Standing ovation for Danielle Laidley doco

There was plenty of love in the room last night at the premiere screening of Danielle Laidley: Two Tribes at the Australian Centre of the Moving Image.

Invited guests gave a standing ovation following the 80 min documentary screening.

It wasn’t always the reception Dani Laidley has received in recent years after her public outing as transgender at the hands of Victoria Police.

But the JAM TV documentary, by directors Julie Kalceff and Sam Matthews was attended by family, friends, both AFL and LGBTQIA+ community -the ‘two tribes’ referred to in the doco title.

They included JAM TV’s Eddie McGuire, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, Hawthorn AFLW coach Bec Goddard, former teammates from the North Melbourne, transgender activist Grace Hyland, composer Charlie Chan, and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under star Karen From Finance.

Speaking to Q&A host David Campbell, Danielle Laidley said, “I feel so lucky to be here tonight with family and friends and basically my two tribes. I will never forget this moment that we sit here tonight. The AFL, JAM TV and my North Melbourne family, and the transgender community have been amazing.

“I could sit down to every single person who’s in this room who’s had an impact on my life in one way or the other and I’m so very grateful for that. And very grateful that people accept me for who I am now and be able to live this life.”

Revealed – Danielle Laidley: Two Tribes is created in conjunction with JAM TV (Stan Original Documentary Series Show Me The Money I & II, Making Their Mark), co-written and co-directed by Emmy® award-winning Julie Kalceff (First Day) and Sam Matthews (Unboxed), with principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with VicScreen in collaboration with Fremantle Documentaries, with Fremantle handling international distribution. Stan Executive Producers are Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie.

Tuesday September 19 on Stan.