Celebrated by audiences at home and abroad, Indigenous artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was one of the most important and acclaimed voices to ever come out of Australia. Blind from birth, he found purpose and meaning through songs and music inspired by his community and country on Elcho Island in far North East Arnhem Land. Living a traditional Yolngu life, his breakthrough album ‘Gurrumul’ brought him to a crossroads as audiences and artists around the world began to embrace his music.
Screenwest has secured an industry coup with the appointment of highly awarded documentary film director Paul Damian Williams as its new documentary manager.
Director Paul Williams and producer Shannon Swan's portrait of the late blind Indigenous musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, 'Gurrumul', won Best Documentary Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), held in Brisbane last night.
Four Australian films - 'Ladies in Black', 'Gurrumul', 'Breath' and 'Mary Magdalene' - have received nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, to be held in Brisbane in November.
While Australian feature documentaries are consistently punching above their weight at home and internationally leading filmmakers say the sector is facing several challenges-
Australian box office takings last year totaled $1.245 billion, up 3.6 per cent on the previous year, as a record 758 titles flooded the market
Australian feature films and feature documentaries released in cinemas have a very good shot at beating the 2017 calendar year total of $49.4 million, judging by the results for the first five months.
As the Australian feature films and feature docs released in cinemas this year have surpassed the calendar 2017 total, exhibitors generally are happy with the diversity of product and the number of titles that have resonated with mainstream audiences.