Rachel Perkins is a film

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and television director

Television director

A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

, film

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

 and television producer

Television producer

The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

 and a writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

. She is known for her films Bran Nue Dae

Bran Nue Dae (film)

Bran Nue Dae is a feature film adaptation of 1990 musical Bran Nue Dae by Jimmy Chi. It was theatrically released in Australia on 14 January 2010, and in the United States on 10 September 2010.-Plot:...

, Radiance

Radiance (film)

Radiance is a 1998 Australian independent film. It is the first feature film by Aboriginal director Rachel Perkins about three indigenous sisters who reunite for their mother's funeral...

 and One Night the Moon

One Night the Moon

One Night the Moon is a 2001 Australian musical non-feature film starring husband and wife team Paul Kelly, a singer-songwriter, and Kaarin Fairfax, a film and television actress, and their daughter Memphis Kelly. Directed by Rachel Perkins and written by Perkins with John Romeril, it was filmed on...

. Perkins is an Arrernte

Arrernte people

The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...

 woman from Central Australia

Central Australia

Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

, who was raised in Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

 by parents Eileen and Charles Perkins. Her father was an aboriginal activist.

Rachel Perkins was also curator for the 2009 Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival. This tenth anniversary of the festival held at the Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

 featured the premiere of Fire Talker

Fire Talker

Fire Talker is a 2009 documentary film by Australian filmmaker Ivan Sen. It is a documentary biopic about Australian Aboriginal political activist, footballer and administrator, Charlie Perkins. It premiered at the 10th Anniversary of the Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival held at the Sydney...

, a documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 about Charlie Perkins by Australian filmmaker Ivan Sen

Ivan Sen

Ivan Sen is an Australian filmmaker. Throughout the late 1990s Sen worked on numerous short films, before making his feature film debut with Beneath Clouds in 2002. He studied filmmaking at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, where he produced his first short films, working with the...

.

Filmography

• Blood Brothers (1993) - producer, director, writer
• Radiance
  Radiance (film)
  Radiance is a 1998 Australian independent film. It is the first feature film by Aboriginal director Rachel Perkins about three indigenous sisters who reunite for their mother's funeral...
  
   (1998) - director
• One Night the Moon
  One Night the Moon
  One Night the Moon is a 2001 Australian musical non-feature film starring husband and wife team Paul Kelly, a singer-songwriter, and Kaarin Fairfax, a film and television actress, and their daughter Memphis Kelly. Directed by Rachel Perkins and written by Perkins with John Romeril, it was filmed on...
  
   (2001) - director, writer
• Flat (2002) - producer
• Mimi (2002) - producer
• First Australians
  First Australians
  First Australians is an Australian historical documentary series produced over the course of six years and first aired in October 2008. The documentary is part of a greater project that further consists of a hard-cover book, a community outreach program and a substantial website featuring over 200...
  
   (2008) - producer, director, writer, narrator
• Bran Nue Dae
  Bran Nue Dae (film)
  Bran Nue Dae is a feature film adaptation of 1990 musical Bran Nue Dae by Jimmy Chi. It was theatrically released in Australia on 14 January 2010, and in the United States on 10 September 2010.-Plot:...
  
   (2010) - director, writer

Awards

Australian Film Institute

Australian Film Institute

The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...

• 1998 - AFI Award Best Achievement in Direction: Radiance
  Radiance (film)
  Radiance is a 1998 Australian independent film. It is the first feature film by Aboriginal director Rachel Perkins about three indigenous sisters who reunite for their mother's funeral...
  
   (1998) (nominated)
• 2002 - Byron Kennedy Award

Australian Writers' Guild

Australian Writers' Guild

The Australian Writers' Guild is the professional association for all performance writers, that is, writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962 and is recognised throughout the industry in Australia as being the voice of performance writers...

• 2001 - Awgie Award Television - Television Original: One Night the Moon
  One Night the Moon
  One Night the Moon is a 2001 Australian musical non-feature film starring husband and wife team Paul Kelly, a singer-songwriter, and Kaarin Fairfax, a film and television actress, and their daughter Memphis Kelly. Directed by Rachel Perkins and written by Perkins with John Romeril, it was filmed on...
  
   (2001)
• 2001 - Major Award: One Night the Moon (2001)

Canberra International Film Festival

Canberra International Film Festival

The Canberra International Film Festival began in 1996. All the films shown have been Canberra premieres, and many of them have also been Australian premieres.- History :...

• 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

Melbourne International Film Festival

The Melbourne International Film Festival is an acclaimed annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1951, making it one of the oldest in the World....

• 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)

Tudawali Film and Video Awards

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

External links

• About Blackfella Films Rachel Perkins' biography on the blackfella films website
• ABC - Indigenous Programs Unit Rachel Perkins bio
• Urban Cinefile Perkins, Rachel: Radiance
• Senses of Cinema One Night The Moon: Interview with Rachel Perkins
• The Canberra Times Unearthing our first voices
• Rachel Perkins IMBb
• First Australians (DVD)