Screen NSW and SXSW have partnered on a program to boost the career of a successful Indigenous screen practitioner.
The First Nations Screen Fellowship returns in 2025, with 12 months of funding support and strategic professional development on offer, curated for mid-career to established key creatives.
The Screen NSW fellowship offers $25,000 in financial support, a mentor program and includes support for early project development, support to pursue industry guild membership and travel to attend the world-renowned 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas.
In 2023 the US festival staged its first iteration in Sydney.
The travel to Texas, with accompanying scheduling assistance, is delivered in partnership SXSW Sydney.
Screen NSW head and Bundjalung woman Kyas Hepworth said the state government arts arm is dedicated to elevating careers of practitioners from priority areas, including First Nations.
"Through this Fellowship, we will continue to promote the depth of First Nations creative talent we have in our state and make a lasting impact on the screen industry through increased opportunities, connections and support," Ms Hepworth said.
"In the past, Screen NSW has championed trailblazing First Nation's practitioners, presenting the Sydney UNESCO City of Film Award to filmmakers Warwick Thornton, Leah Purcell and the team at leading production company Blackfella Films.
"We have also worked to generate opportunities for First Nations creatives in the screen industry and foster inclusion, including launching the Screen NSW Gathering Ground initiative, a targeted industry development and network building program designed to support emerging First Nations storytellers working in screen and digital games in NSW, and supporting programs including the GARUWA First Nations Impact Lab and SHE DIRECTS."
Ms Hepworth added the First Nations Fellowship provides a "dynamic range of support" and opportunity to strengthen their connections in the industry.
SXSW Sydney Head of Games & Screen Luke Lancaster said the festival was proud to be a partner in the fellowship.
"It has never been more timely or vital to platform First Nations voices and emerging creatives, and the SXSW Sydney team is honoured to play a role in helping them find a stage both at home and internationally," Mr Lancaster said.
2025 is the second round of the program.
Screenwriter and director Jon Bell, best known for horror short-turned-feature length The Moogai, was the inaugural fellowship recipient announced in 2023.
It was an opportunity "which will enable me to travel abroad from my regional town to secure international representation and take my slate of projects to key players in the US and UK", Mr Bell said after receiving the fellowship.
Applications for the First Nations Screen Fellowship are open via Screen NSW's website until Friday September 5.