The 2012 NFSA Orlando Short Film Award has been awarded to Craig Boreham, writer and director of Drowning (2009). The NFSA Orlando award is presented to the winner of the best Australian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex short film, receiving a cash prize of $5,000 and a place in the National Audiovisual Collection.

The Award was presented by NFSA Chair Chris Puplick AM on Sunday 25th of March at the closing night of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival at the Australian Centre for Moving Image, as part of the NFSA’s recognition of Australia’s cultural diversity and the role screen culture plays within the broader community.

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Craig Boreham’s Drowning is a story about friendship and the transition into adulthood. Realisations of their place in the world, their familial responsibilities and awakening sexualities shape the men they will become and their changing relationship with each other. Produced by Annmaree J Bell of Azure Productions in 2009, Drowning was funded by Screen Australia and features up and coming Australian actors including Miles Szanto and Xavier Samuel.

Craig Boreham’s video and film work focuses on themes of sexuality and the politics of desire. His films have been seen in over 200 festival screenings and received numerous awards. Craig also directed a chapter in the feature film Before the Rain, a coproduction between two of Australia’s most prestigious film and drama institutions, The National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) and Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) to celebrate NIDA’s 50th Anniversary.

In 2011, Drowning won Best Film at both Melbourne Queer Film Festival and My Queer Career at the Mardi Gras Film Festival, and has been screened at over 20 film festivals internationally. The Director/Producer team have had continuing success in 2012 with their follow up film Ostia – La Notte Finale, which again won Best Film at this years My Queer Career at the Mardi Gras Film Festival last month. They are now in the final stages of financing their first feature film Teenage Kicks, which is inspired by the short Drowning.