Rachel Perkins

Rachel Perkins
Perkins at the 2012 AACTA Awards in Sydney
Born 1970 (age 53–54)
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Occupation(s) Producer, director, writer
Years active 1998–present
Spouse Richard McGrath (divorced)
Children 1
Parent
Relatives Hetty Perkins (grandmother)
Hetti Perkins (sister)
Madeleine Madden (niece)

Rachel Perkins (born 1970) is an Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She directed the films Radiance (1998), One Night the Moon (2001), Bran Nue Dae (2010), and Jasper Jones (2017). Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman from Central Australia, who was raised in Canberra by Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins and his wife Eileen.

Early life and education

Perkins was born in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory in 1970. She is the daughter of Charlie Perkins, granddaughter of Hetty Perkins, and has Arrernte, Kalkadoon, Irish, and German ancestry. Her siblings are Adam and Hetti Perkins, an art curator, and her niece is actress Madeleine Madden. She and her sister attended Melrose High School.

At the age of 18, Perkins moved to Alice Springs and entered into a traineeship at the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association.

Career

In 1992, Perkins founded Blackfella Films, a documentary and narrative production company creating distinctive Australian content for television, live theatre, and online platforms, with a particular focus on Indigenous Australian stories. Its productions have included multi-award winning seven-part documentary series First Australians, television film Mabo, and TV series Redfern Now.

She served as Commissioner with the Australian Film Commission from 2004 to 2008, and since 2009 has been on the board of Screen Australia.

She was also curator for the 2009 Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival. This tenth anniversary of the festival held at the Sydney Opera House featured the premiere of Fire Talker, a documentary film about her father Charlie Perkins by Australian filmmaker Ivan Sen.

Since 2015, Perkins has been the president of the AIATSIS Foundation, which is part of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

She has continued to make award-winning films and TV series (see below).

In 2019, she was invited to give the ABC's annual Boyer Lecture, which she titled The End of Silence, and broadcast on ABC RN in November and available as a podcast.

Personal life

Perkins has a son with her ex-husband, filmmaker Richard McGrath.

Selected filmography

Awards

Australian Film Institute

  • 1998 – AFI Award Best Achievement in Direction: Radiance (1998) (nominated)
  • 2002 – Byron Kennedy Award

Australian Writers' Guild

  • 2001 – Awgie Award Television – Television Original: One Night the Moon (2001)
  • 2001 – Major Award: One Night the Moon (2001)

Canberra International Film Festival

  • 1998 – Audience Award: Radiance (1998)

Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards

  • 2002 – Special Achievement Award: One Night the Moon (2001)

IF Awards

  • 2001 – IF Award Best Direction: One Night the Moon (2001) (nominated)

Melbourne International Film Festival

  • 1998 – Most Popular Feature Film: Radiance (1998)

New York International Independent Film & Video Festival

  • 2001 – Genre Award Best Feature Film – Musical: One Night the Moon (2001)

AACTA Awards

  • 2019 – Best Television Drama

Australian Directors' Guild Awards

  • 2019 – Best director in a television drama series, for Mystery Road, Series 1

Tudawali Film and Video Awards

  • 1994 – The Tudawali Award: Blood Brothers (1993)
  • 2000 – Best direction: Radiance (1998)

New South Wales Premier's History Awards