Total Control

Founded by writer/director/producer Rachel Perkins in 1992, Blackfella Films has expanded to a staff of seven including producers Darren Dale, Miranda Dear and Jacob Hickey. It is the company behind a vast array of acclaimed series and features across both drama and documentary – many of which have received support from Screen Australia’s Indigenous Department.

Highlights from Blackfella Films include:

First Australians for SBS: The 2008 landmark seven-part documentary series melded landscape, art, interviews and first-hand accounts with archival material to present the birth of contemporary Australia, from the perspective of its first people. It won a Logie Award, Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award, Australian Directors’ Guild Award, Australian Writers’ Guild Award, Deadly Award and NSW Premier’s Literary Award. It received funding from Screen Australia’s predecessor agencies the AFC and Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC).

Redfern Now for ABC TV: From 2012 to 2015 the celebrated television drama series ran for two seasons and a telemovie, and told the stories of contemporary Indigenous Australians living in Redfern. The series was entirely written, directed and produced by Indigenous practitioners (both emerging and established) and won multiple Logie and AACTA Awards. It received development and production support from the Indigenous Department.

In My Own Words: The Indigenous Department/NITV joint initiative Moments in History led to the creation of three documentaries including In My Own Words by writer/director Erica Glynn, about adult Aboriginal students and teachers discovering the transformative power of reading and writing for the first time. It was selected to screen at the Sydney Film Festival in 2018.​​

Total Control for ABC TV: Starring Deborah Mailman and Rachel Griffiths, the highly-anticipated upcoming six-part drama is a high-stakes story of ambition and betrayal played out in the nation’s capital. It received both TV drama development and production support from the Indigenous Department.

Blackfella Films was also awarded the 2019 Sydney UNESCO City of Film Award at the 66th Sydney Film Festival in June.

​In My Own Words​​DID YOU KNOW?
Blackfella Films were recipients of Enterprise Business funding in 2010. Find out more about the program on page 18.

​