Danielle MacLean is an Australian filmmaker. She is known for her writing on television series such as '' Little J & Big Cuz'', ''

8MMM Aboriginal Radio ''8MMM Aboriginal Radio'' (''8MMM''), pronounced "8 Triple M", is a 2015 Australian television comedy series. Synopsis The six-part series is set in a remote radio station whose Aboriginal crew air the day-to-day preoccupations of Alice Spring ...

'' and ''

Redfern Now ''Redfern Now'' is an Australian drama television series, that first aired on ABC1 in 2012. The program follows the lives of 6 Aboriginal Australian families living in the urban hub of Redfern, Sydney. The series provides insight into contempo ...

''.

Early life

MacLean is of the Luritja and

Warumungu The Warumungu (or Warramunga) are a group of Aboriginal Australians of the Northern Territory. Today, Warumungu are mainly concentrated in the region of Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Language Their language is Warumungu, belonging to th ...

peoples of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

of Australia.

Career

MacLean started work at

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is an organisation founded in 1980 to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia. It started with 8KIN-FM, the first Aboriginal radio station in the country. Based in A ...

(CAAMA) Productions as a production assistant, later moving on to writing and directing, working under

Erica Glynn Erica Glynn (born 1964) is an Indigenous Australian filmmaker, known for directing, producing and writing documentaries and other films. Early life, education and family Glynn was born in 1964. She is the daughter of photographer Freda Glynn, ...

. She originally wanted to be a stills photographer. She lived in Central Australia working on a TV documentary series called ''Nganampa Anwernekenhe'' which means "ours" in the

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are va ...

and

Arrernte language Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are ...

s The series started in 1987 and comprised 187 half-hour episodes. which was shot in the bush communities and broadcast on

Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is based in Alice Spring ...

. In 1997, she was supported by

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

's Indigenous unit to act as both writer and director of a short drama film, ''My Colour Your Kind'', about an

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

Aboriginal teenager attending a convent boarding school in Alice Springs. The film was selected for showing at several international

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

s, and nominated for several awards.

Steven McGregor Steven McGregor is an Australian filmmaker, known for his work on ''Redfern Now'', ''Black Comedy'', '' Sweet Country'', and numerous documentaries, including ''My Brother Vinnie''. Early life and education McGregor grew up near the leprosariu ...

was producer on the film. She left CAAMA in 1999, becoming a freelance writer and director. In 2001 she wrote and directed ''For Who I am – Bonita Mabo'', a documentary about Bonita Mabo. She wrote and directed ''Queen of Hearts'', a drama, released in 2004. In 2012 MacLean wrote an episode of the acclaimed drama series, ''

''. In the same year, she wrote and produced ''Croker Island Exodus'' a documentary film which screened

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

and the Melbourne International Film Festival, and was broadcast on ABC Television. MacLean wrote and directed ''Blown Away'', released in 2014, an hour-long documentary about

Cyclone Tracy Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from 24 to 26 December 1974. The small, developing easterly storm had been observed passing clear of the city i ...

which caused extensive damage to Darwin in 1974. The film shows previously unrecorded responses by Indigenous Darwinians to the disaster. The film features Aunty Kathy Mills, Dr Ella Stack, General Alan Stretton, Mayor Tiger Brennan, Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

, publisher and writer

Sophie Cunningham Sophie Cunningham is an Australian writer and editor based in Melbourne. She is the current Chair of the Board of the Australian Society of Authors, the national peak body representing Australian authors. Career Publisher Cunningham was pub ...

, and politician (later NT Human Rights Commissioner) Dawn Lawrie. She wrote three episodes of the

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

comedy series, ''

'', which aired on

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

in 2014. She wrote episode 5 of the second series of '' Mystery Road'', which went to air in 2020.

Collaborations

MacLean collaborates frequently with Steven McGregor, and has also worked with

Warwick Thornton Warwick Thornton (born 1970) is an Australian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. His debut feature film '' Samson and Delilah'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific ...

, her cousin

Beck Cole Beck Cole is an Australian filmmaker of the Warramungu and Luritja nations. She is known for her work on numerous TV series, including '' First Australians'', '' Grace Beside Me'', ''Black Comedy'' and '' Wentworth'', as well as documentaries ...

Trisha Morton-Thomas Trisha Morton-Thomas, also known as Patricia Morton-Thomas, is an Anmatyerr woman born in the Northern Territory of Australia. She is a writer, producer, director and actor who has worked in the Australian film industry since 1998 when she appe ...

and sound recordist David Tranter. She directed one of the segments of the anthology film '' We Are Still Here'', which premiered as the opening film of the 2022

.Sandy George
"Indigenous anthology feature ‘We Are Still Here’ to open Sydney Film Festival 2022"
'' Screen Daily'', 4 May 2022.

Awards and nominations

*1998–2000: ''My Colour Your Kind'' – Nominations 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 ...

(Best Screenplay in a Short Film, 1998); an Australian Film Critics Association Award; a Gold Award for

Flickerfest Flickerfest is an international short film festival held annually in January at Bondi Beach, Sydney. It is an Academy and BAFTA recognised short film festival for both international and Australian film makers. History The festival originated ...

99, 8th International Film Festival (1999); and Best Cinematography, 8th Festival of Pacific Arts (2000). *2004: ''Queen of Hearts'' – AFI Award for Non-Feature Screenplay (writer and director) *2008: '' Double Trouble'' –

AWGIE Award The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...

for

screenwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, de ...

*2014: ''Blown Away'' – Best Documentary, Capricornia Film Awards at

Darwin International Film Festival Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

; Best director (Documentary) at the ADG Awards.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MacLean, Danielle Living people People from the Northern Territory Indigenous Australian filmmakers Australian women film directors Australian film directors Year of birth missing (living people)