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Rising Together – First Nations Voices in Screen
01 June 2026
SA Screen Industry Coffee Networking Morning and
Panel Discussion Event for National Reconciliation Week 2026
Join the South Australian Film Corporation and The Mercury for a special National Reconciliation Week event celebrating some of South Australia’s most talented up-and-coming First Nations filmmakers and screen practitioners.
From 10.30am to 11.30am join us in the Mercury foyer and laneway for networking over complimentary coffee and light refreshments. All are welcome to catch up with screen industry colleagues and create new industry connections.
Following the networking hour, enjoy a special in-conversation event hosted by SAFC Head of First Nations Kirstie Parker with Yankunytjatjara creative Lilla Berry, producer of upcoming feature film The Debt; Ngarrindjeri creative Josh Trevorrow, co-producer on forthcoming documentary Kumarangk; and Wongutha filmmaker Travis Akbar, writer/director/producer and head of Wirra Distribution, Australia’s only 100% Aboriginal-owned and managed film distribution company.
Through discussion and personal reflection, these exciting screen creatives will share their stories and explore their pathways into the industry, the challenges and opportunities shaping their careers, and their perspectives on reconciliation, representation and truth-telling in Australia today.
Presented by the SAFC and the Mercury.
WHEN: Monday 1 June
10.30–11.30am Coffee and networking in the Mercury foyer and laneway
11.30am–12.30pm Panel discussion
WHERE: The Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett St Adelaide
COST: FREE – but registration is essential
About the speakers
LILLA BERRY
Lilla Berry is an award-winning producer, writer and director. She is a founding director of Dinosaur Disco Films. She has produced short documentaries for ABC iView and SBS/NITV. She is producing the next Film Lab: New Voices feature horror, The Debt, which will premiere at Adelaide Film Festival in Oct 2026, and has been selected to participate in the prestigious impACT Lab at the Cannes Film Market. Her debut short film as writer-director, The Secret, premiered at AFF 2025. She continues to develop projects across short and long formats across her current slate, including an option for Tim Winton’s Signs of Life.
TRAVIS AKBAR
Travis Akbar is a Wongutha man raised in South Australia, a writer/director/producer, and head of Wirra Distribution, Australia’s only 100% Aboriginal-owned and managed film distribution company. He has participated in initiatives including AFTRS SA Talent Camp and National Talent Camp, AACTA Regional Landscapes competition, Australians in Film’s Untapped Initiative, Broad Horizons (Netflix x Screen Producers Australia), and the SAFC Film Lab: New Voices. In 2024, he won Best Emerging First Nations Practitioner Award at the South Australian Screen Awards (SASA). Travis’ award‑winning shorts have been selected for SXSW Sydney, Adelaide Film Festival, and CinefestOz. His thriller‑horror False Narrative is currently preparing for its festival run, and he is in post‑production on his fourth narrative short film, the horror-thriller Vermin.
JOSH TREVORROW
Josh Trevorrow is a proud Ngarrindjeri man. His father was a survivor of the stolen generation. He has a profoundly personal calling to storytelling. His mandate is to support a thriving sector for South Australian First Nations filmmakers in front of and behind the camera. In 2021 Josh was named Screen Australia, Centralised and Documentary Australia Foundation Fellow for his documentary project, KONDOLI. He has since produced five short documentaries. Josh was also selected for the 2022-2023 Adelaide Film Festival and South Australian Film Corporation’s Film Lab: New Voices initiative, as a producer. Following this, he attended the Cannes Film Festival in 2024 with a delegation of filmmakers from South Australia with the Adelaide Film Festival including a recent trip to La Rochelle to attend Sunnyside of the Doc. Josh currently works as the First Nations Arts and Culture Manager for Country Arts SA where he manages a number of First Nations staff and various programming outcomes as well as producing the feature documentary around the Hindmarsh Island bridge affair.
Accessibility Information
This event is wheelchair accessible.
This event is wheelchair accessible. For more information about accessibility please visit The Mercury website. If you have any other access requirements, please let our team know in advance by emailing [email protected]
Code of Conduct
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SAFC is committed to treating everyone equally, regardless of their age, ability, gender diversity, sexuality, relationship and reproductive status, race, religion and culture. This means that we will ensure that our workplaces are a safe space for all people.
We have zero tolerance for discrimination or disrespectful behaviours, whether to or by members of the public, our employees, our volunteers, contractors and suppliers.