Darlene Johnson

Darlene Johnson is one of Australia’s most promising and talented Indigenous filmmakers. She is from the Dunghutti tribe of the East coast of New South Wales. Johnson graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) at the University of Technology (Sydney) specialising in Indigenous and Post-Colonial Cinema.

Johnson’s first drama” Two-Bob Mermaid” was part of an Aboriginal anthology ”From Sand to Celluloid” which involved first-time Indigenous filmmakers. The film won the Australian Film Critics Circle Award for Best Australian Short Film (1996). It was nominated at the Venice Film Festival for the Baby Lion Award. It won the Best Dramatic Short Film at the 41st Asia-Pacific Film Festival and is now used as a standard teaching resource in primary and secondary schools Australia-wide.

In 2000 Johnson wrote and directed “Stolen Generations”- her first hour-long television documentary. The film was nominated for an International EMMY Award as well as for Best Documentary at the 2000 AFI awards. It screened at the 2000 Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York and was a finalist in the 2001 Hollywood Black Film Festival. It won the Grand Jury Journalist Award for Best Documentary at Film De Femmes International Women’s Film Festival in Paris and won the prestigious Golden Gate Award in the History category at the 2001 San Francisco International Film Festival. It also took out a special prize at the 2003 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival in China. It has been sold to television in 8 overseas territories.

In 2001 Darlene wrote and directed a half - hour documentary “Stranger in My Skin” as part of a television series “Every Day Brave” for Film Australia. It won the Tudawali Award for Best Documentary Series. She has also completed a documentary “Following the Rabbit Proof Fence” on the making of Phillip Noyce’s feature film “Rabbit Proof Fence”, which follows the process of how three young Aboriginal girls were plucked from their communities and cast in a Hollywood movie. The documentary was also screened extensively on Qantas international airlines.

She has also written and directed a documentary “Gulpilil- One Red Blood” about iconic Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil. The film has been very successful, reaching an estimated audience of one million on the ABC. It has also received widespread critical acclaim, and was nominated for a Logie Award, an Australian Film Critics Circle Award and an ATOM Award.

In 2006 Darlene completed a half hour supernatural/mythical drama “Crocodile Dreaming” starring David Gulpilil and Tom E Lewis. It was nominated for an AFI Award in the visual effects category, an IF Award for Best Short Film and a DEADLY Award. It was selected for competition at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2007, and Flickerfest in Sydney 2008. It was also a finalist in the Best Short Fiction category at the 2007 ATOM Awards. It won the Audience Choice Award at the WOW Film Festival in Sydney and took out Best Short Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival in New Mexico 2007.

In 2007, Darlene graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School with a Master of Arts (Honours) specialising in Screenwriting and Directing for Film and Television.

She completed a one-hour doco called “River of No Return” for the National Indigenous Documentary Fund in 2008 and is currently writing her first feature film “Obelia” to be produced by Phillip Noyce.

Filmography

	CROCODILE DREAMING » CROCODILE DREAMING is a modern day supernatural myth about two estranged brothers, played by iconic Indigenous actors DAVID  GULPILIL and TOM  E...
	STOLEN GENERATIONS » Between 1910 and 1970 in Australia, 1 in 3 children were removed from Aboriginal families and placed in institutions and foster homes...
	GULPILIL » David Gulpilil lives a Spartan and demanding life in tribal Arnhem land. The film shows David at home in Ramingining in Australia's Northern Territory and in his other life as a respected film actor...
	RIVER OF NO RETURN » From early childhood Frances Daingangan, a 45-year-old Yolngu woman, dreamed of being a movie star - a dream that came true when Rolf de Heer cast her in the film TEN CANOES...