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Documentary makers have propped up the WA screen industry for years, and now Screenwest is hoping to grow the sector further with a new $500,000 funding initiative.
The State is already a leading producer of factual filmmaking in Australia, and WA’s peak film funding body is expanding its successful West Coast Visions program to include feature-length documentaries.
The new initiative specifically targets WA filmmaking teams, led by a first-time director, to produce a debut feature documentary.
Screenwest CEO Rikki Lea Bestall said the doco component of West Coast Visions will “enable documentary filmmakers to take the next step in their careers”.
“(It will) help them secure their first major feature credit, break through career roadblocks and elevate the sector on a national and global stage,” Ms Bestall said.
Recent examples of WA-made films that would have qualified for the funding include the poignant VAD doco Laura’s Choice, directed and produced by Cathy Henkel and Sam Lara, and Girl Like You, which was produced by Cody Greenwood.
Other docos that wouldn’t have qualified but still illustrate the strength of the sector in WA include the visceral Hotel Coolgardie, which inspired a dramatic adaptation starring Julia Garner, and the excellent music doco Under the Volcano.
Ms Bestall is confident the new initiative will be just as successful as the scripted feature film version of West Coast Visions, Australia’s richest funding grant of its kind, which has supported 12 WA-produced feature films since 2005.
A number of those projects have gone on to achieve global distribution, won acclaim from critics and served as launchpads for the filmmakers who made them.
Examples include Renee Webster’s 2021 comedy, How to Please a Woman, Ben Young’s Hounds of Love, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and Jub Clerc’s Sweet As, which won a prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Director Zak Hilditch premiered his film, These Final Hours, at Cannes, and, like Young, has gone on to have success in Hollywood.
“We are excited to extend West Coast Visions to a documentary format, a move that will help showcase the magnitude of talent we have in WA and provide documentary filmmakers extra support to take their storytelling to new heights,” Ms Bestall said.
“Documentary filmmakers leverage their first feature credits to gain industry recognition, secure broadcaster trust, and sustain long-term careers.”
The fund launches in July and closes early 2026, and is supported by Lotterywest.
Documentary makers have propped up the WA screen industry for years, and now Screenwest is hoping to grow the sector further with a new $500,000 funding initiative.
The State is already a leading producer of factual filmmaking in Australia, and WA’s peak film funding body is expanding its successful West Coast Visions program to include feature-length documentaries.
The new initiative specifically targets WA filmmaking teams, led by a first-time director, to produce a debut feature documentary.
Screenwest CEO Rikki Lea Bestall said the doco component of West Coast Visions will “enable documentary filmmakers to take the next step in their careers”.
“(It will) help them secure their first major feature credit, break through career roadblocks and elevate the sector on a national and global stage,” Ms Bestall said.
Recent examples of WA-made films that would have qualified for the funding include the poignant VAD doco Laura’s Choice, directed and produced by Cathy Henkel and Sam Lara, and Girl Like You, which was produced by Cody Greenwood.
Other docos that wouldn’t have qualified but still illustrate the strength of the sector in WA include the visceral Hotel Coolgardie, which inspired a dramatic adaptation starring Julia Garner, and the excellent music doco Under the Volcano.
Ms Bestall is confident the new initiative will be just as successful as the scripted feature film version of West Coast Visions, Australia’s richest funding grant of its kind, which has supported 12 WA-produced feature films since 2005.
A number of those projects have gone on to achieve global distribution, won acclaim from critics and served as launchpads for the filmmakers who made them.
Examples include Renee Webster’s 2021 comedy, How to Please a Woman, Ben Young’s Hounds of Love, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and Jub Clerc’s Sweet As, which won a prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Director Zak Hilditch premiered his film, These Final Hours, at Cannes, and, like Young, has gone on to have success in Hollywood.
“We are excited to extend West Coast Visions to a documentary format, a move that will help showcase the magnitude of talent we have in WA and provide documentary filmmakers extra support to take their storytelling to new heights,” Ms Bestall said.
“Documentary filmmakers leverage their first feature credits to gain industry recognition, secure broadcaster trust, and sustain long-term careers.”
The fund launches in July and closes early 2026, and is supported by Lotterywest.
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