Sally Aitken (director)
# Sally Aitken (director)

Sally Aitken is an Australian documentary film and television director, writer and producer. She has been nominated for two Emmys: in 2018 at the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming for the documentary film David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, and at the 43rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the documentary Playing With Sharks in 2022.

## Career

Aitken is known for her work on the documentaries Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story, David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, Streets of Your Town and The Week the Women Went.

In 2022, she founded the production company Sam Content alongside Aline Jacques.

As of November 2022 she is in post-production for her upcoming documentary feature, Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles, for Amazon Prime Video.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Note |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2023 | Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles | Y | Y | Y | Documentary |
| 2021 | Books That Made Us | Y | | | TV series |
| 2021 | Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth | Y | | | Documentary |
| 2021 | Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story | Y | Y | | Documentary |
| 2019 | The Pool | Y | Y | | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Nolan – The Man and the Myth | Y | Y | | Documentary |
| 2018 | The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill | Y | Y | Y | 6 episodes |
| 2017 | David Stratton: A Cinematic Life | Y | | | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Streets of Your Town | Y | Y | | Documentary |
| 2015 | Getting Frank Gehry | Y | Y | Y | Documentary |
| 2015 | Imagine | Y | Y | Y | TV series |
| 2015 | The Great Australian Race Riot | Y | Y | Y | Documentary |
| 2013 | Air Rescue | Y | | | 6 episodes |
| 2012 | Family Confidential | Y | Y | | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Seduction in the City | Y | Y | | Documentary |
| 2009 | Ultimate Engineering | Y | | Y | 1 episode |
| 2008 | The Week the Women Went | Y | | Y | 8 episodes |
| 2007 | National Geographic: Engineering the Impossible | Y | Y | Y | 1 episode |
| 2006 | The Blonde Mystique | Y | Y | | Documentary |
| 2006 | Warrior Empire: The Mughals of India | Y | | Y | Documentary |
| 2004 | Colonial House | Y | Y | Y | 2 episodes |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Result | Award | Category | Work |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2022 | Nominated | AACTA Awards | Best Direction in Nonfiction Television | Books That Made Us |
| 2021 | Nominated | AACTA Awards | Best Documentary | Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story |
| 2021 | Nominated | Australian Writers' Guild | Documentary – Public Broadcast | Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story |
| 2021 | Won | Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival | World Cinema – Documentary | Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story |
| 2021 | Won | Provincetown International Film Festival | Best Documentary | Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story |
| 2021 | Nominated | Sundance Film Festival | World Cinema – Documentary | Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story |
| 2017 | Nominated | Cannes Film Festival | Golden Eye | David Stratton: A Cinematic Life |
| 2017 | Nominated | AWGIE Awards | Best Documentary | Streets of Your Town |
| 2009 | Nominated | Leo Awards | Best Documentary Program or Series | The Week the Women Went |
| 2008 | Nominated | Gemini Awards | Best Reality Program or Series | The Week the Women Went |
