PUBLISHED16 Jun 2025

Songs Inside wins Documentary Australia Award

Congratulations to the 2025 winner of the Documentary Australia Award at Sydney Film Festival

Sydney Film Festival’s Closing Night awards ceremony took place last night and Songs Inside was announced as the 2025 winner of the Documentary Australia Award for Best Australian Documentary. The award is supported by Documentary Australia with a $20,000 cash prize acknowledging excellence in Australian documentary production, and makes the winning film Academy Award eligible. This is Documentary Australia’s 12th year supporting the award.

The Documentary Australia-supported film Songs Inside chronicles the transformative journey of a small group of women from the Adelaide Women’s Prison who, over six months, discovered the healing power of music.

“Documentary Australia has been by our side throughout the entire process of making Songs Inside – since the first seeds of early development through to the launch of our current social impact campaign. Documentary Australia has been an incredible platform for us to not only bring in philanthropic funds, but to help us build the film’s brand and foster strong diverse audiences.” – Shalom Almond, Songs Inside Director

The Songbird program, helmed by First Nations singer-songwriter Nancy Bates, is designed to boost confidence and self-worth but it requires a lot from the participants, all of whom struggle with the impacts of trauma and addiction. Though the women open up a little more with every song and each rehearsal, laying bare one’s traumas can be overwhelming.

Director Shalom Almond spent six months filming in the Adelaide Women’s Prison with unprecedented access, and the result is both shocking and uplifting.

“My advice to emerging filmmakers wanting to create change through documentary is to reach out to people who share similar interests and expertise around your social issue and build a community around you. Sometimes you can trap yourself into thinking you have to do it alone, but building your own community of like-minded individuals means you can bring people on the journey with you and create a space for inspiration, learning, growth and champions in your creative endeavour.” – Shalom Almond

Documentary Australia would like to congratulate all ten films nominated for this year’s award – you can read more about the other nominated films here.

“I want to thank all of the filmmakers for their really hard work, really dedicated work, which takes many years and is often unfunded. Congratulations to all of you – it’s an exceptional lineup of films” – Dr Mitzi Goldman, Documentary Australia CEO

Please note: Documentary Australia is a proud sponsor of the Documentary Australia Award but plays no role in selecting the films in the competition or judging the winner.

 

Read further reflections on Sydney Film Festival from this year’s Impact Producer Program participants here.