Grant Leigh Saunders

In 2006 I graduated from the Australian Film, TV and Radio School (AFTRS) with an MA (Honours) in Film and TV Documentary and since I have managed to win a number of awards for some of my film-making efforts. This includes but not limited to 'Best Achievement in Indigenous Filmmaking' at St Kilda Film Festival in 2007 for my debut student film B.L.A.C.K.; which also gained 'Audience Choice Award' at Riddu Riddu film and Music Festival Norway 2006; featuring at Harlem Curated Film festival, New York, 2006; European Union Award, Marseilles Documentary Film Festival, France, 2006; Pan African Film Festival 2007, world-wide; Yallingup Surf film Festival, Western Australia, 2010 and Imaginenative film Festival Canada, 2008 for my short film Black Beach; and the John Newfong Media Prize for Best Indigenous work in 2009 for my documentary, Freakshow to Big Top. From 2007-2011 I produced over 20 TV half hour documentaries, as well as music videos and mini doco interstitials for the Indigenous unit on ABC TV. In 2011 I won the' Out There and Deadly' emerging Indigenous filmmakers fund provided by Metro Screen, and was able to produce a TV Comedy Pilot/ online mini-series called Whiteblackatcha, which gained the attention of the ABC and I along with the Whiteblackatcha team was commissioned to produce a short comedy sketch called Black Santa for a Christmas special in 2013. Since 2011 I have been working as an independent filmmaker and my production house, Sonic Nomad is producing educational videos, TVC's, corporate videos and documentaries. In June 2018 my first independent feature length documentary Teach a Man to Fish was selected in competition and premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, Sydney Australia.