Sydney Film Festival announces 12 documentary finalists for 2021

The finalists competing for the $10,000 Documentary Australia Foundation Award have a strong sense of social purpose.
Strong Female Lead

The 68th Sydney Film Festival (SFF) has announced 12 new Australian documentaries selected to contest the Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary.

They are, as a whole, a political bunch, reflecting passions around social justice, institutions that aren’t serving Australia as they should, and heroes working despite those limitations. There are also intimate portraits of musicians, filmmakers and artists that demonstrate an international perspective. The strong support of SBS is key in a number of the films, and established documentary producers continue to nurture newer talents. Some previous SFF winners are here, suggesting they’re persisting beyond early career success.

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Rochelle Siemienowicz is the ArtsHub Group's Education and Career Editor. She is a journalist for Screenhub and is a writer, film critic and cultural commentator with a PhD in Australian cinema. She was the co-host of Australia's longest-running film podcast 'Hell is for Hyphenates' and has written a memoir, Fallen, published by Affirm Press. Her second book, Double Happiness, a novel, will be published by Midnight Sun in 2024. Instagram: @Rochelle_Rochelle Twitter: @Milan2Pinsk