2012 Festival Judges Announcement:
With all films in the program competing for a Grand Prize of $5,000, the selection of judges was a serious task.
This year's esteemed panel includes:
Carly Findlay
Carly is a Melbourne writer, blogger and public speaker. She's written for a range of websites including ABC's Ramp Up, DiVine, Mamamia, The Hoopla and News Limited. Carly has recently completed her Master of Communication, majoring in journalism and new media. She also presents on Channel 31's No Limits. Her day job is at the Australian Tax Office working as a communicator and events planner.
Carly won the 2010 Yooralla Media Award for best online commentary, was a finalist in the 2011 and 2012 Best Australian Blogs competition for her blog Tune into Radio Carly and received a 2011 Australia Day medal for her work in the disability community.
Carly was born with a severe life long skin condition called ichthyosis form erythroderma (meaning scaly red skin).
Tony Sarre
Tony is an Australian filmmaker whose short films Blackdance and Miles to Go screened during The Other Film Festival in 2004.
Despite a degenerative eye disease that left him blind, Tony has reached the top four in Australian tandem cycling and gained a black belt in tae kwon do. In 1999, Tony discovered his talent for filmmaking while on set with his wife and immediately began studying the artform.
Tony's filmography includes a community television program titled Chung Wa (Middle Way), two commercials for the WA Association for the Blind and a corporate video called Off the Side Lines.
Michael Uniacke
Michael is a freelance writer who covers issues facing people with a disability or who are Deaf and disabled in Australia.
Working with the Office for Disability as a Policy Officer, Michael actively promotes the inclusion and participation of people with a disability in the wider community. In 2010, he wrote an article for The Age tackling the issue of captioning in Australian cinema chains.
Michael also shares the small screen with fellow judge Carly, as a presenter on the Channel 31 television show 'No Limits'.