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Darlene Johnson

Dunghutti nation
Known for water spirit magic
During the filming of Crocodile Dreaming, director Darlene Johnson spent a night lost in the croc-infested Arafura Swamp, and lived to tell the tale. But then her career began with the internationally acclaimed short film Two Bob Mermaid, so the water spirits appear to be onside. In fact Johnson returned to Arnhemland to complete her latest documentary River Of No Return - a tribute to the indigenous film star Frances Djulibing who was also in Crocodile Dreaming. As a teenager, Djulibing was entranced by Marilyn Monroe, and dreamed of becoming an actress, despite living in the remote Top End. Thirty years later Rolf de Heer cast her in Ten Canoes, and before she knew it she was on the red carpet in Cannes. River Of No Return will open the Message Sticks Film Festival running July 4-6 this year. It's the same spot Crocodile Dreaming, starring David Gulpilil and Tom E. Lewis, claimed last year.

Johnson credits the George Street Cinema for her love affair with film. "It was the place I went every day after school while my mother worked two jobs." But after collecting a degree in communications from UTS, the next big inspiration was photographer/filmmaker Tracey Moffatt. "I was just awestruck by Night Cries, and Nice Coloured Girls," she says of Moffatt's early short films. "I couldn't believe an indigenous woman had made these films, and something just clicked." The formidable and globally sought after Moffat has been a "tidda" (‘sister') ever since. It wasn't long before David Gulpilil convinced Johnson to make a doco about his life, resulting in One Red Blood.After working on Rabbit Proof Fence, Phil Noyce commissioned Johnson to write her first feature film Obelia - which is based around her mother's life in a travelling show in the 1950s.

"I am forever indebted to the artform," says Johnson with her trademark passion. "Making Two Bob Mermaid saved my life. It enabled me to express what was bottled up inside me, in an artistic way. And it showed me that I was part of a larger story."

Wayne Blair

Butchala nation
Known for earthy performances
Wayne Blair has said that "nothing beats Mum's curry beef and Aunty Dec's pineapple meringue tart." But the busiest man in showbiz doesn't get much chance to tuck in. Blair is just bumping into the Wharf 2 Theatre in Walsh Bay for a season of Romeo and Juliet which he has directed for the STC, when Time Out catches up with him. He's currently sitting on his first feature film script, Godfrey - "it's a love triangle, like What's Eating Gilbert Grape crossed with The Karate Kid," he says with a laugh- although when he'll find time to make it is anyone's guess.

Blair's ear for colloquial rhythms and knack for naturalism, was confirmed with the recent sell-out season of Brendan Cowell's Ruben Guthrie which Blair directed at Belvoir Street Downstairs. It followed hard on his acclaimed performance as Othello for the STC last year, with another directing project at Belvoir Downstairs (Jesus Hopped the "A" Train) in between. Only seven years ago Blair made his first film through the Lester Bostock Scheme at Metro Screen. It's been two years since he burst onto the stage as Colin Powell in the Company B Belvoir production of Stuff Happens.

Directing an episode of the groundbreaking SBS drama The Circuit is next. But success hasn't changed his down to earth style one bit. Blair grew up in Rockhampton, where his father served in the Army. "I was into sport,' he says of his childhood. Hearing Charlie Perkins speak in the 1980s changed that. Work as a tour guide in the local aboriginal tourist centre later inspired his award winning short film The Djarn Djarns. But even his first short drama, Black Talk won the Dendy Award for Best film in 2002, forging an ongoing collaboration with producer Kylie du Fresne, which he describes as "a close friendship based on trust." You can't be friends with everyone, he warns, but "laughter heals the bad stuff that has gone down."

Richard Frankland

Gunditjmarra nation
Known for his funny bones
Richard Frankland says he wants to do for Australian film "what Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor did in the 70s and 80s", and with his indigenous comedy To Hell and Back releasing soon, he just might do it. Frankland is a larger than life character who believes "a laugh will fix most things" but he has a very serious track record. His first short drama No Way To Forget won an AFI Award in 1996 and screened at Cannes, while Harry's War in 1999 confirmed his reputation as one of Australia's hottest new talents.

Warwick Thornton

Kaytej nation
Known for loving his Nana
Thornton made one of the most instantly endearing short films ever in 2008 with Nana. The film won a Crystal Bear in Berlin, and picked up numerous prizes around Australia, with its brisk, hilarious tale of a little girl's love for her grandmother. Born in Alice Springs, Thornton hit the screen scene in 1996 with the hard hitting short Payback and continues to attract attention with multi-award winning short Green Bush. He is currently at work on his first feature, Samson and Delilah

Rachel Perkins

Arrernte/Kalkadoon nation
Known for radiating optimism
Perkins showed her mettle early, producing a series of documentary films (the Blood Brothers series for SBS), and started Blackfella Films, before becoming only the third indigenous Australian to direct a feature film in 1998. Radiance, written by Louis Nowra, made Deborah Mailman a star, won an AFI Award and cemented Perkins' reputation. In 2001 she wrote and directed One Night The Moon (based on Michael Riley's 1997 film Black Tracker, about his grandfather,) starring Kelton Pell, Kaarin Fairfax, and Paul Kelly, with music also by Kev Carmody. Perkins is finishing the awesome task of documenting Australia's untold history from 1788-1993 in the SBS Television series First Australians. Co-director of the Message Sticks Film Festival, she is currently developing her next feature based on the musical Bran Nue Day.

Sally Riley

Wiradjuri nation
Known for getting down to business
It's rare in either creative or business circles to praise the work of bureaucrats. And when it comes to knocking Australian films, finger pointing starts and finishes with the government funding bodies. The exception that's proved the rule has been the Australian Film Commission's Indigenous Branch and its international award winning films. In the past ten years the unit has developed a model of development and production with an extraordinary strike rate, discovering and nurturing talents such as Darlene Johnson, Warwick Thornton, Wayne Blair, Catriona McKenzie and Beck Cole, whose short films and docos are of such high standard, cineastes at home and abroad are taking notice. "We've never had any trouble finding the stories," says Sally Riley, the unit's manager since 2000. "These filmmakers all have a burning desire to tell very personal stories. It's a case of bringing their vision to the screen by giving them the role models and the tools." While government funded film schools are accused of style over content (resulting in forgettable graduate films each year), the Indigenous Branch's philosophy has seen collections such as Sand To Celluloid, Shifting Sands, Dramatically Black, and Bit of Black Business successfully tour Australia.

The makers of these films haven't been rushed into production, a trap for so many emerging filmmakers. The Branch surrounds young filmmakers with strong teams, and its writers' workshops are world famous, attracting big names (such as Phil Noyce, Guillermo Arriaga, and Kate Woods), as advisers. "People want to know how I get such amazing filmmakers to help," says Riley, "but I just ask. I met Arriaga at Sundance and he was really keen."

Many of these filmmakers are now poised to deliver their first features, including Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah and Richard Frankland's To Hell And Back.  "We get a lot of emails from people tracking our directors internationally," she says. "We are now shifting our focus to include producers' initiatives as well as support for  writers and directors."

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