Rachel Perkins | |
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![]() Perkins at the 2012 AACTA Awards in Sydney | |
Born | 1970 (age 53–54) Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
Occupation(s) | Producer, director, writer |
Years active | 1998–present |
Spouse | Richard McGrath (divorced) |
Children | 1 |
Father | Charles Perkins |
Relatives | Hetty Perkins (grandmother) Hetti Perkins (sister) Madeleine Madden (niece) |
Rachel Perkins (born 1970) is an Indigenous Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She founded and was co-director of the independent film production company Blackfella Films from 1992 until 2022. Perkins and the company were responsible for producing First Australians (2008), an award-winning documentary series that remains the highest-selling educational title in Australia, and which Perkins regards as her most important work. She directed the films Radiance (1998), One Night the Moon (2001), Bran Nue Dae (2009), the courtroom drama telemovie Mabo (2012), and Jasper Jones (2017). The acclaimed television drama series Redfern Now was made by Blackfella Films, and Perkins directed two episodes as well as the feature-length conclusion to the series, Promise Me (2015).
Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman from Central Australia, who was raised in Canberra. She is the daughter of Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins and his wife Eileen.