We acknowledge and respect the Traditional Owners of lands across Australia, their Elders, Ancestors, cultures and heritage, and recognise the continuing sovereignties of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nations.

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Owners of the land on which the ACTF is based and pay our respect to their Elders past and present.

We are honoured to have the opportunity to learn from the oldest cultural storytellers in the world and seek to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners to share their rich culture and perspectives with children in Australia and around the world via stories on screen.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or text.

First Day: Go Behind the Scenes in Our Q&A Webinar

Teachers and students, meet lead actor Evie Macdonald, producer Kirsty Stark and writer / director Julie Kalceff from First Day in this free ACMI x ACTF event.

On Friday 19 November at 12:00pm AEDT, Australian students will have the opportunity to hear from key cast and creatives behind the ground-breaking series, First Day. A recent winner in the 2021 International Emmy Kids Awards, First Day tells the story of Hannah, a transgender girl starting high school. Hannah’s story was introduced in the 2017 short film of the same name and is explored further in this four-part series.

This half-hour session provides a unique opportunity for students to engage with award-winning industry professionals on topics relevant to both English and Media Arts curriculum content. Our guests will discuss authentic storytelling on screen, with a focus on diverse representations, finding your audience, and character and story development. Participating students will learn how the series communicates meaning and viewpoints, gaining insight into the media production process.

Teachers, if you and/or your students are unfamiliar with the series, you can now stream all four episodes on ABC iview. Our free teaching toolkit is also a useful resource, suggesting learning tasks for Year 6 and 7 students to explore the themes in the series.

Webinar Details

Date: Friday 19 November

Time: 12:00pm – 12:30pm AEDT (9:00am AWST, 11:00am AEST, 11:30am ACDT)

Year levels: Year 6-10

For further details: education@actf.com.au