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Windcatcher wins MIPCOM Diversify Award

The heartwarming family film Windcatcher has been recognised for its representation of diversity and inclusion with a MIPCOM Diversify TV Award.

Windcatcher, made by Unless Pictures and Every Cloud Productions for Stan and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, won in the category Representation of Diversity in Kids Programming – Older Children.

At the ceremony in Cannes, host Femi Ake said the judges of the award noted Windcatcher’s ‘great casting, great writing and direction and all-round production values’.

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ACTF Executive Producer Bernadette O'Mahony collecting the MIPCOM Diversify Award from presenters Nicky Doll and Adam Pearson

The accolade caps an impressive run of success for Windcatcher, which has been selected for screening at several international film festivals in recent months and attracted a number of award wins and nominations.

The film has been shown at the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) in California and the London Australian Film Festival and has been selected to screen at the Filem’On International Film Festival for Young Audiences in Belgium, running from 23 October until 6 November. It will compete in the Filem’On Kids Awards (Best Children’s Feature Film), CIFEJ Award (Best of World Cinema), and TV Award categories. The film has also won a Children’s Cinema Award for Best Feature Film (For Audiences 12 Years and Under) in the Netherlands and will be screened at their festival in Amsterdam this December.

Windcatcher has also been honoured at the Asian Academy Creative Awards, named the national winner of the Best TV Movie/Anthology Episode/Single Drama and Best Children’s Programme. The grand final winner of the categories will be announced in Singapore in December.

Windcatcher tells the story of Percy Boy Collins, a young Aboriginal boy who bands together with his best friends to take the local school sports day title from a group of grade five bullies in their small country town. As Percy Boy trains with the help of his mates, he discovers his supernatural ability to see Lost Souls – a gift passed down from his grandfather. Percy Boy must overcome his fears, prove his resilience and become a force to be reckoned with.

The film premiered to Australian audiences on Stan in March. It is internationally distributed by the ACTF.

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From Unless Pictures and Every Cloud Productions, the Stan Original Film Windcatcher is produced by Meg O’Connell and Drew Grove. Executive produced by Bernadette O’Mahony for ACTF, and Cailah Scobie, Donna Chang, and Rachel Okine for Stan. Major production investment from Screen Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) in association with VicScreen, the Post Lounge, and Stan. Developed with the support of the Queensland Government through Screen Queensland. ACTF handles worldwide distribution.