Melanie Hogan (Issue Eight) has just won not one but TWO Inside Film Awards for her documentary, Kanyini.

When we interviewed Mel she was incredibly nervous about the film coming out and the reception it would get… but we like to think we knew all along. Not long after we spoke she got word that Kanyini would premiere at the 2006 Sydney Film Festival. Now Kanyini has gone on to win the Glenfiddich Independent Spirit Award as well at the Discovery Channel Best Documentary Award. In the film, Aboriginal man ‘Uncle’ Bob Randall relates his own personal journey and the wisdom he learnt from the old people living in the bush. It is also the story of why Indigenous people are now struggling in a modern world and what needs to be done for them to move forward. The DVD is available for purchase from the Kanyini website.

Melanie Hogan : Issue 8 : Introduction

Melanie’s journey began, as it does for so many of us, by doing what she believed was expected of her and the ‘right’ thing to do, despite it being contradictory to her true self. Brave enough to recognise that a career in banking wasn’t right for her she set off on a new course - film-making. In the process her ego took a heavy battering which in retrospect she believes was the best thing that could have happened to her. During this time she realised that she’d never had any authentic interaction with an Indigenous person in her own country. Melanie Hogan is wise beyond her years. In the conversation which follows you will hear her speak about her belief in intention - the reason behind one’s action, you will hear her speak about responsibility and caring for one another, you will hear her talk of ‘Kanyini’ the film she has just completed with Aboriginal elder, ‘Uncle’Bob Randall. It is a film which talks for itself, in which Uncle Bob speaks on behalf of his people. Far from ‘all talk’, Melanie is a woman who acts on her beliefs and ideals… Df

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