Dylan River
# Dylan River

Dylan River is an Australian film director, writer, and cinematographer.

## Early life and family

River was born in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. His father, Warwick Thornton, is a filmmaker and his mother, Penelope McDonald, is a producer, screenwriter, and director. He is the grandson of Freda Glynn, the co-founder of CAAMA.

## Career

River's work includes writing, direction and cinematography.

In 2013, his debut feature documentary, Buckskin, won the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize.

He directed the 2022 six-part prequel series Mystery Road: Origin, and co-wrote several episodes.

Over some of the 10 years leading up to its release in June 2023, River worked with his mother, Penelope McDonald, as co-writer and cinematographer on the feature-length documentary film Audrey Napanangka, about a Warlpiri woman and her partner, Santos, who have raised many children in the Central Desert. The film's locations included Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Yuendumu, and Mount Theo (Purturlu), Audrey's country, and it was co-produced by Trisha Morton-Thomas and Rachel Clements. Rona Glynn-McDonald (founder of not-for-profit Common Ground) was executive producer of the film.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Contribution | Note |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2022 | Mystery Road: Origin | Director and writer | TV series |
| 2020 | A Sunburnt Christmas | Cinematographer | Feature film |
| 2020 | The Beach | Cinematographer | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | Robbie Hood | Director and writer | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | The Australian Dream | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2018 | Finke: There and Back | Director, writer and cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2018 | Ward One | Director and writer | Short film |
| 2017 | Sweet Country | Second unit director | Feature film |
| 2017 | Coat of Arms | Director and writer | Short film |
| 2017 | Finding Mawiranga | Director and cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2017 | Blasko | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2017 | We Don't Need a Map | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2016 | Black Comedy | Writer | 1 episode |
| 2015 | Black Chook | Director | Short film |
| 2015 | Nulla Nulla | Director, writer and composer | Short film |
| 2014 | Who We Are: Brave New Clan | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2014 | Talking Language with Ernie Dingo | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2013 | Buckskin | Director and composer | Documentary |
| 2023 | Audrey Napanangka | Co-writer, cinematographer | Documentary |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Result | Award | Category | Work |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2021 | Won | AACTA Awards | Best Cinematography in a Documentary | The Beach: Too Mad Too Shy |
| 2021 | Nominated | AACTA Awards | Best Cinematography in Television | A Sunburnt Christmas |
| 2019 | Won | AACTA Awards | Best Online Drama or Comedy | Robbie Hood |
| 2019 | Nominated | AACTA Awards | Special Commendation | Finke: There and Back |
| 2018 | Nominated | Film Critics Circle of Australia | Best Cinematography | Sweet Country |
| 2017 | Nominated | Camerimage | Main Competition | Sweet Country |
| 2017 | Nominated | Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Achievement in Cinematography | Sweet Country |
| 2015 | Nominated | Berlin International Film Festival | Best Short Film | Nulla Nulla |
| 2015 | Won | AACTA Awards | Best Short Film | Nulla Nulla |

### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2019 | Dylan River for Briggs (featuring Greg Holden) - "Life Is Incredible" | Best Video | Nominated | |
