Chemical Media’s Our African Roots has won the MIPCOM Diversify TV Award for representation of race and ethnicity – non-scripted.
Originally commissioned by SBS as part of its Australia Uncovered strand of documentaries, Our African Roots is hosted by journalist and filmmaker Santilla Chingaipe and explores how Australians of African descent have helped shape the country’s history for more than 200 years.
Chingaipe produced the project with director Tony Jackson.
The MIPCOM Diversify TV Awards aim to bring attention to programs of diverse and inclusive background, spotlight authentic new and established voices and recognise positive programming. Prizes were presented in a ceremony overnight in Cannes.
Speaking to IF, Chingaipe says the award “means everything”, noting that the aim of the film was to share a part of Australia’s history that had largely gotten lost.
“To have international recognition for the stories of these ancestors in such a way just makes it all worthwhile. It makes the last five, six years that I’ve been working in the archives and researching worthwhile. That it’s being received in this way and people want to engage with these stories outside of Australia is very exciting,” she said.
Chingaipe is currently finalising her book from which the documentary spawned, Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Colonised Australia. It tells the untold stories of hundreds of convicts of African descent transported to the Australian penal colonies from 1788-1840, and will be published late 2023/early 2024 by Scribner Australia.
She is also in development on her debut feature Moongirl with Arenamedia, produced by Chloe Brugalé.
Our African Roots was one of three Australian projects nominated for the MIPCOM Diversify TV Awards this year. LadBible’s Unheard, produced for Amazon Prime Video, was also up for the representation of race and ethnicity – non-scripted prize, while First Day, produced by Epic Films and Kojo Studios for the ABC and Hulu, was nominated for representation of diversity in kids programming category – older children.
That three local projects were nominated for these awards says to Chingaipe that the Australian industry can no longer ignore stories that reflect the diversity of its population, as they are clearly travelling and finding an audience internationally. She also points to the success of Netflix’s Heartbreak High, though suggests it shouldn’t take a global streamer to prove to the industry that diversity on screen is what audiences are looking for.
Chingaipe is the founder of Behind The Screens, an annual program supported by VicScreen and Footscray Community Arts Centre that aims to increase representation of people from marginalised backgrounds in the industry. The initiative is expanding this year to bolster representation in critical below-the-line roles.
“Australia is increasingly multicultural. The most recent census shows that, by far, this is the most multicultural we’ve ever been in our history. So that’s not changing any time soon. Why isn’t a lot of the work that we’re still seeing on screen a reflection of that?”
“I think it’s time for the industry to wake up and go, ‘We can’t keep ignoring this’. We can’t just keep having diversity panels and talking about the same thing over and over again. We have to implement policies that are ensuring that people are coming up, people have access to opportunities and break down those barriers. We know that the barriers are there. We know that they exist. We just need to step up and do more because these stories aren’t going anywhere any time soon.”
The full list of winners:
Representation of Race and Ethnicity – Scripted
Pour toi Flora
- Submitting Company: Nish Media
- Original Broadcaster: Radio-Canada
- Original broadcasting date: May 26 2022
- Distributor: Attraction Distribution
- Production Company(ies): Nish Media
- Country(ies): Canada
Representation of Race and Ethnicity – Non-Scripted
Our African Roots
- Submitting Company: Chemical Media
- Original Broadcaster: SBS Australia
- Original broadcasting date: October 17 2021
- Distributor: Abacus Media Rights
- Production Company(ies): Chemical Media
- Country(ies): Australia
Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Scripted
Sort Of
- Submitting Company: Sphere Media
- Original Broadcaster: CBC/HBO Max
- Original broadcasting date: November 9 2021
- Distributor: Abacus Media Rights, Sphere Media Distribution
- Production Company(ies): Sphere Media Toronto (formerly Sienna Films)
- Country(ies): Canada
Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Non-Scripted
LA (A Queer History)
- Submitting Company: 4Mat Factory
- Original Broadcaster: PBS
- Original broadcasting date: June 23 2022
- Distributor: PBS, A+E
- Production Company(ies): L.A. Queer History Inc x 4Mat Factory
- Country(ies): Netherlands
Representation of Disability – Scripted
Exceptional
- Submitting Company: Armoza Formats
- Original Broadcaster: KAN 11
- Original broadcasting date: July 3 2022
- Distributor: Armoza Formats
- Production Company(ies): Eight Productions
- Country(ies): Israel
Representation of Disability – Non-Scripted
Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism
- Submitting Company: Keshet International
- Original Broadcaster: BBC One
- Original broadcasting date: April 5 2022
- Distributor: Keshet International
- Production Company(ies): Flicker Productions
- Country(ies): United Kingdom
Representation of Diversity in Kids Programming – Pre-school
Proud To Be Me
- Submitting Company: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Original Broadcaster: CBC
- Original broadcasting date: June 18 2022
- Distributor: CBC
- Production Company(ies): CBC
- Country(ies): Canada
Representation of Diversity in Kids Programming – Older Children
Jamie Johnson
- Submitting Company: Short Form Film Ltd
- Original Broadcaster: BBC
- Original broadcasting date: November 14 2021
- Distributor: BBC Studios
- Production Company(ies): Short Form Film Ltd
- Country(ies): United Kingdom
Premio MIP Cancun
Because Victoria
- Submitting Company: VIS (a division of Paramount)
- Original Broadcaster: Amazon Prime Video
- Original broadcasting date: August 20 2021
- Distributor: VIS
- Production Company(ies): VIS – Oficina Burman
- Country(ies): Argentina
Behind the Scenes Impact Award
FWD-DOC: Documentary Filmmakers With Disabilities