Focus on Ability 2026 winners revealed ahead of SBS broadcast – Two Australian documentaries have shared the NOVA Employment Choice Award at the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival, following an awards ceremony at The Concourse in Chatswood on Sunday, 18 October.
Focus, directed by Victoria’s Zac Stevenson, and Road Trip, made by New South Wales filmmaker Alex Sideratos, were jointly awarded the $5,000 prize. The result gives Australian documentary makers the leading audience-facing honour in a competition that drew 240 submissions from 26 countries.
For viewers who could not attend the Sydney ceremony, the winners are also part of a wider festival story. As TV Central previously reported, SBS plans to present the festival on Thursday, 3 December, the International Day of People with Disability. A broadcast time and the final selection of films have not yet been announced. Community screenings around Australia are planned for 2027.
Australian documentaries take the leading honours
Focus follows Kai, who has autism and dyslexia, as he establishes Kaiko Fidgets, a business designed for the neurodivergent community. Road Trip follows a young man with autism as he navigates social interactions and finds work that makes use of his knowledge and skills. The two films share the NOVA Employment Choice Award rather than winning separate prizes.
The judges’ choice for Best Short Film went to Victorian organisation Blairlogie Living and Learning Inc. for The Bookshop, a story about love and loss. Aurora Support Services – Frontier Academy, also from Victoria, won Best Documentary for The Long Goodbye. It follows Max, who has Down syndrome, as he learns to live independently while his parents enter aged care. Each of those two winners received $5,000 and mentorship opportunities.
The online-vote award, also carrying a $5,000 cash prize, went to Story of Hesara from Sri Lanka’s Ikonic Media Australia (Pvt) Limited. The documentary follows a boy with Down syndrome and the support he receives from his family and community.
School and international winners
In the Australian and New Zealand school section, the Kellyville High School Media Team in New South Wales won the short-film award with Eggs and Soldiers. Western Australia’s Iona Presentation College Year 11 ATAR Students won the documentary award for Ben Rocks. The two results show the festival’s school pathway alongside its open competition.
Internationally, American filmmaker Ajani Murray won Best Short Film for Will You Carry Me. Thailand’s Ghost Cat Film took Best Documentary for Blind. The festival’s less-than-five-minute format brings those films into the same programme as work by Australian schools and emerging and established filmmakers.
Complete 2026 Focus on Ability winners list
- NOVA Employment Choice: Zac Stevenson (Victoria), Focus; and Alex Sideratos (New South Wales), Road Trip.
- Judges’ Choice, Australian short film: Blairlogie Living and Learning Inc. (Victoria), The Bookshop.
- Judges’ Choice, Australian documentary: Aurora Support Services – Frontier Academy (Victoria), The Long Goodbye.
- Most online votes: Ikonic Media Australia (Pvt) Limited (Sri Lanka), Story of Hesara.
- Best actor: Sonia Cuesta (Spain), APAGADA, about a deaf woman in a domestic-violence situation.
- Best director: Matt Williams (Queensland), Brewing Blind, about a legally blind brewer who creates Blind Boy Brewing.
- Best producer: Karin Balmer and Jono Dole (New South Wales), My Brother Hugo. The film follows Hugo as the end of primary school approaches and a separation from his younger brother Remy looms.
- Best screenwriter: Andy Meier (New South Wales), An Accidental Artist, about William Bil Anderson Jr, who became an artist after a traumatic brain injury.
- School short film: Kellyville High School Media Team (New South Wales), Eggs and Soldiers.
- School documentary: Iona Presentation College Year 11 ATAR Students (Western Australia), Ben Rocks.
- International short film: Ajani Murray (United States), Will You Carry Me.
- International documentary: Ghost Cat Film (Thailand), Blind.
The winners were announced by presenters including festival ambassador Paula Duncan AM, Nick Hardcastle, Lynne McGranger, Tony Bonner AM, Christie Dawes, John Jarratt, Gerard O’Dwyer, James Stewart and Ada Nicodemo. NOVA Employment chief executive Martin Wren founded the festival in Western Sydney to put the creativity and achievements of people with disability on screen. It has since expanded to international screenings and presentations of its winning films.
For the earlier announcement of the Focus on Ability SBS presentation, see TV Central’s preview. The festival’s official prize page has further award details and links to the films.
