about

Picture by Penny Ryan Photography

TLDR; Alex Kelly (she/her) is an artist, filmmaker and organiser based on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. Working across film, impact, communications strategy and troublemaking, Alex purposefully connects the disciplines of art and change making. Get in touch!

And if you have some more time….. Hello! I’m Alex, I make art and films and am actively engaged in political organising and strategy. I am presently living on Dja Dja Wurrung Country with my partner and two small kids. Before this life chapter I lived on Arrernte Country in Mparntwe for fifteen years.

My major focus recently has been a speculative futures practice in collaboration with David Pledger, Sophia Marinos and a range of other amazing artists and thinkers which we call The Things We Did Next. In June 2023 I was appointed an Artistic Associate of not yet it’s difficult to continue this work.

I worked closely with several Arrernte families and Director Maya Newell to support the impact & distribution goals of their documentary feature film IN MY BLOOD IT RUNS and recently working on the impact release for The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone.

Building on the work on these campaigns, Maya and I along with four other amazing women have started The Unquiet Collective. We host a regular impact strategy session called Unquiet90 and have a newsletter you can join here.

In 2023 I am embarking on a PhD at UniSA with a focus on Impact Producing. I’ve started a substack blog to track that journey.

Background  

I’ve been involved in social justice media and art making for over 20 years. In that time I’ve co-edited a social justice magazine ‘Greenpepper‘ in Amsterdam, been one of the founders of a local IndyMedia collective, participated in the People’s Global Action 3rd International Conference and ‘People’s Caravan’ from Bolivia to Colombia and was part of setting up the ongoing Melbourne community arts space, Irene Warehouse. I volunteered as a projectionist at the Coober Pedy Drive In, have put on grassroots media events, been part of organising blockades, actions and protests and had a stint as Triple J’s NT Arts Reporter.

I was part of the arts and social change company Big hART from 2004-2014 where I was Creative Producer of the Ngapartji Ngapartji project and worked on Knot@Home, Radio Holiday, DriveNorthcott Narratives and Namatjira among many other projects across the company.

I’ve sat on the boards of Arid Lands Environment Centre, Engage MediaGUTS, RedHOT Arts and the Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival. I am currently on the board of Original Power.

I’ve worked as an adviser to Senator Bob Brown, former leader of the Australian Greens and at the camel races in Alice Springs I was crowned Miss Camel Cup in 2008.

On the film front I am Producer of Nothing Rhymes with Ngapartji, THE ISLAND and Island of the Hungry Ghosts, Production Manager on the drama shoot for Coniston: Telling It True and Director of Queen of the Desert.

Between 2014-2016 I spent two and a half years working as the Global Impact & Distribution Producer on Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis’ project This Changes Everything

With two dear collaborators I cofounded the Something Somewhere Film Festival in Mparntwe and we’re always talking about where it might pop up next….

Nothing I’ve done has ever been a solo project, I find great joy in and learn so much from collaborations with others. Continually exploring how we can best live with and care for each other is always essential work, but feels even more critical as the challenges of climate change and inequality ramp up. I feel grateful to be able to make creative works that contribute to movements for justice.

In solidarity & with care, Alex

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I recognise that sovereignty was never ceded and so-called Australia always was, and always will be, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.  I actively contribute to Pay the Rent Castlemaine and support landback initiatives.