The archive announced on Monday that they were looking for a female First Nations audiovisual creative for a commissioned project, tentatively called RE/Vision. The project will be part of the largest cultural exchange between Australia and the United Kingdom set to take place in 2022 titled, The UK/Australia Season.

The chosen filmmaker will work closely with archive's curatorial and technical experts, utilising the digital collection to produce an audiovisual product, that will aim to offer an authentic and contemporary vision of Australia. The work will be based around the theme of Who Are We Now? - the theme for The UK/Australia Season.

"The idea for the project came from an ongoing desire to share the collection," the archive's chief curator Gayle Lake said.

"The role of the NFSA is to collect, preserve and share Australia's audio visual history, and we were looking at a specific part of that objective in terms of how we could work with and continue to develop our relationship and exploring an Indigenous voice within the massive scope of the collection.

"We certainly don't want to be prescriptive in any kind of way. We're inviting people to present their ideas. This is what what we will get this is what makes it so exciting. We want people to be able to work with the collection and create a new unique work that reflects their perspective on the theme."

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The work will premiere internationally in partnership with the British Film Institute in the UK in late 2022, and in Canberra at the National Film and Sound Archive's Arc Cinema. The complete piece will then be brought into the archive's collection, and available to the public.

It will be one of many elements involved in The UK/Australia Season. A result of the collaboration between the British Council and the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the event will explore and celebrate the relationship between the two countries across the arts, creative industries, and higher education.

This is the first time the National Film and Sound Archive has commissioned a work to connect with national and international audiences.

"We're excited to celebrate the national audiovisual collection through storytelling, in all its forms and expressions," the archive's head of collection Jacqui Uhlmann said.

"Our aim is to ensure the collection represents a multitude of voices, allowing us to reflect on our heritage with honesty and authenticity. We want this work to foster discussion and to facilitate a fresh interpretation of Australia's audiovisual heritage, told from the perspective of an Indigenous filmmaker. I can't wait to who is selected for this work, and to experience the end creation."

It was announced in August that the National Film and Sound Archive would receive a $70,000 federal government grant to commission the project. The archive will also contribute more than $100,000, and add the work to their collection.

For more information go to nfsa.gov.au/revision.

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