Maya Newell (Australia)
Documentary Filmmaker/ Impact Producer
The Unquiet Collective

Maya is a documentary film director and impact producer from the Unquiet Collective based on Gadigal Wangal Country.

Her recent short documentary The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone (2022), a Netflix Original, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. The film’s impact campaign amplified the voices of trans and gender-diverse youth.

She directed the acclaimed feature In My Blood It Runs (2019) – made in collaboration with those onscreen – about ten-year-old Arrernte/Garrwa boy Dujuan, which screened at over 40 festivals, in over 4000 classrooms, screened on Netflix, POV (USA), Arte (France) and ABC TV, won many awards including Best Feature Doc at the ADG Awards and was backed by the Sundance Institute. Dujuan’s family led a multi-year impact campaign focusing on juvenile justice, education and anti-racism and the ten year-old participant became the youngest person ever to address the Human Rights Council at the United Nations, Geneva.

Her first feature doc Gayby Baby (2015) sparked a national conversation about the rights of children raised in LGBTIQ families.

She is a parent, a climate justice advocate and is working to encourage change in filmmaking processes to redistribute and share power to those who share their stories on screen.