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Diverse SA filmmaking talent in the spotlight as shortlisted teams announced for Film Lab New Voices round two
03 February 2022
A new crop of diverse South Australian filmmakers is set to be unearthed with the return of the Film Lab: New Voices feature film skills development program, with the seven shortlisted teams for round two announced today.
The initiative from the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) and Adelaide Film Festival, with in-kind support from Mercury CX, also once again welcomes the support of Screen Australia in delivering the second round of the program which will put three South Australian creative teams through 12-months of skills development and mentoring with industry experts to develop a low-budget feature film script.
At the end of the development phase one project will be selected to move into production with $400,000 in funding, with the final film to be wholly produced and post-produced in South Australia and to premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2024.
The seven shortlisted teams vying for a place in Film Lab: New Voices 2022 are:
- Writer Nelya Valamanesh, director Nicholas Muecke andproducer Sarah Wormald;
- Writer/director Tamara Hardman and producer Sarah Wormald;
- Writer/director Alies Sluiter and producer William Littleton;
- Writer/director Emma Hough Hobbs, writer/director Leela Varghese and producer Tom Phillips
- Writer/director Stephanie Jaclyn and producer Jodie Kirkbride;
- Writer Travis Akbar, director Thibul Nettle and producer Joshua Trevorrow;
- Producer/writer Danielle Tinker, producer/director Daniel Principe and director Marcus McKenzie.
As part of a commitment to supporting diversity in the South Australian screen industry, at least one member of each selected filmmaking team must be from an under-represented group including women filmmakers, First Nations filmmakers, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) filmmakers, Deaf and disabled filmmakers, LGBTQIA+ filmmakers and filmmakers from regional and remote South Australia.
New to the program in 2022, in a further boost for South Australia’s First Nations screen sector, one of the three teams selected will be First Nations led, with at least two members of the key creative team identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
The three chosen teams will be announced in February 2022, with the final film to be delivered in time for Adelaide Film Festival 2024.
The successful round two teams will follow in the footsteps of the three inaugural Film Lab: New Voices round one teams which began in March 2021. Writer/director Peter Ninos and producer Georgia Humphreys; writer Lucy Campbell, director Matt Vesely and producer Bettina Hamilton; and writer/director Madeleine Parry and producer Peta Bulsara (Astbury) are now entering the final phase of development on their projects, with the final successful film to be announced in the coming months. The film will go into production in April, ahead of a premiere at Adelaide Film Festival 2022.
CEO of the South Australian Film Corporation Kate Croser said the response to this year’s Film Lab: New Voices program had been highly competitive, with 26 projects submitted by 23 filmmaking teams.
“We are delighted to be presenting the return of Film Lab: New Voices for a second year, and I congratulate the 17 practitioners across the seven teams shortlisted for the 2022 program, who reflect the incredible diversity and outstanding talent of South Australia’s next generation of filmmakers,” she said.
“We look forward to three new teams joining the inaugural round of South Australian screen creatives already developing their films in this innovative career building program, which will enable valuable first feature film credits for the next wave of South Australian ‘Greenlighters’, strengthening the foundations of our state’s screen sector.”
CEO and Creative Director of the Adelaide Film Festival Mat Kesting said “Adelaide Film Festival is well regarded for development, support and engagement of the filmmaking community and is thrilled to support the next generation through the Film Lab: New Voices initiative with SAFC, Mercury CX and Screen Australia as a mechanism to see South Australian practitioners and screen stories thrive. Congratulations to all the shortlisted teams in round two; a genuine testament to the diversity of talent in SA. We are looking forward to premiering the first film from Film Lab: New Voices round one at AFF, running 19-30 October, 2022 with the film from round two to premiere in October 2024.”
Screen Australia’s Head of Development Louise Gough said “We are proud to partner on this initiative again and support a new inclusive crop of talented filmmakers advance their careers. Congratulations to the shortlisted teams, I look forward to seeing the final selected teams hone their skills and for the selected project to move into production and to audience.”
CEO of Mercury CX Karena Slaninka said “It’s wonderful to see so many creative teams elevating to Film Lab after having been supported through Mercury CX initiatives such as the Springboard Development Program and Quicksilver Production Fund. We congratulate the shortlisted teams and look forward to continuing to nurture and cultivate distinctive voices and powerful stories that are competitive in the screen industry.”
For more information about the program, go to safilm.com.au/industry-and-skills#filmlab
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