SBS Indigenous TV Mentorship Award Winner Announced

8 May 2009

SBS is pleased to announce the winner of the first annual SBS Indigenous TV Mentorship Award. Eileen Nganayamea Torres was awarded the prize at Message Sticks at the Sydney Opera House last night.

Eileen is from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, from the nations of Gooniyandi/Jabirr Jabirr and Djugun. She runs a business with her sisters, an Indigenous independent production company called Wawili Pitjas.

She produced the award-winning documentary Jarlmadangah – Our Dream which won an award at the Cherokee International Film Festival.

Her SBS Indigenous TV Mentorship Award includes: travel to local and international festivals, conferences or markets, mentorship from experienced SBS television executives as well as legal advice from a firm specialising in entertainment law. In addition, she will be exposed to influential industry contacts.
 
SBS Managing Director, Shaun Brown, said the award was testament to SBS’s ongoing commitment to fostering Indigenous talent and dedication to telling more Indigenous stories on SBS.

“From our Indigenous current affairs program, Living Black, to the most significant documentary series ever produced on Indigenous Australia First Australians, SBS has time and again demonstrated its commitment to telling Indigenous stories. We would like to thank the judges: Darren Dale of Blackfella Films, Karla Grant, Executive Producer and Presenter of Living Black and Jane Roscoe, SBS Network Programmer,” Shaun Brown said.

“The judges considered all of the applications to be of a high quality and this has contributed to making this first year of the award very successful. SBS hopes to continue and expand on its ability to provide support, guidance and opportunities to emerging Indigenous talent.

“We would also like to express our gratitude to Terri Janke and Co. Entertainment and Screen West for their support of this award. This initiative is one of a range of outcomes championed by SBS’s Reconciliation Action Plan. The Plan was finalised last year and aims to foster relationships and build respect with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.”

More information on SBS’s Reconciliation Action Plan is available at www.sbs.com.au or www.reconciliation.org.au.