Uncle Wes Marne AM is a Bigambul man and community elder who has lived in Mount Druitt for the past 45 years. He is a storyteller, poet and custodian of his grandfather’s Creation and Dreamtime stories.

Uncle Wes is a published author, and has toured his work at Sydney Festival (2016), Yirramboi First Nations Arts Festival (2017), Way Out West Children’s Festival at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (2017), and recently he published Through Old Eyes (2022), his first book of poetry for his 100th Birthday. In December 2022, he received an Honorary Fellowship from Western Sydney University for service as an educator and champion of Aboriginal culture; an advocate for vulnerable young people and a pillar of the greater western Sydney community.

Uncle Wes comes from a long line of storytellers and has been working with children, primary and high schools, universities, gaols, social housing and justice to share his love of culture and stories throughout all the community.

Image: Uncle Wes, Elders in Residence by Eliya Cohen, Mosca Media Australia.

Uncle Danny Eastwood is descended from the Ngemba group of Western New South Wales. His mother came from Brewarrina and he was born and grew up in the Eora area of the Gadigal Nation. For the past 43 years, he has been a proud member of the Darug area of Western Sydney.

As a painter and cartoonist, he has produced numerous works which tell the story of his people and Country, including his contributions to Koori Mail over the last 30 years and his public art which can be found all over Sydney.

In 1992, Uncle Danny won the NSW NAIDOC Award. He shared the National NAIDOC Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award, receiving 1st prize in the NSW Parliament Award and the NAIDOC Poster Award in 1993. Uncle Danny is responsible for building and making the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial to honour Aboriginal service people at the Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney.

Image: Uncle Danny, Elders in Residence by Eliya Cohen, Mosca Media Australia.

Uncle Greg Simms is a respected Aboriginal Community Elder of Mount Druitt and the greater western Sydney region, with ties to the Gundungurra (water dragon people) of the Blue Mountains and the Gadigal (whale people) of the Dharug nation.

Uncle Greg is an activist for reconciliation, a traditional woodcarver, a storyteller and an Aboriginal cultural educator. He always engages young people and Elders in his processes, championing intergenerational knowledge sharing and understanding. In December 2021, Uncle Greg received an Honorary Fellowship from Western Sydney University in recognition of his role as a leading educator of Aboriginal culture, and for his contribution to Western Sydney University.

Image: Uncle Greg, Elders in Residence by Eliya Cohen, Mosca Media Australia.

Uncle John Farrington was born in the town of Young, part of the Wiradjuri Nation, the people of the 3 rivers. He was taken to Sydney at the age of 9 along with his siblings and put into the custody of the NSW Government as a Ward of the State. He has lived and worked in Sydney since and connected with the people of the Dharug Nation as he struggled to find family, his roots, his identity and his connection to Country, which is now linked to the Gamilaraay People through his father.

Uncle John has been active in sharing his stories and experience through Dharug community meetings and gatherings. Through this space, he shares his remarkable life and his continual journey to find family and reconnect. He loves to share documents as well as photos that he has discovered on his quest for answers.

Uncle John loves to meet people, tell them his stories and share his Culture, while highlighting and encouraging the strength and survival spirit that may help others to overcome the past.

Image: Uncle John, Elders in Residence by Eliya Cohen, Mosca Media Australia.

SF3 aka the SmartFone Flick Fest is one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious smartphone film festivals. An international festival open to filmmakers of all ages from every corner of the world – all you need is a great idea and a phone or tablet.

SF3 provides a platform for budding, emerging and professional filmmakers to bring their ideas to life and have their films seen by a global audience, without the need for lots of fancy equipment or a big budget. The democratisation of filmmaking is here!

Alongside the festival, SF3 is also a world leader in the smartphone education space. They teach smartphone filmmaking workshops throughout the year both live and via Zoom. Their workshops cater to all ages – the youngest student to date is 5 years old and the oldest in their 70s. SF3 teaches for NIDA, the Actors Centre Australia, WIFT NSW, many local Australian councils and arts centres across both metro and regional Australia, in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Jamaica and across America, Europe and Asia.

Image: Supplied by SF3 Smartphone Film Fest

Angela Blake is the Co-Founder and Director of SF3 – SmartFone Flick Fest, now the biggest film festival in the world solely dedicated to smartphone filmmaking. Founded in 2015, they have had sell-out seasons at the Sydney Opera House, Event Cinemas George St, Palace Chauvel and the Actors Centre Australia Theatre.

Angela is also an Accessible Filmmaking Tutor for Bus Stop Films. With Bus Stop Films she has Directed and Co-Written three iPhone shorts – The Society Experiment, Career Fight and documentary, #CHILDBOSS – which are currently on the festival circuit.

Angela is also an accomplished director and writer in both film and theatre. Short films include: Upsold, Face the Day, The Circle Game & BE. Theatre includes: The Restaurant Diaries, Romeo and Juliet and Weeing on a Stick which won the Wildcards Award at Short+Sweet.

Angela teaches filmmaking and acting throughout Australia with SF3 and NIDA. She has also worked at The Wayside Chapel in Sydney for the past 10 years and has produced countless short films, documentaries and theatre productions. She is a passionate educator and especially loves teaching in the not for profit space.

Angela also works as a performer. Her most recent acting credits include From All Sides, A Place To Call Home Season 6, Love Child Season 2 & Top of the Lake: China Girl. She has also worked as a dancer, singer and acrobat in over 16 countries for companies including Princess Cruise Lines, MEI, Cartoon Network and in various circuses. She has just finished writing her first feature film and is working on her second. And her essay, Her Name, was published in the 2022 UTS Writers’ Anthology.

Image: Angela Blake, courtesy of the artist

Roxanne Prophet started in the film industry when she was 15 years old, volunteering on any film set that would take her. Before starting university she spent her gap year travelling around the UK teaching 13 – 19 year-olds how to make movies. At university, while majoring in producing and cinematography, she built a film society that made over 100 films together.

She spent the last 8 years managing and supporting some incredibly creative people on big blockbusters in the VFX world. And in her spare time she runs film challenges while taking on one of the biggest challenges of all, trying to break a Guinness world record in film.

Skye Andrew completed a Diploma of Fine Art at the National Art School, majoring in photography and painting, and has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout Australia. She has a passion for the outdoors and loves creating art experiments alongside her primary school aged son.

Image: Skye Andrew, courtesy of the artist