After an enormously successful AFF 2020, the previously announced Australia-wide Micro Grants for Diverse Voices collaboration between the Adelaide Film Festival and Closer Productions has today announced the grant assessment panel.
The assessment panel is comprised of First Nations, LGBTQ+ creatives, people from diverse cultural backgrounds and members of the disability community who will select the 4 x $5000 grants.
Applications close Tuesday 24th November. For more information and application details, please head to https://adelaidefilmfestival.org/opportunities/
The Micro Grants assessment panel is:
Larissa Behrendt is an award-winning filmmaker, novelist, and writer/director of AFTER THE APOLOGY and MARALINGA TJARUTJA. She is currently in development writing for Season 2 of TOTAL CONTROL. Larissa is Distinguished Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, and host of the Speaking Out on the ABC National Radio network. Larissa was awarded the 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year award and 2011 NSW Australian of the Year.
Dan Daw is a celebrated performer, disability activist and is Associate Director of Sydney-based performance company, Murmuration. Dan works in partnership with Sarah-Vyne Vassallo to commission, develop and produce new work by disabled artists. Dan has previously worked as a performer around the world with companies such as Restless Dance Theatre (AUS), Australian Dance Theatre (AUS), Force Majeure (AUS), Scottish Dance Theatre (UK), Candoco Dance Company (UK) and Skånes Dansteater (SWE).
John Harvey is a producer, director and writer in screen and stage. On screen, he produced SPEAR directed by Stephen Page, the chapter SAND for omnibus the feature film THE TURNING and was a producer on THE WARRIORS (ABC TV). He has produced numerous short films, documentaries and web series. For the stage, John wrote HEART IS A WASTELAND (Brown Cabs / Malthouse), co-wrote 2020 Sydney Festival hit BLACK TIES and is currently writing THE RETURN for Malthouse Theatre.
Audrey Mason-Hyde is a young, non-binary artist and activist who has extensive experience in acting, writing, public speaking and spoken word poetry and has been an actor in several projects by Closer Productions. Audrey was a peer facilitator on Carclew’s Youth Arts project, ‘Carclew Futures’, and has been a consultant and speaker on Channel Nine’s Cultural Conversations series – The Evolution of Gender and at 12 presented TedX talk about their experience of gender.
Maya Newell is a Japanese/Australian documentary director and impact producer. Maya’s latest film IN MY BLOOD IT RUNS was made in consultation and co-directed with the family it stars and like her previous film GAYBY BABY has been instrumental in the fight for real change in policy around key issues. Maya won the ADG award for In My Blood It Runs and was part of Sundance Institutes’ Documentary Lab.
The fund provides 4x $5000 grants to filmmakers to develop projects within a plan they create for themselves. Applications are encouraged from mid-career artists/filmmakers who straddle identities, for instance First Nations people who also identify as women or are gender diverse, those disabled folks from LGBTQ+ communities etc.
Applications close Tuesday 24th November. For more information and application details, please head to https://adelaidefilmfestival.org/opportunities/
