Erica Glynn (born 1964) is an

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 ...

filmmaker, known for directing, producing and writing

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

and other films.

Early life, education and family

Glynn was born in 1964. She is the daughter of photographer

Freda Glynn Alfreda "Freda" Glynn (born 24 August 1939), also known as Freda Thornton, is a Kaytetye photographer and media specialist. She is known as co-founder of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association Group of Companies, which incorporate ...

, sister of director

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 Sc ...

, and niece of educator

Rona Glynn Rona Ellen Glynn (24 September 1936 – 4 January 1965), also known briefly as Rona Schaber after marriage, was the first Indigenous Australian school teacher and nurse in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. In 1965 she became the first ...

. She is a drama directing graduate of the

Australian Film, Television and Radio School The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. History Establishe ...

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 Mountain ...

Career

Glynn started her working life at the

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) in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, which had been co-founded by her mother Freda. In 2001 she wrote and directed the documentary short ''Ngangkari'', about the traditional healers of the

Central Desert Region The Central Desert Region is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia, administered by the Central Desert Regional Council (formerly Central Desert Shire). The council's main towns are Ti-Tree, Yuendumu, and Lajamanu. Th ...

known as

ngangkari Ngangkari are the traditional healers of the Anangu, the Aboriginal peoples who live mostly in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY Lands) of South Australia and the Western Desert region, which includes parts of the Northern Territ ...

In 2003 she started working for the

Australian Film Commission The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a producti ...

, becoming head of the Indigenous Department of

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 ...

from 2010 until 2014. She was

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

of the ABC TV series ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Gods of Wheat Street ''The Gods of Wheat Street'' is an Australian television drama series that screened on ABC TV from 12 April 2014. The six-part series tells the stories of the Freeburn clan, an Australian Aboriginal family. Synopsis Odin Freeburn, head of the f ...

'', and ''

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 ...

''. Glynn did some of the writing for '' Little J & Big Cuz'', an animated children's series, and co-directed ''

Black Comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

'', both on ABC TV. In 2017 she wrote and directed ''In My Own Words'', a documentary about the community adult literacy campaign run by the Literacy for Life Foundation in

Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced 'bree-warren-ah'; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. The name Brewarrina is derived from 'burru waranha', a Weilwan name for a s ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The film was selected for the

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 ...

that year. Glynn wrote, directed and co-produced the feature-length documentary, ''She Who Must Be Loved'', about her mother Freda. It was co-produced by Erica's daughter Tanith Glynn-Maloney. The film had its world premiere at the 2018

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October ...

on 13 October 2018, which was attended by the family. It was also screened at the 2019

, at which Freda Glynn addressed the audience, and won Best Australian Documentary at the festival. Glynn is co-creator, writer and director of the 2022 drama series for

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

, '' True Colours''.

Recognition

In 2017 Glynn was the recipient of the

David and Joan Williams Documentary Fellowship The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) is an Australian conference for the promotion of documentary, factual and unscripted screen content, regarded as one of two major national conferences for filmmakers. History First esta ...

Awards

;''My Bed, Your Bed'' (1998) * Winner, Special Commendation, 1998

Cork International Film Festival The Cork International Film Festival, also known as the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the i ...

;''She Who Must Be Loved'' (2018) *Best Documentary (audience award), 2018 Adelaide Film Festival *Best Australian Documentary, 2019 Sydney Film Festival

Selected filmography

;Documentary shorts *''Redreaming the Dark'' (1998) *''My Bed, Your Bed'' (1998) *''Maude and Pearlie Too'' (1999) * ''Ngangkari'' (2001) * ''In My Own Words'' (2017) ;Documentary feature *''She Who Must Be Loved'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glynn, Erica 1964 births Living people Indigenous Australian filmmakers Australian women film directors Australian film directors Australian women television producers