Films & Events Program Strands First Nations Award

First Nations Award

Program Strand
Awards

The First Nations Award is proudly supported by
Truant Pictures with a $35,000 cash prize – the
largest in the world for Indigenous filmmaking.

The First Nations Program showcases fearless Indigenous storytellers from Australia and around the world reshaping cinema on their own terms.

From urgent political documentaries to animated ancestral lore, arctic epics, horror steeped in trauma, musical moments and vibrant rom-coms, these filmmakers defy expectation, break form, and lead global cinematic innovation grounded in sovereignty, culture and lived experience.

Laurrie Mansfield, First Nations Program Adviser 

Documentary
Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]
This piercing hybrid doc traces Anishinaabe repatriation efforts for their Ancestors held in museums, confronts colonial legacies, and honours spiritual continuity. Sundance 2026.
Árru
In this powerful, song-filled drama, a Sámi reindeer herder confronts a mining project threatening her ancestral lands and way of life. Berlinale 2026.
At the Place of Ghosts
Bretten Hannam’s supernatural thriller follows Mi’kmaw siblings into a dark primordial forest. To heal their past, they must unite to battle a malevolent spirit. Toronto 2025.
Short
Belly
Fresh from a breakup, Maya arrives at a house party masking pain with humour, until an unexpected encounter forces her to confront insecurity, desire, and self-acceptance.
Documentary
Ceremony
This hybrid film flows through Nuxalk lands, lives and rivers where the ooligan fish no longer swim – tracing memory, ceremony, and the ripples of colonialism. Audience winner, SXSW.
Short
G.O.A.T
Lilah falls hard for her new coworker but isn’t sure she’s queer, sparking a chaotic, heartfelt race to find out before she misses her chance to ask her to the NAIDOC Ball.
Short
A Grief Encounter
A dark romantic comedy starring Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair, where a taxidermist’s flirtation with a customer spirals into a macabre reckoning with grief, desire, and loss.
Short
I Dare (Love) You
David is forced to confront long-buried feelings for his housemate in a tender story about love, jealousy, and the risk of saying too much.
Short
Kurī
After her father’s death, a young woman returns to Te Urewera, confronting grief and memory in a poetic, gothic meditation on home and belonging.
Short
Maŋutji (Catching Eyes)
Set in the Aboriginal community of Yirrkala in Arnhem Land, this love story explores how two teens navigate their mutual feelings while maintaining cultural boundaries and kinship.
Nika & Madison
After an act of self defence turns their lives upside down, two Indigenous women go on the run in Eva Thomas’s gripping film – a story of sisterhood, survival and resistance.
Documentary
Powwow People
Sky Hopinka’s immersive film drops us into a contemporary powwow, where dancers, drummers and voices gather in a celebration of sovereignty, presence and living culture.
Short
Socks
In small-town New Zealand, a young Māori boy forms an unexpected bond with a Mormon missionary, tracing a delicate line between innocence, longing, and the search for connection.
Wrong Husband
Set against an Arctic backdrop in 2000 BCE, two lovers defy an evil shaman’s curse to restore balance to the ancient landscape. Winner Best Canadian Film, Toronto 2025.
Aboriginal FlagTorres Strait Flag

Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

Don’t miss a thing!

Whether you’re in Sydney or one of our rural locations, sign up to our newsletters for all the latest news and offers.

SFF
About
Support
General Enquiries
Ticketing Enquiries
Office Hours

MONDAY – FRIDAY: 9AM – 5PM AEDT

Discover
Follow
In Partnership With:
Website by ED.

Don't miss a thing!

Whether you're in Sydney or one of our rural locations, sign up to our newsletters for all the latest news and offers.