Joy Burch has announced the $80,000 first round of ACT Screen Arts Fund recipients:

“There are nine screen-based artists in this first round of $80,000 funding and I am delighted that a broad range of projects have been selected,” Ms Burch said.

James Batchelor, a talented young dancer and film maker, has been supported to make Ersatz – an interdisciplinary film project leading towards a multi-channel installation with live performance in the Centenary of Canberra project You Are Here festival 2013.

Other projects include a documentary about searching for the elusive night parrot by Robert Nugent, a short film about a young man who escapes from a cult by Jimmy Ennett and script development for a television series by Matt Anderson.

“The Fund is managed by ScreenACT and provides opportunities for the ACT community to access funding for film and screen projects.

The winners are:

– Robert Nugent

– Rebecca Filipczyk

– Deborah Kingsland

– Bruce Davie

– James Batchelor

– Matt Anderson

– Jimmy Ennett

– Andrew Einspruch and Billie Dean

– BY GEORGE STUDIOS