I’m a film director and producer working across documentary and animation. Documentary is my first love, animation came later. Through these I have worked across a spectrum, from the actual to the fantastical, and have come to realize that sometimes these places are closer than they may seem.
I both develop my own projects & collaborate with other filmmakers & producers on projects they have generated. In all cases story is central to my work. My production experience ranges from big budget theatrical release docs to award winning animated shorts and my work has been broadcast internationally, screened at festivals in Asia, Europe and North America, and exhibited in Australia’s National Portrait Gallery.
I tend to tell personal stories that speak to a larger political issue. The documentary Just Punishment provides a good example. It follows the fight to save a Van Nguyen, a young convicted drug trafficker, on death row in Singapore. The film explores the ripple out effect of Van’s personal story through his inner circle (family, friends, legal counsel) & beyond. It highlights the divided public opinion & diplomatic tensions Van’s story uncovered and asks the question – what good comes from executing this young man?
In 2010 I worked with the South Sudanese diaspora in Australia to make a film about a community run beauty pageant. At that time, South Sudanese communities across the world were gearing up to vote in a referendum for independence. The pageant organizers were an aspirational group of South Sudanese hipsters who were committed to the idea of a stable, functioning, prosperous and independent South Sudan. Independence came, and soon after South Sudan descended into another civil war. I began to wonder what happened to the big dreams and hopeful spirit I encountered when I first worked with this community. In response I am developing the feature documentary The Long Road Home which explores alternative futures for South Sudan. More broadly I am interested in futures thinking and how documentary can engage with futures to facilitate emergent possibilities.