DrDonna Mcrae

Donna McRae is a Melbourne-based filmmaker whose work has been screened across
several continents. Having trained and worked as an actor, visual artist/
researcher and filmmaker, she is uniquely placed to make films that are
thoughtfully researched, visually beautiful and politically charged.

Embracing drama, documentary and video installation, her work reflects a deep
interest in both genre and feminist theory, an unconventional but highly
potent combination. Donna has repeatedly proven herself to be undaunted by
'swimming against the tide', unafraid to work across colour and black & white,
long takes or multi-channel, she possesses a fluency that is exceptional. Her particular
interrogations of 19th century gender roles and post-punk rock'n'roll once
again offer a surprising and powerful potential.
After graduating from the VCA Film and TV School in Melbourne, Donna McRae
made several shorts which were all selected for local and international film
festivals. Her first micro-budget feature film, Johnny Ghost (2012), was
selected into numerous film festivals locally and internationally, winning 7
awards including Best Female Director at Berlin Independent Film Festival,
Best Feature at South Texas Underground Film Festival and two Special Jury
Prizes, including Hamilton Film Festival, Canada,. The film has North American
distribution with Continuum Pictures, and local distribution with Titan View.

Donna's 2nd micro-budget horror feature Lost Gully Road has won three
international awards for Best Feature, in Los Angeles, Peru and Texas, has
distribution with Umbrella Entertainment and has been sold to Channel 9.

Donna has an interest in video installation and has shown her work in art
galleries both here and overseas. She has also made several collaborative
works with visual artist Michael Vale, including music videos for Dave Graney
and Clare Moore.

She is also interested in documentary and has made a feature documentary about
a chimpanzee called COBBY: The Other Side of Cute, and a short 22 minute documentary called Our Ghostly Crew,
which follows artist Michael Vale making a painting that won the Doug Moran Painting Prize in 2021.
COBBY can be found on Foxtel, Binge and other various streaming channels, and Our Ghostly Crew is on Atom Education streaming.
COBBY: The Other Side of Cute had it's world premiere at the San Francisco
Documentary Festival in June, followed by Kansas International Film Festival
and screenings in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.

Donna is in development for various projects, including her next feature film NOW DAWN, and Kate Kelly, a 'ghost
western' about Ned Kelly's sister. Now Dawn has been supported by Screen Australia, and
the Kate Kelly project was selected for Frontieres Co-Production Market at
Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival in July 2016. She is in post production for her new feature film Meerestille. 

She has also collaborated with visual artist Michael Vale since 2002,
principally on the feature film project Le Chien qui Fume (currently in
development with Screen Australia & Film Victoria support). They have also
made several short films & videos together culminating in a film award from
Asolo Film Festival, Italy, for best film on art, and worked with installation
art (The Innocents Westspace, Melbourne 2011).

Donna Is also published in the fields of ghosts and film.

Donna is a Senior lecturer at Deakin University in the Film &TV Department.