Annette Shun Wah announces Ethiopiques (4409634620)

Annette Shun Wah (born 26 March 1958) has an extensive career in the Australian screen and performance industries, particularly in television, film and theatre. She is a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

, director, actress, and broadcaster, and since 2013, executive producer of the Contemporary Asian Australian Performance at

Carriageworks Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being used for filming, festivals, ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

Early life

A fourth-generation

Chinese Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ...

, Annette Shun Wah was born in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, Queensland. She has an interest in Chinese Australian history, and her family's narrative is included in the National Archives of Australia (NAA) collection, ''Family Journeys,'' and featured on their website.

Career

Early in her career, Shun Wah produced and presented for a number of television series on the ABC and SBS. These include '' Eat Carpet'', ''

The Movie Show ''The Movie Show'' is an Australian film review program which was broadcast on SBS TV. Its history is divided into three parts, until it finally wound up in 2008. History The original format, which ran from 30 October 1986 to 12 May 2004, ha ...

, Studio 22, Media Dimensions'', and ''The Big Picture''. As well as television, she has appeared in a range of films, including documentaries. Her role in Clara Law's 1996 film ''

Floating Life ''Floating Life'' is a 1996 Australian drama film directed by Clara Law about a Hong Kong family who move to Australia. The film was selected as the Australian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 69th Academy Awards, but was not accep ...

'' as a Chinese wife of a German national in Germany won her a nomination for an

AFI Award The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsi ...

for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. In addition, she was a writer and director for ''China Heart'', a mobile phone application and website that provided insight into the heritage of Sydney's Chinatown through a love/mystery narrative. Since 2013 Shun Wah has been Executive Producer with Asian Australian professional arts company, CAAP ( Contemporary Asian Australian Performance), which is resident at Carriageworks arts centre in Sydney. CAAP was formerly known as Performance 4A (which was created in 1997 along with Gallery 4A Note: This information is given in the audioclip, a few minutes in.), and is unique in generating opportunities for development and support for

Asian Australians Asian Australians refers to Australians of Asian ancestry, whether full or partial, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 census, the number of ancest ...

in the performing arts. CAAP was incorporated in 2004, and Shun Wah was a key member of its management committee until 2013, when she became the company's Executive Producer. Shun Wah is an active commentator on diversity issues in Australia's entertainment industry, and has been a keynote speaker at various academic and community conferences. In May 2020 Shun Wah was appointed director of the OzAsia festival in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, taking over from Joseph Mitchell. With the November 2020 festival being cancelled owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 January ...

, her first full festival will be in 2021.

Publications

Shun Wah's writing has appeared in several anthologies, including '' Growing up Asian in Australia'', ''Grandma Magic'', and ''Come away with me''. She has also published, with Greg Aitkin, a book on Chinese-Australian cuisine entitled ''Banquet''.

Awards and appointments

* Executive producer, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP) (2013–present) * Board member,

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...

(2018–present) * Artistic director, National Theatre of Parramatta (2015-2017) * Nominated for an

for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for ''Floating Life'' (1996)

References

External links

Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shun Wah, Annette 1958 births Living people People from Cairns Australian people of Chinese descent Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Australian children's television presenters Australian women television presenters Australian actresses of Chinese descent