Steven McGregor and David Tranter have been announced as winners of the 2019 Kate Challis RAKA Award for their script Sweet Country, a sweeping outback Western where justice is put on trial.
“The judging panel unanimously recommended Steven McGregor and David Tranter as winners of the 2019 RAKA Scriptwriting Award for Sweet Country. The script interweaves complex racial and historical strands to tell the true story of a proud Aboriginal man who was tried and acquitted for murder in the Northern Territory in 1929 only to be shot on his release. The writers apply the genre of the period Western expertly to this tragic Indigenous-Settler story. Yet the writers also offer exquisite moments of beauty amidst cruelty and prejudice. The film version directed by Warwick Thornton further enhances the crisp and evocative writing.”
— Denise Varney, RAKA Award Judge and Director of The Australian Centre, Faculty of Arts Professor
