolyn Starkey, as well as working towards the next draft of an Aurora-funded feature HOW F*CKING ROMANTIC with writer Daniel Cardone. White’s FOUR won best short at FlickerFest.

 

Eron Sheean is based in Berlin, working with production company Instinctive Film. In 2010, he wrote and co-produced THE DIVIDE, a film that was shot in Canada and directed by Xavier Gens. In early 2011, he completed production on his directorial debut feature ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY, which he also wrote, and shot in Dresden, Germany.

 

Helena Brooks is directing commercials through Ridley Scott Associates London and Flying Fish NZ while writing her feature screenplay.

 

Justin Kurzel‘s acclaimed feature debut SNOWTOWN was selected for 2011’s Cannes Film Festival and won the audience award at the Adelaide Film Festival.

 

Karen Colston’s short THE STATION was acquired for screening on SBS.

 

Michael Bennett directed (and co-wrote) his feature debut MATARIKI in 2009. He has five other feature films in development and has also been working on various TV projects including OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE.

 

Michael Weisler returned to filmmaking with a 7 minute short MISSING HER, which won best script at Tropfest 2011 and is developing his feature script.

 

Paulo Alberton worked on the documentary MY FATHER, MY MASTER in 2008 as well as authoring the interactive DVD ABORIGINAL RULES, which was produced by Wirlpiri Media and aired on ABC. He also coordinated post-production for a TV series at the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association and worked as technical director for a feature documentary by Jane Oehr titled TEA WITH MADAME CLOS.

 

Reina Webster worked on the TV series OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE in 2006.

 

Tony Krawitz completed the feature length documentary THE TALL MAN and in 2012 directed his first drama feature film DEAD EUROPE, based on the book by Christos Tsiolkas.

 

2004

 

Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s 2009 MIFF Premiere Fund co-financed feature documentary BASTARDY won a slew of awards locally and internationally and was released theatrically in Australia to critical acclaim. His multi award-winning short film CICADA had its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival as part of Directors’ Fortnight in 2009. Amiel’s first dramatic feature HAIL premiered at the 2011 Adelaide Film Festival and went on to screen at the Venice and Rotterdam International Film Festivals. Amiel's MIFF Premiere Fund-supported feature documentary BEN LEE: CATCH MY DISEASE premiered at MIFF in 2011. Amiel is currently developing a number of feature films as well as collaborating with the Black Lung Theatre Company on the production, Savages.

 

Ben Chessell was one of the directors of LITTLE DEATHS (MIFF 2008). He is currently developing five feature films including WRITING RAIN with producer Louise Smith (which won the Australian Writer’s Guild INSITE Unproduced Screenplay award in 2009) and SUCKER (co-written with Lawrence Leung) with producer Jason Byrne. He resides in London but travels regularly.

 

Ben Hackworth completed his debut feature film CORROBOREE in 2007, co-written with Peter Savieri. His next feature CURE FOR SERPENTS was selected as one of 15 projects for inclusion in the Cannes Festival’s Atelier in 2008.

 

Charlotte George moved to London in 2008 and since then has found a niche creating short films and online video campaigns for charities and NGOs. She won the Robin Hood Tax film competition with her film WHAT DOES 0.05% LOOK LIKE? She is also developing her own feature film and TV projects with UK and Australian producers.

 

Chi Yen Ooi’s feature BEETLE RAMEN was the Australian project selected for the Rotterdam Cinemart Feature Pitching forum in 2006.

 

Cris Jones’ short THE FUNK screened at more than 60 international film festivals, winning numerous awards both overseas and locally. He is developing the feature film BYZANTIUM with Melodrama Pictures and Screen Australia.

 

David Rittey’s short WE THE LIVING screened at MIFF 2006. He is currently directing commercials for Exit Films and is represented by Saville Productions in the US. David is developing his first feature.

 

Gabriel Reid worked as production assistant on BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and assistant director on THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.

 

Richard Vette’s short TEEN CHRISTIAN BEACH PARTY screened at the Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival in 2005.

 

Samantha Scott has been working for Massive Theatre Company in New Zealand.

 

Sotiris Dounoukos attended the Binger FilmLab in Amsterdam in 2009/10. He is developing his adaptation of the Helen Garner novel Joe Cinque's Consolation.

 

Taika Waititi’s TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT was nominated for a 2005 Academy Award. His first feature film EAGLE VS SHARK was released in 2007 and screened at the Berlin Film Festival. Taika directed several episodes of TV series FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS. His feature BOY won the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Grand Prix at 2010’s Berlin Film Festival.