by Anthony Frajman

AACTA has launched a new project, Unsung Stories, aimed at giving Chinese-Australians an opportunity to share a story from their life on screen. It is the first initiative that the screen body has introduced for the Chinese-Australian community.

The initiative, presented in partnership with the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR), is open to storytellers of all ages and experiences with Chinese ancestry.

Participants are invited to submit a story recorded directly to camera, using a smart phone, laptop or tablet, which speaks to “the truth of their experience in Australia”.

Entries must be under 10 minutes and can include family members if they are connected to the story.

In the last few years, many in the 1.3 million Chinese-Australian community have experienced unprecedented discrimination, stemming in large part from abuse related to Covid.

The initiative is aimed at addressing this issue head on, tackling the prejudice that so many in the community have come across since the beginning of Covid.

“Share a story, whether it is a heart-warming family story or a powerful snapshot of reality, which is an honest, authentic account of their life – or a moment from it,” said Sam Buckland, AACTA Director of Programming and International Engagement.

“We’re looking for stories that increase connection and empathy between us all and remind us of what we have in common,” Buckland told FilmInk.

The stories will be chosen by an esteemed panel of Australian filmmakers and trailblazers. Cook & TV presenter Adam Liaw will serve as a committee member for the first edition of the initiative.

Selected participants will be flown to Sydney for the 2023 Unsung Stories Gala event, where their entries will be screened in front of a live audience and live streamed around Australia.

Following this screening, a collection of the stories will be housed in the AACTA archives for future generations to view.

Unsung Stories is the latest expansion of AACTA’s growing international program. It comes on top of its successful Asia International Engagement program, which was launched in Shanghai in 2017 to foster ties between the Australian and Asian screen industries, and the AACTA Award for Best Asian Film, which is determined annually by a jury of leading screen practitioners.

AACTA also organises the Asia-Australia Film Forum, which is held in Sydney each year in conjunction with the AACTA awards.

In 2020, the Academy also spearheaded the launch of Access Australia, a streaming platform created exclusively for the Chinese market to showcase new and established Australian filmmakers – the world’s first streaming platform curated by a screen entertainment academy for an international market.

Entries for the Unsung Stories initiative close on January 22, 2023 (Chinese New Year).

More details here.

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