Four Australian feature documentaries have been selected to take part in Antenna Documentary Film Festival’s 5th Rough Cut Lab. Supported by City of Sydney and Screen NSW, the two-day workshop is designed to assist filmmakers with creative and storytelling advice at the final stage of editing, as well as identify new pathways to reach global audiences. 

The selected projects are; 

Floodland by Jordan Giusti, a young family forged in times of flood find themselves caught adrift as climate refugees fleeing Australia’s most flooded postcode. 

Yurlu | Country by Yaara Bou Melhem, the film follows Banjima elder Maitland Parker whose final wish is to heal a landscape devastated by mining. The Country that once nourished him has made him terminally ill.  

Death of a Shaman by Dan Jackson, an indigenous Ecuadorian shaman and his reluctant grandson embark on a magical journey deep into the Amazon jungle.
Time and Tide by Vee Shi, a portrait of a multigenerational Chinese family grappling with ageing parents, past traumas, the weight of familial responsibilities, and the unfairness faced by those left behind.

The creative teams behind each of the selected films will be mentored by leading international industry figures including:

Penny Lane is an award-winning American documentary director and producer, celebrated for her distinctive vision and style. Her critically acclaimed films include Our Nixon (2013), Nuts! (2016), Hail Satan? (2019), and Listening to Kenny G (2021). Her most recent work, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, premiered at SXSW last year and won the festival’s Hope Special Award. Penny also co-founded Spinning Nancy, a documentary production company, and served as Executive Producer for HBO’s TIME BOMB Y2K.

Chris Boeckmann is a documentary writer, programmer, and story consultant. From 2009 to 2020, Chris worked as a Senior Programmer at the True/False Film Festival, one of the most respected film festivals on the circuit. He has since consulted and written for award-winning documentaries and currently serves as the Director of Development at Impact Partners, an equity funding body dedicated to supporting independent documentary storytelling. Since 2007, Impact Partners’ films have premiered at top film festivals and received the film industry’s highest honours and awards, including Academy Awards, Emmys, and Peabody Awards.

Simon Price is an Australian-based award-winning documentary and fiction film editor. Simon has brought his craft and story skills to acclaimed feature films and documentaries such as Ruin (2013) Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013) Free in Deed (2015) The Leunig Fragments (2019) Martha: A Picture Story (2019) and In My Blood It Runs (2019), Man On Earth (2022).

The Antenna Rough Cut Lab will be held on the 24th and 25th of Sep 2024.

Antenna Rough Cut Lab is provided free of charge, thanks to the support of Screen NSW and the City of Sydney

ENQUIRIES Luis Antonio Cervantes – program@antennafestival.org