Danielle MacLean facts for kids

Danielle MacLean is an Australian filmmaker. She is well-known for writing television shows like Little J & Big Cuz, 8MMM Aboriginal Radio, and Redfern Now.

Her Background

Danielle MacLean comes from the Luritja and Warumungu peoples. These Indigenous groups live in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Her Filmmaking Journey

Danielle MacLean began her career at Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) Productions. She started as a production assistant. Later, she moved into writing and directing, learning from Erica Glynn. She had first wanted to be a stills photographer.

She lived in Central Australia and worked on a TV documentary series. This series was called Nganampa Anwernekenhe. This name means "ours" in the Pitjantjatjara and Arrernte languages. The show started in 1987 and had many episodes. It was filmed in remote communities and shown on Imparja Television.

In 1997, Screen Australia's Indigenous unit helped her. She wrote and directed a short drama film called My Colour Your Kind. This film was about an albino Aboriginal teenager. The teenager attended a boarding school in Alice Springs. The film was shown at many international film festivals. It was also nominated for several awards. Steven McGregor helped produce this film.

Danielle left CAAMA in 1999. She then became a freelance writer and director. This meant she worked on different projects for various companies.

In 2001, she wrote and directed a documentary. It was called For Who I am – Bonita Mabo. This film was about Bonita Mabo, a very important person in Australian history.

She also wrote and directed a drama film, Queen of Hearts, which came out in 2004.

In 2012, MacLean wrote an episode for the popular drama series, Redfern Now. In the same year, she wrote and produced a documentary film. It was called Croker Island Exodus. This film was shown at the Sydney Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival. It was also broadcast on ABC Television.

MacLean wrote and directed Blown Away, released in 2014. This hour-long documentary was about Cyclone Tracy. This cyclone caused a lot of damage to Darwin in 1974. The film showed how Indigenous people in Darwin reacted to the disaster. This had not been recorded before. The film featured many important people. These included Aunty Kathy Mills and Dr Ella Stack.

She wrote three episodes for the Indigenous Australian comedy series, 8MMM Aboriginal Radio. This show aired on ABC2 in 2014.

In 2020, she wrote episode 5 of the second series of Mystery Road.

Working with Others

Danielle MacLean often works with Steven McGregor. She has also collaborated with Warwick Thornton. Her cousin Beck Cole and Trisha Morton-Thomas are also people she has worked with. She directed one part of the film We Are Still Here. This film was the opening movie at the 2022 Sydney Film Festival. MacLean also wrote for the Australian TV drama mini-series, True Colours. This show was made for SBS Television and NITV and aired in 2022.

Awards and Recognition

Danielle MacLean has received several awards and nominations for her work:

• 1998–2000: My Colour Your Kind was nominated for an AFI Award. It was also nominated for an Australian Film Critics Association Award. It won a Gold Award at Flickerfest 99. It also won Best Cinematography at the 8th Festival of Pacific Arts.
• 2004: Queen of Hearts won an AFI Award for Non-Feature Screenplay. She won this as both writer and director.
• 2008: Double Trouble won an AWGIE Award for screenwriting.
• 2014: Blown Away won Best Documentary at the Capricornia Film Awards. These awards are part of the Darwin International Film Festival. She also won Best Director (Documentary) at the ADG Awards.