NITV is sponsoring the Indigenous Film Maker Award at the St Kilda Film Festival between 6th – 11th May in Melbourne. NITV will be attending the Industry Open Day on Saturday 10th May and will have a Stall for information about program making and working with NITV.

The St Kilda Film Festival is celebrating it’s 25th Birthday this year. It is the longest running and highest profile short film festival in Australia.

In 2008, it will expand and go on a national tour, taking in regional areas as well as capital cities, Australia wide. This will increase the destinations to 27 over three months!

National Indigenous Television and Carbon Media have joined forces to provide a multi-platform coverage of the Seventh Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from New York between, 21 April – 2 May.

“Black Tracks”, will be a daily VODcast and a regular news update on the NITV Website, and will provide Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians viewers with a first- hand updates of the event.

The Barefoot Rugby League Show now has a FACEBOOK page.

Please click on the link below to access and become a FAN!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Barefoot-Rugby-League-Show/13405211103

For all the latest updates and much more please click on the link below.
www.marngrookfootyshow.com.au/

The Roots Music program is an Indigenous perspective on world music acts in Australia – Proudly produced by Emelda Davis, Katherine Beckett & presented by “The Black Diamond” aka Claude Williams & Lola Forester.

Firstly I would like to start by thanking NITV in supporting the Onyx Management Group vision, its a dream come true especially after years of filming live band music. Onyx have often been described on the Sydney entertainment scene as the guerrilla swat team always seizing opportunities to support grassroots events in Australia….. WE! took the 19th annual Byron Bay Blues Fest by storm! ….. Shooting 15 live music acts and gaining access to some of the worlds greats!! such as Ruthie Foster, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Dan Sultan, Leah Flannigan, John Butler and many more who graced this prestigious festival giving unforgettable performances.

Delivered in Auckland New Zealand, at the World Indigenous Broadcast Television Conference last week on 26-28th March 08.

Good morning and thank you for that kind introduction…

I would like to pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land upon which we have gathered, the “mana whenua” of auckland and the iwi of auckland, “ngati whatua”, tai nui” and “te wai o hua”.Thank your for your generosity in sharing your country and your culture with us. I acknowledge the struggle of past and present generations and pay tribute to your efforts in securing your rightful position as the first nations peoples of aoretera.I pay my respects to the honourable minister for maori affairs, and the chairman and ceo of maori tv.
I would also like to acknowledge the presence of nitv board members, mr. Garth agius and mr ken reys who like many of you have travelled a long way to be able to be here today.My name is patricia turner kemerre. I am a proud descendant of the arrernte and gudanji nations within australia. I am also very proud to be the chief executive officer of the newly established national indigenous television service in australia.Aboriginal peoples have lived, owned and nurtured our lands for some 60,000 years. Torres strait islanders have done the same for 10,000 years. Australia was colonised by the british 220 years ago. The australian constitution was enacted through legislation in the british parliament and came into effect in 1901.

Representatives from NITV will be attending the first ever World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference to be held in March this year. The conference, which is themed “reclaiming the future”, will be hosted by Maori Television in Auckland, New Zealand.

From March 26-28, Indigenous Television leaders from countries around the world, including Norway, Fiji, Mozambique, South Africa, Taiwan and Australia will descend on New Zealand for the three day conference bringing together their unique skills and contributions to Indigenous television. NITV will be represented by our Chief Executive Officer Patricia Turner, who will also be giving an insightful presentation as a keynote speaker.

I can’t believe it’s March already and you can smell the sweat and tears brewing in the air. Footy season has arrived and Australia’s two biggest footy codes are going head to head on NITV. Sorry to non footy lovers but it’s going to be hard to pull your respective other away from the tv on Thursday nights.

Our newest baby at NITV is the Barefoot Rugby League show and it took off with a flying start this month beaming out live across Australia (6.30pm EST). NITV worked hard to get this program up off the ground but now it’s up to our team of footy tragic panellists and you to nurture this show as it takes the rollercoaster ride that is sport. Watch this space because the show is just getting started and were in for a big season with the greatest game of all!. Before I get all other footy codes off side, this is sport after all, NITV hasn’t forgotten you. Our team of AFL experts are back for their second season.

The Marngrook Footy show has regrouped and we expect an even bigger and better 2008. Last year, Grant Hansen and his team showed NITV can give the big boys a run for their money and Barefoot is sure to do the same, giving sporting fans what they really want in footy television.

Whether you like short pants or big jerseys, whatever the code, stay tuned with NITV – were in for big hits and solid marks!

The I Belong series addresses notions of identity within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The series aims to share the rich diversity of Indigenous cultures with the rest of Australia. NITV co-funded the series with Bush TV and is proud to showcase such exciting and meaningful new material with our partners.

A total of 8 Indigenous students and first time program makers from the Sunshine Coast Institute of TAFE were also involved and completed intensive training to film, produce and edit short films as a part of this series. The students showcase will be a part of the official launch of the I Belong campaign.

The series will commence on NITV from 4th February 08 and will represent communities from the very remote locations like Poruma and Mornington Island and to communities in Central Australia, VIC, Western Australia, NSW, TAS, & SA.

In 2007 the LMRDT Inc through the ARU sent an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team to participate in an IRB 2nd tier endorsed tournament in Port Moresby, PNG.

Following the event we received an invitation for the next 4 years.

Other countries participating in the event were Tonga, Samoa, Niue, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands.

The competition was very strong with the Aboriginal team only winning two games

For Indigenous rugby to be competitive at this level and contribute to mainstream rugby there must be an avenue for our younger players to participate and develop their 7’s skills.

Accordingly the time is right for community minded people and rugby supporters to further promote Indigenous rugby by conducting a Seven’s tournament to help unearth players who can compete at the next level. This tournament will benefit from the development worked carried out by the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team Inc over the past 15 years.

The obvious thought to hold this tournament was in the Coffs Harbour region because of their ideal location thus enabling teams from all over NSW as well as QLD to participate. A large number of the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team Inc participants have come from the mid and far north coast of New South Wales. Coffs Harbour with it’s history as a supporter and proud local Rugby Union history coupled with terrific facilities in terms of grounds and accommodation to cater for large volumes of people. Make it the ideal location.

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be a Commissioning Editor for a new National Indigenous TV service… well you know how the rest goes.  Needless to say I have been on a slippery slope of fast-tracked learning for about 8 months now and am loving every minute of it!

The most exciting part of my job I think so far is telling Indigenous producers and filmmakers, “Brother/Sister, your idea for a doco/short film is great, but did you know that you don’t have to make that kind of stuff anymore?!?”.  The look on their faces when you explain the possibilities of an Indigenous comedy or drama series, healthy food and cooking shows, Indigenous kids programs, etc is priceless.  The fact is that in the past we have been stuck in tiny little ruts allocated by the few broadcasters who took our culture seriously.  Only ABC and SBS dedicated airtime to Indigenous stories, a grand total of around 60min a week!  Sure there was the occasional documentary or short film series here or there (NAIDOC week, or if we’re lucky Sorry Day), but for the last 40 years we’ve been mostly nothing more than a passing curiosity – a speck in the columns of the TV guides.

That’s all changed now.

NITV is the most exciting thing to happen to both Australian television and Indigenous affairs in over 20 years.  You may argue otherwise, but that’s the camp I’m setting up and you’re welcome to join me.  So far NITV has broadcast our first ever Indigenous AFL panel show The Marngrook Footy Show, an extension of the long running radio series out of Melbourne.

Coming up in March we’ve got a new series of The Marngrook Footy Show kicking off the AFL season for 2008.