{{Short description|Australian filmmaker}} {{use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{use Australian English|date=May 2021}} '''Maya Newell''' is an Australian filmmaker, known for the feature-length documentaries ''Gayby Baby'' (2015) and ''In My Blood It Runs'' (2019). She works at Closer Productions in Adelaide, South Australia.<ref name=info>{{cite web|website=Closer Productions|url=http://closerproductions.com.au/info|title=Info|access-date=10 May 2021|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510104614/http://closerproductions.com.au/info|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Newell had intended to study international relations or medicine, but at the age of 17 won a scholarship to attend Sydney Film School for a year.<ref name=hawker>{{cite web | title=Q&A: Maya Newell, documentary filmmaker, 32|first=Philippa |last=Hawker| series=Weekend Australian Magazine|date= 4 July 2020| website=The Australian | url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/qa-maya-newell-documentary-filmmaker-32/news-story/016363c10190c96fed54562ef2def314 | access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref>
== Career == Newell made several documentary short films before her feature-length films.<ref name=info/> While still a student at the film school, she made a documentary called ''Richard'' (2007), about a passionate toymaker with whom she made friends while filming. After he killed himself during the making of the film, she wrestled with the ethics of completing the film, but decided ultimately that it was a way of helping to invoke empathy.<ref name=hawker/>
''Gayby Baby'' observes the lives of four children whose parents are homosexual, examining the ways in which the sexual identity of their parents may have affected them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.starobserver.com.au/features/entertainment-features/entertainment-play/gaying-up-the-big-screen/137007|title="Gaying up" the big screen|work=Star Observer|date=24 May 2015|access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref> The impetus for the film was her own experience of growing up with two lesbian mothers, and she felt it was important to represent the child's perspective of being raised in such a family. During the making of the film, there was a public debate about marriage equality in Australia (which ultimately led to a successful plebiscite on the matter<ref>{{cite web | website=ABC News | title=SSM: Australia returns resounding Yes vote but debate over details has long way to go | date=14 November 2017 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-15/same-sex-marriage-australia-says-yes-to-ssm/9150344 | access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref>).<ref name=hawker/> The film was later shown on free-to-air national broadcaster SBS TV as well as Foxtel.<ref >{{cite web | last=Tan | first=Monica | title=Maya Newell on 2015 and Gayby Baby: 'We learned some things need to get ugly for change' | website=The Guardian | date=29 December 2015 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/dec/30/maya-newell-2015-gayby-baby-we-learned-some-things-need-to-get-ugly-for-change | access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref>
Newell and co-producer Charlotte Mars founded their own production company during the making of ''Gayby Baby'', called Marla House, self-described as "a production house that revels in telling stories that are transporting, nuanced and a little bit subversive".<ref>{{cite web | title=About | website=Gayby Baby| url=https://thegaybyproject.com/about/ | access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref>
''In My Blood It Runs'', directed by Newell and produced by her, Sophie Hyde, Rachel Nanninaaq Edwardson, and Larissa Behrendt, was made in collaboration with Arrernte and Garrwa people in the Northern Territory. It had its world premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto in April/May 2019. The film follows the story of 10-year-old Dujuan Hoosan, a healer and hunter, as his family tries to give him an Arrernte education alongside the western education system.<ref>{{cite web|website=if.com.au|url=https://www.if.com.au/in-my-blood-it-runs-to-make-world-premiere-at-hot-docs/|first=Jackie|last=Keast|title='In My Blood It Runs' to make world premiere at Hot Docs|date=20 March 2019|access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref> Dujuan gets into trouble and was almost imprisoned once, and the film highlights the Age of criminal responsibility in Australia, which is ({{as of|lc=yes|2021}}) 10 years old. As a twelve-year-old, the boy was the youngest person ever to make a speech to the UN Human Rights Council about youth incarceration.<ref name=push>{{cite web |website=ABC News |title=The push to raise Australia's minimum age of criminal responsibility |first1=Henry |last1=Zwartz |first2=Joseph |last2=Dunstan |date=26 July 2020 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-27/raise-the-age-of-child-criminal-responsibility-in-australia/12483178 |access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=In My Blood It Runs documentary exposes how education system is failing Aboriginal children |first=Keva |last=York |website=ABC News| publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=20 February 2020 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-21/in-my-blood-it-runs-documentary-by-maya-newell-review/11981484 |access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref>
''In My Blood It Runs'' premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival,<ref name=info/> where it was nominated in the "Best International Documentary" category in 2019. Other award nominations included AACTA Awards, Durban International Film Festival Best Documentary, Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, the Documentary Foundation Australia Award at the Sydney Film Festival and Best Documentary Feature at Warsaw International Film Festival.The film was screened on ABC TV on 5 July 5.<ref name=hawker/> In 2021, the film was made available for showing in schools in the UK.<ref>{{cite web | last=Venema | first=Vibeke | title=The 'smart and cheeky' Aboriginal boy teaching Australia a lesson | website=BBC News | date=7 May 2021 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-56544429|access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref>
In 2022, Newell debuted her long-awaited documentary short about transgender advocate Georgie Stone, titled ''The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone'', at Tribeca Film Festival.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dreamlifefilm.com/about |title=The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone - About|access-date=9 July 2022}}</ref>
== Awards and nominations == {| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" !Year !Ceremony !Category !Title !Work |- | rowspan="2" |2020 |Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards |Best Feature Documentary | rowspan="8" |''In My Blood It Runs'' |Nominee |- |Australian Directors Guild Awards |Best Direction in a Documentary Feature |Winner |- | rowspan="6" |2019 |Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival |Best International Documentary | rowspan="6" |Nominee |- |Sydney Film Festival |Documentary Australia Foundation Award |- |Durban International Film Festival | rowspan="2" |Best Documentary |- | rowspan="2" |Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards |- |Best Cinematography in a Documentary |- |Warsaw International Film Festival |Best Documentary Feature |- |2016 |The WIFTS Foundation International Visionary Awards |The Documentary Award | rowspan="2" |''Gayby Baby'' |Winner |- |2015 |Sydney Film Festival |Audience Award |Nominee |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite web | last=Cao | first=Claire | title=In My Blood It Runs: An Interview with Maya Newell | website=Melbourne International Film Festival | url=https://miff.com.au/blog/view/5279/in-my-blood-it-runs-an-interview-with-maya-newell }} *{{cite web | title=Doco of the month: In My Blood It Runs - PBA | website=Pro Bono Australia | date=15 May 2020 | url=https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2020/05/doco-of-the-month-in-my-blood-it-runs/ }} *{{cite web | title=Interview: Maya Newell, Director of 'In My Blood it Runs' | website=Reconciliation SA | date=27 February 2020 | url=https://reconciliationsa.org.au/news/interview-maya-newell-director-of-in-my-blood-it-runs/ }}
==External links== *{{imdb name|nm4181560/}} *{{cite web | title=About – In My Blood It Runs | website=In My Blood It Runs | date=22 October 2020 | url=https://inmyblooditruns.com/about/ }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Newell, Maya}} Category:Australian film producers Category:Film directors from Sydney Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Australian women film directors Category:Australian women film producers Category:Living people