Solid Sisters Awarded for Screen Culture

The 2024 Solid Screen Awards have been given to 5 Indigenous women representing a variety of roles in different media platforms and communities from across Australia and Hawaii.  The latest additions to the Solid Sisterhood are Sandy Greenwood, Natasha Wanganeen and Steph Tisdell from Australia, along with Ciara Lacy and Pake Salmon from Hawaii.

The Solid Screen Awards honour Aboriginal Women and others who are contributing to the screen arts, Creatives who have contributed to their respective industries. Founded in 2014, the Solid Awards have been presented every year since by Yugambeh organiser Jenny Fraser, with a unique focus on Indigenous Women around the world. “The awards are gifted as a reminder of the work of Solid Sisters who are manifesting screen culture in community, making magic for us all.  Before the year is out the Solid Awards are a way to give Indigenous Women their flowers as a reminder and acknowledgement for their talents and cultural labours of love."

Sandy Greenwood is a Dunghutti, Gumbaynggirr and Bundjulung actress, writer and playwright. Her film credits as a performer include 'Killer Elite' and 'Little Black Dress'.  Since graduating with a First Class Honours degree in Theatre, she has worked predominantly as performer, producer and cultural educator striving to create change through activism, education and artistic expression.  Sandy also worked in Los Angeles for several years as script consultant and film producer on independent productions and as a First Nations cultural consultant for the US environmental non for profit "Global Mana" based in Silicon Valley and Hawaii.  In 2020, Sandy became the first Indigenous woman in history to litigate against New South Wales Forestry Corporation over the protection of Gumbaynggirr sacred sites, achieving the first stop work order in 25 years and a permanent halt to logging in the Nambucca State Forest. Sandy led two very successful protest campaigns alongside her Elders and allies to protect Nambucca State Forest and Newry State Forest from industrial logging between 2020-2024, and was the subject of her directorial debut short documentary Nguura Muruy.

Natasha Wanganeen is a proud Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, Kaurna and Noongar woman and is a fierce advocate for greater cultural diversity on screen. Natasha is known for her starring role in the 2002 feature film Rabbit-Proof Fence, when she was aged 15.  She has subsequently performed in numerous stage, film and television productions. Other TV acting credits include the anthology Redfern Now, The Secret River and Thou Shalt not Steal.  Her debut film as co-writer and co-producer is the 2022 short film, an Indigenous sci-fi drama entitled Bunker: The Last Fleet, about an alien invasion of Australia, in which she also takes the lead role. Natasha was an organiser of the Black Lives Matter rally in 2016 and 2020, and more recently has been the organiser of the Adelaide Rally Against the Referendum 2023, a grassroots protest against the Australian governments proposed Voice to Parliament.  Natasha has been writing a script for her own independent film, Battle of the Ancestors, set 60,000 years ago against a backdrop of mythology. 

Steph Tisdell is a Yidinji Actor, Writer and one of the brightest stars in comedy out of Australia, and having several viral sensations. Tisdell’s breakout screen role was in political drama Total Control. She’s since joined the TV cast of Bump, Love is in the Air, and also gives a standout performance in comedy series Class of ’07. Steph Tisdell is a contributing writer on many shows and her TV credits include Fisk, Bump and Rosehaven. She's a regular guest on mainstream television shows such as Hughesy We Have A Problem, Would I Lie To You?, Spicks and Specks and The Project. Before discovering her gift for comedy, Steph’s interest in politics and advocacy saw her enrolling in a Law degree and this formidable intelligence and sense of social justice now permeates her material. As a Ydinji woman Steph loves to share her experiences and what her culture means to her, and she hopes that her visibility will empower other Aboriginal artists to come forward and showcase why they’re the funniest race in the world.

Ciara Leina`ala Lacy is an Emmy nominated filmmaker whose Native Hawaiian identity drives the intimacy and authenticity in her work. Her films have shown at Sundance and Berlinale as well as on platforms including Netflix, PBS, ABC, Al Jazeera, and the Criterion Collection. She has also consulted for Ubisoft, Pixar, and Quibi. Notably, she is the inaugural Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellow and her work has been supported by Sundance, Tribeca, the Princess Grace Foundation, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Pacific Islanders in Communications, and Firelight Media. She continues to work on documentary content for broadcast and streaming while expanding her intimate style of filmmaking into the branded content, animation, and narrative spaces.  Ciara has written and directed "The Queen’s Flowers," a nonverbal, 11-minute animation following the story of Emma, a Native Hawaiian girl who lives next door to Queen Liliʻuokalani, Hawai‘i’s last reigning monarch, during her remaining years at Washington Place.

Pake Salmon is a Hawaiian Water Woman and runs Menehune Film Academy and Makaha Angels Productions which specializes in photography and HD video in and out of the water. With over 10 years experience in Hawaii's television and film industry, Pake has now pivoted into a full passion for telling stories and capturing images related to preserving Hawaiian culture, environmental awareness, marine life, and ocean sports and lifestyles. She has traveled the world through professional surfing, shooting photography and video. She has also shot celebrity portraits that were on the cover of E Magazine and has been assigned to do editorials as well by a few environmental magazines. Pake Salmon is the Director of Communications for the community group Ka Wai Ola O Waianae (The Living Waters of Waianae). Their mission is to reduce illegal dumping and non point source pollution along the Waianae Coastline. Pake was also invited to give a speech at the White House regarding the health of Native Hawaiians and clean air. Pake Salmon directed the inaugural Menehune Indigenous Film Festival in 2024.

The Solid Awards began in 2014 at the inaugural Solid Screen Festival held by cyberTribe at Innot Hot Springs, a remote gathering held On Country in Far North Queensland.  The 2024 Solid Screen Awards were mainly presented in person while travelling, including attending events for presentation in person in Hawaii such as a Filmmaking Talk-Story organised by Hawaii women in filmmaking, along with a Womens Retreat held in Waianae run by Menehune Film Academy.  In Australia Sandy Greenwoods Solid Land Defender Award was announced at the 2024 Solid Screening which was held in partnership with Lismore Womens Festival and included an exclusive preview of her debut film "Nguura Muruy".  Sandy directed the documentary and tells a powerful front line forest protest story about Gumbaynggirr custodians and local allies working together to protect Country from the imminent threat of logging on rare Gondwana Rainforest, a historic alliance inspiring others to action.

cyberTribe is marking a very historic 25 years of screenings, exhibitions and events curated and mostly self-funded by independent artist Jenny Fraser, "We have been looking back at cyberTribes contribution to Digital Art History, and the Solid Screen Awards is also a way of archiving and raising awareness of Indigenous Knowledges and the important contributions of the storytelling matriarchy” she said.  

2024 SOLID SCREEN AWARD WINNERS:

Sandy Greenwood (New South Wales) : Solid Screen Land Defender. 

Natasha Wanganeen (South Australia) : Solid Screen Performer. 

Steph Tisdell (Australia) : Solid Screen Performer. 

Ciara Lacy (Hawaii) : Solid Screen Leadership.  

Pake Salmon (Hawaii) : Solid Screen Storyteller.

news article featured in FilmInk Solid Sisters awarded for Screen Culture - FilmInk