First Nations Screen Fellowship 2025

The First Nations Screen Fellowship provides mid-career to established First Nations screen practitioners a dynamic range of funding and support across a 12-month period.

The objectives of the First Nations Screen Fellowship are to: 

• Support professional development for mid-career and established First Nations key creatives 

• Assist early-stage project development from local First Nations screen talent 

• Help NSW-based First Nations screen practitioners connect with national and global screen industries and reinvest back into the NSW content landscape 

• Build industry connections to strengthen the NSW First Nations screen community 

• Increase industry participation of screen practitioners from NSW Government key priority areas 

• Raise the national and global profile of NSW-based First Nations talent 

• Increase accessibility to opportunities that foster the global advancement of the NSW screen industry and First Nations practitioners 

• Facilitate mentorship opportunities between First Nations practitioners and screen industry leaders. 

To be eligible for the First Nations Screen Fellowship, applicants must: 

• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander* 

• Be over 18 years of age 

• Be an NSW resident (i.e., lived in NSW for at least 6 months immediately before the date of application)  

• Be an Australian citizen 

• Be a mid-career or established key creative with demonstrable experience in producing or creating screen content 

• Have a body of key creative credits: writer, director, producer 

• Be available to accept the First Nations Screen Fellowship at SXSW Sydney Bush Shorts opening night on 16 October 2025 

• Be available to attend the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival from March 12-18 in Austin, Texas (USA) 

• Commit to regular meetings with an industry mentor throughout the Fellowship 

• Commit to being a guest speaker at a Screen NSW Gathering Ground session in 2026 (date to be confirmed in consultation with successful Fellow) 

• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) 

• Adhere to general eligibility requirements under the Screen NSW Terms of Trade. 

*An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which they live.