Julia Overton: AIDC Stanley Hawes Award winner

The 2012 AIDC Stanley Hawes Award has been awarded to Julia Overton, one of the screen industry’s production stars.

Julia Overton, part of Screen Australia, has been given the prestigious 2012 AIDC Stanley Hawes Award in recognition of her talent and outstanding efforts in Australia’s screen industry.

The official Awards ceremony will be held at the opening of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) in South Australia.

The Stanley Hawes Award is a $5,000 monetary prize given to an organisation or individual within the documentary sector in Australia, in recognition of their work or contribution. The award was established in 1997 to honour the late Stanley Hawes - the first Producer-in-Chief of the Australian National Film Board and Commonwealth Film Unit. Hawes was known for his support for independent documentary filmmakers. Previous winners of the award were: Rachel Perkins (2011), Tom Zubrycki (2010), Bob Connolly (2009) and David Bradbury (2008).

AIDC was formed in 1987, previously a local biennial conference, now an internationally-listed conference held in Australia annually exclusively for those involved in the documentary industry. The goal of AIDC is to set a platform for professionals to gather and to foster support for the industry, as well as professional development of emerging talents.

Julia Overton, the recipient of the Stanley Hawes Award, is a long-time central figure in the documentary stream, with expertise in a variety of roles including producer of feature films (Cut, Fistful of Flies) along with hit documentary Black Man’s Houses and television dramas (Aftershocks, Tudawali), offering production assistance with many other acclaimed films and projects.

Other roles included employment at the Australian Film Commission, the Film Finance Corporation, and most recently, Screen Australia.

Now the Conference Director at INPUT Public Television Conference and a consultant at Jotz Productions, Julia Overton is also on the AIDC board and the International Advisory Panel for Hot Docs as well as being a member of the Australian Directors Guild. The Stanley Hawes Award was granted to Overton for her flexibility and aid towards filmmakers and her promotion of the documentary genre in the international industry.

Fellow member of AIDC, Co-Chair Mitzi Goldman, applauded Overton’s triumph; “Julia’s imprint on Australian documentary has been immeasurable and AIDC is absolutely delighted to honour her with this year’s Stanley Hawes Award.”