David Vadiveloo

David Selvarajah Vadiveloo is a multi-awarded Australian screen director, screen producer and human rights lawyer. His work in the 1990s and early 2000s in film and human rights saw him awarded the 2005 Australian Human Rights Commission Award for Individual Community Achievement for his work with Indigenous and marginalised youth. In 2005 he was also the youngest person to be Highly Commended for the Human Rights Medal (Australia), recognising lifelong commitment and achievements in human rights.

Vadiveloo holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and a Graduate Diploma in Film and Television from the Victorian College of the Arts at University of Melbourne, Australia.

In 1993, before his legal career had begun, Vadiveloo's admission to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory of Australia was mired in controversy. His admission was opposed by the Government of the Northern Territory based on an alleged lack of commercial legal training received during the mandatory post-studies practicum year under the Australian system. However, the presiding Judge set a precedent when he rejected the Government case, holding that experience at the Aboriginal Central Land Council in Alice Springs and a commercial firm was sufficient for Vadiveloo to gain admission.
Vadiveloo worked for several years in Alice Springs, Australia, as a solicitor and barrister. He also spent two years at the Central Land Council where he worked on the successful Native Title Application, Hayes v Northern Territory, brought by the Arrernte people of the Alice Springs region.

In 1996, Vadiveloo spent a year as a policy advisor to the Racial Discrimination Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission. In that time he facilitated national community consultations with people from non-English speaking backgrounds about the operation and effectiveness of the Australian Racial Discrimination Act. These consultations led to the Race Discrimination Commissioner's 1996 State of the Nation Report which outlined the key findings of the consultations.

In 1998, after graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts, Vadiveloo returned to live in Alice Springs where began a media training program at the Irrkerlantye Learning Centre, working with Indigenous children from the Town Camps of Alice Springs and re-engaging them with schooling through media. This program led to partnerships with the Arrernte families of the region and the production of his multi- award winning short film Bush Bikes (2001) and then the first Indigenous children's television series in Australia, Us Mob (2005).

Vadiveloo's documentary Trespass (2002), about the Mirrar leader Yvonne Margarula and her battle with mining companies over the Jabiluka mine site, won multiple awards and his documentary Beyond Sorry (2004) premiered on Australia's ABC Television and was a festival favorite at the 2004 Sydney Film Festival.

In 2009, Vadiveloo was nominated for two Australian Film Institute Awards. He directed and wrote the half-hour drama Burn (2008), about youth identity and crime which was nominated for Best Short Fiction Film. He also directed, wrote and co-produced the documentary series, Voices from the Cape (2008), which followed a media program run by his company Community Prophets, in the Aboriginal community of Aurukun in Cape York, Australia.

Vadiveloo is the founder and director of the media entertainment and social justice company Community Prophets. The company produces film and television and delivers digital media training programs for marginalised youth. Vadiveloo has developed a unique model for working with marginalised youth which involves partnering with communities, training participants, employing community members and ultimately producing broadcast quality film and television. He has developed the model over a decade in many communities across Australia.

Vadiveloo sits on the International Advisory Board of the charity Global Angels and on the advisory board of the Centre for Cultural Partnerships at the University of Melbourne.

Bibliography

Vadiveloo, David (2007). "A time for empowerment or a new digital divide? " in da Rimini, Francesca and d/Lux/MediaArts "A Handbook for Coding Cultures" (2007)
Ginsburg, Faye (2006) "Rethinking the Digital Age" in Toynbee, Jason & Hesmondhalgh, David (2008) "The media and social theory" p136

External links

Community Prophets [1]
Us Mob [2]
Burn [3]
Voices from the Cape [4]
Living Next Door to Alice [5]
Movie making project boosts school attendance [6]
David Vadiveloo: grass roots reconciliation [7]
Life Matters Feature Interview: David Vadiveloo [8]
Aboriginal Town Camp School [9]
Coding Cultures [10]
Mulka Media Centre [11]

References

^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]}

1. ^ http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/2005/68_05.html
2. ^ http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/2005/67_05.html
3. ^ http://www.afc.gov.au/downloads/pubs/aimiawinners_0306.pdf
4. ^ http://www.usmob.com.au
5. ^ http://flowtv.org/?p=651
6. ^ http://www.documentaryaustralia.com.au/da/caseStudies/details.php?recordID=52
7. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nt/content/2005/s1319739.htm
8. ^ http://www.afi.org.au/AM/ContentManagerNet/HTMLDisplay.aspx?ContentID=7854&Section=Non_Feature_Nominees_Production_Information#ShortFiction
9. ^ http://www.afi.org.au/AM/ContentManagerNet/HTMLDisplay.aspx?ContentID=9052&Section=Documentary_Nominees_Production_Info
10. ^ http://www.sydneyfilmfestival.org/festival/films/filmdetails.aspx?id=204
11. ^ http://www.burn-movie.com.au
12. ^ http://www.voicesfromthecape.com.au
13. ^ http://www.communityprophets.com
14. ^ http://yorktonshortfilm.org/files/File/winners/winners2002.html
15. ^ http://caama.com.au/productions/catalogue/trespass-2002/
16. ^ http://www.cinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=5715&s=News_files
17. ^ http://www.cicff.org/bin/file/docs/Award%20List%202003.pdf
18. ^ http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/beyond-sorry/
19. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200705/programs/ZY7504A001D1052007T233500.htm
20. ^ http://2004.sydneyfilmfestival.org/page/2004_favourites_and_winners.html
21. ^ http://www.yirrkala.com/mulka/video.html
22. ^ http://www.globalangels.org/pages/5813/International_Advisory_Board.htm
23. ^ http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AILR/2000/15.html1
24. ^ Volume 126 Federal Law Reports at 336
25. ^ http://www.hreoc.gov.au/racial_discrimination/report/state_nation.html
26. ^ http://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/mal02185.htm

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