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For emerging director Samuel Rodwell, the transition from commercial work to films didn’t happen overnight: it took more than three years, during which time he captured one of Australia’s worst natural disasters in living memory.

The bushfires that ripped through the country in the summer of 2019/20 are seen through the eyes of the first responders in Rodwell’s Inferno, a documentary short designed to go beyond the media blockade and provide a real-time snapshot from the frontlines.

It’s a journey that began almost two years prior in January 2018 when Rodwell tried to use his commercial directing experience to craft a promotional film for the Nsw Rural Fire Service.

After having his project approved with the Canobolas District branch of Nsw Rfs in the state’s Central West region, the then 21-year-old went on to film the Mount Canobolas bushfire in February 2018, a deployment he credits with shifting his ambitions for the project.

Rowan Woods. Aftrs has appointed new heads of directing, documentary, cinematography and visual effects.

Head of directing is Rowan Woods, head of documentary Rachel Landers, head of cinematography Kim Batterham and head of visual effects Susan Danta.

.I am thrilled to confirm these new members of our team across the Discipline areas. Rowan, Rachel, Kim and Susan each have impressive careers as filmmakers as well as in teaching and I know our students across the curriculum will benefit from their incredible expertise and experience,. said Aftrs CEO Neil Peplow.

Woods, an Aftrs graduate, has a list of directorial credits that include The Kettering Incident, Nowhere Boys 3, The Straits, Little Fish and The Boys

Landers has been a lecturer at Aftrs since 2009; most recently she has been the subject leader for Non Fiction, developing and running the BA (Screen) and teaching the Master of Screen Arts.. A filmmaker and historian, Landers...

The scene outside the Hilton after the bomb exploded.

Aftrs' head of documentary, Rachel Landers, is a documentary maker with a long list of credits that include The Lost Tribe, A Northern Town, The Snowman and The Inquisition.

The Inquisition, on the Wood Royal Commission, screened on the ABC in 2011, and led directly to her latest project, Who Bombed the Hilton? - this time a book rather than a film.

"My interest in the book came from doing The Inquisition, about endemic police corruption in Nsw in the mid-90's", Landers said..

"That commissioner had been involved in the aftermath of the Hilton bombing saga. He told me I should have a look at it. I thought it was really interesting. It's still unsolved, it's a big mystery, and it's 40 years ago".

The 1978 bombing outside the Sydney Hilton killed two garbage collectors and one police officer.

Landers initially aimed at making a documentary,...

That Sugar Film director Damon Gameau is set to headline Tropfest Roughcut for 2015.

This year, the engaging and intimate film industry event will be held as two separate evening events, on the October 21 and November 5 at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (Aftrs).

The event will also be free this year..

On October 21, Gameau will take part in a conversation about creativity and confidence with award-winning filmmaker and Head of Documentary at Aftrs, Rachel Landers..

The two will be exploring the idea of resilience and the importance of continuing to create in the face of challenges and criticism.

.The topic is particularly pertinent to Gameau, whose animated film Animal Beatbox won Tropfest 2011 and was the subject of lively debate..

For the director and actor, best known for his work in Balibo, The Tracker and Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, the experience was a formative one.

Gameau said receiving...

Remember that one year (2001) when the list-happy AFI (American Film Institute) decided to compete with the Globes and the Oscars in year end prizes? No, that didn't last long. But there's another AFI, The Australian Film Institute, that has been around for a long time and is in no such danger of being a one-off. This year, they're all about the amazing family crime drama Animal Kingdom which they awarded with a record breaking 18 nominations. Sure, the film is in danger of being way overhyped for people who are coming to it late (which is just about everyone given the sorry state of international distribution for dramas of virtually any kind) but for those who can slough off the "omg" raves, I guarantee you'll think it at least an insinuating and well executed crime drama.

AFI Favorites with multiple nominations

Its main competition for the coveted prizes, if you go by nomination counts,...

Animal Kingdom received 18 nominations for this year’s Australian Film Institute Awards, followed by Beneath Hill 60 (12), Bright Star (11), Tomorrow, When the War Began (8), The Tree, Bran Nue Dae (7 each) and The Boys Are Back (4)

The Best Film category will see Animal Kingdom competing against Beneath Hill 60, Bright Star, Bran Nue Dae, The Tree and Tomorrow, When the War Began.

Australia’s top rated drama productions – Packed to the Rafters and Underbellly: The Golden Mile – were both absent from the main Television categories (except for Underbelly‘s two acting nods).

The winners will be revealed on December 10 (Industry Awards) and 11 (main Awards Ceremony) in Melbourne.

This is the full list of nominees:

AFI Members’ Choice Award

Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts. Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach. Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac. Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt. The Boys Are Back. Greg Brenman, Tim White. Tomorrow When The War Began.

The AFI has announced its nominees for the non-feature categories including best documentary, animated short and fiction short.

These are the nominees:

Best Feature Length Documentary

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Contact . Martin Butler, Bentley Dean Inside The Firestorm. Lucy Maclaren, Alex West The Snowman. Rachel Landers, Dylan Blowen Strange Birds In Paradise – A West Papuan Story. Jamie Nicolai, John Cherry

Three of the four nominees are featured in this Screen Australia video:

Best Short Animation

The Lost Thing. Sophie Byrne, Andrew Ruhemann, Shaun Tan Zero. Christine Kezelos, Christopher Kezelos

Best Short Fiction Film

Deeper Than Yesterday. Benjamin Gilovitz, Sarah Cyngler, Anna Kojevnikov, Ariel Kleiman The Kiss. Sonya Humphrey, Ashlee Page The Love Song of Iskra Prufrock. Lyn Norfor, Lucy Gaffy Suburbia. Richard Halsted, Antonio Oreña-Barlin

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The short nominees will be available for all AFI members on AFI TV during the screenings period,...

Xavier Dolan’s French Canadian film Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats) has won the third Sydney Film Festival competition.

Australian teenage film Wasted on the Young (dir. Ben C. Lucas) and Russian drama Kak Ya Provyol Etim Letom (How I Ended This Summer – dir. Aleksei Popogrebsky) received honourable mentions from the jury, headed by producer Jan Chapman.

Chapman said Heartbeats had won because of its witty and insightful script and strikingly playful use of cinematic language.

“The jury found Heartbeats to be a boldly truthful and compassionate observation of one of the great crippling foibles of human nature – the hopeless crush,” she said. The filmmakers will receive the $60,000 prize.

The Australian documentary prize went to The Snowman (dir. Juliet Lamont, prod. Rachel Landers and Dylan Blowen).

The short film categories were won by The Kiss (Best Live Action Short, dir. Ashlee Page, prod. Sonya Humphrey), Deeper than Yesterday (Best Director for Ariel Kleiman,...