Press release:
The Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) and the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) are excited to announce the sixth winner of the esteemed INSITE AWARD, a biennial national competition for un-produced screenplays.
Tigress, written by Jane Hampson, was named the winner at the AFF on Sunday 13th October, by AWG President Jan Sardi, the internationally acclaimed and Academy Award nominated writer of Shine, The Notebook and Mao’s Last Dancer.
Tigress is based on the true story of Niromi de Soyza, who, as a naïve, upper-caste 16-year-old in 1980s Sri Lanka became one of the first female fighters with the notorious militant group the Tamil Tigers. It’s a coming-of-age story with strong anti-war themes; a story of love amidst the brutality of war; a story about a girl who is pushed to the darkest corners of her soul in order to survive.
Hampson, a journalist and writer for over 20 years, began screenwriting in 2009 when she was selected for the prestigious Eurista/Ignite Script development program in the Northern Territory. Her resulting script, Between the Lines, won the NT Literary Award for Screenwriting in 2010, and was selected for a Screen Territory mentorship with Nick Parsons (Currency Press) in 2011. A move to Melbourne to study screenwriting followed. She completed a course in Feature Film Project Development at Open Channel in Melbourne in 2012 and is now in the second year of her Associate Degree in Screenwriting at RMIT.
Hampson said, “Niromi’s story is both riveting and poetic – it's a huge sweep of story that’s inherently cinematic and as relevant today as 30 years ago. The INSITE award is amazing recognition for the script – a big thank you to the Guild and the Adelaide Film Festival for providing this opportunity”.
After receiving over 260 entries written by Australian writers from around the globe, the INSITE Award has confirmed its position as one of the most popular screenwriting competitions in Australia. The AWG would like to thank all the judges involved for their time, effort and continued support.
Sardi said, "This years INSITE delivered an exciting and diverse range of screenplays, stories and talent just waiting to be discovered".
The judges also offered special commendation to Holy Stone written by AWG member John Thompson, and praised the exceptional quality of the shortlist: The Original B written by Mark Bryan; Lighting Up written by Tracy Richardson; The Crooked Head written by Cathryn Strickland; and Faking It written by Scott Taylor.