The Australian Wars has received the 2023 Content Innovation Award for Representation and Inclusion - Unscripted, at the ceremony held in Cannes overnight. The landmark SBS series, produced by Blackfella Films, explores and confronts the story of the bloody battles fought on Australian soil as the colonial frontier pushed forward, and First Nations people resisted. The three-part series, directed and presented by filmmaker Rachel Perkins, delivers a compelling awakening to a part of Australian history not commonly known or understood, at a historic moment for the nation.
This is the latest award for the series which, since its premiere on SBS in October 2022, has gone on to receive widespread critical acclaim for its craft, impact, and vital contribution to truth telling. Accolades have included the 2023 TV Week Logie Award for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program, the Digital History Prize at the New South Wales Premier's History Awards. Gold (History & Society) at the 2023 New York Festival Awards, and the Australian representative in three Asian 2023 Academy Creative Awards categories (Best Factual Presenter, Bet Direction Non-Fiction, and Best Documentary Series). The series is a finalist in the upcoming 2023 Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism to be announced in November. It is also set to appear on screens internationally, selling to networks in Canada, New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom.
SBS's innovative and heart-warming documentary series, The Swap, was also recognised this week, receiving the MIPCOM CANNES Diversify TV Award for Representation of Race and Ethnicity (Non-Scripted) at the awards ceremony held in Cannes on Tuesday night - and was the only Australian production to be recognised in the prestigious awards.
The Swap, Soutrhern Pictures for SBS
SBS
Produced by Southern Pictures for SBS, the three-part series documents a bold experiment, pioneered by Ali Kadri, the CEO of the Islamic College of Brisbane, which sees 12 students and families from very different cultures, religions and backgrounds - and with very strong opinions on each other - thrown into each other's worlds. Over one school term, the three-part series follows the students as they experience the anxiety, excitement and wonder of spending time at each other's schools and with each others families and communities, breaking down social barriers and building greater acceptance, respect and understanding along the way.
SBS Director of Television, Kathryn Fink, said: We're exceptionally proud to see these ground-breaking and uniquely Australian stories being recognised for their compelling and impactful storytelling, continuing our legacy in documentaries that challenge perceptions and ignite important discussion - and that also make for inspiring and entertaining television for local and global audiences.
Congratulations to everyone involved on this wonderful and well-deserved recognition for both series at MIPCOM this year.
The Content Innovation Awards, in partnership with MIPCOM, celebrate significant contributions to the transformation of the global television industry, recognising those at the forefront of innovation. The Australian Wars was also shortlisted for Best Documentary Series at the awards, with The Swap also shortlisted in the Representation and Inclusion Award - Unscripted category, while SBS original series, Safe Home (Kindling Pictures and Banijay Rights for SBS), was shortlisted for the Best New Scripted Award.
The MIPCOM CANNES Diversify TV Awards are dedicated to championing and promoting diversity and inclusion in all its forms across the international television industry. They aim to bring attention to programs that embrace excellent representation in exemplary shows, across a range of categories for scripted and unscripted content.
The Australian Wars is a Blackfella Films production for SBS, with principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with SBS, financed with support from Shark Island Foundation and Screen NSW. It is distributed worldwide by ABC Commercial.
The Swap is a Southern Pictures production for SBS, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with SBS, financed with support from Screen Queensland.
The Australian Wars and The Swap are both available to stream free on SBS On Demand.
For a PDF version of this release, click here.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
The Australian Wars has received the 2023 Content Innovation Award for Representation and Inclusion - Unscripted, at the ceremony held in Cannes overnight. The landmark SBS series, produced by Blackfella Films, explores and confronts the story of the bloody battles fought on Australian soil as the colonial frontier pushed forward, and First Nations people resisted. The three-part series, directed and presented by filmmaker Rachel Perkins, delivers a compelling awakening to a part of Australian history not commonly known or understood, at a historic moment for the nation.
