Here Out West wins SDIN Award

ABC feature film Here Out West has won the Screen Diversity & Inclusion (SDIN) Award.

The Award recognises an Australian based project, producer and / or production company and / or screen organisation that has made a significant contribution through excellence or impact to diversity and inclusion either on or offscreen within the Australian screen industry.

The announcement was made by SDIN co-chairs Michelle Cheng and Kelrick Martin at the Screen Forever conference this week.

Here Out West was selected by an external panel from a shortlist which included AMC+ drama series Firebite and ABC factual series The School That Tried To End Racism.

SDIN Co-Chair, Michelle Cheng, said: “We were greatly encouraged to see the diversity of lived experience in crew and cast in this year’s SDIN nominees. Here Out West is a leader in authentic and meaningful collaboration with Australians from a wide range of backgrounds, and an incredible example for the industry.”

SDIN Co-Chair, Kelrick Martin, said: “I’m overwhelmed by the quality of this year’s SDIN Award submissions, which paint a very positive light for the future of diverse content in Australia. Here Out West is a standout recipient of this year’s award, and I have no doubt that the unique methodology the team developed to ensure authentic representation in a respectful, inclusive way will be used as a benchmark for many years to come.”

Here Out West selected as Opening Night film at the 2021 Sydney Film Festival, is an anthology film produced by Annabel Davis, Sheila Jayadev and Bree-Anne Sykes, directed by Lucy Gaffy, Ana Kokkinos, Leah Purcell, Fadia Abboud and Julie Kalceff, and written by Nisrine Amine, Matias Bolla, Arka Das, Bina Bhattacharya, Dee Dogan, Tien Tran, Vonne Patiag and Claire Cao.

SDIN members include all Australian broadcasters, state and national screen agencies, guilds and business associations as well as FreeTV and AFTRS. SDIN members commit to supporting greater inclusiveness around workforce, talent development, training and partnerships.

The SDIN Charter and a full list of members is available at www.sdin.com.au.