Dr Grant Saunders
Lecturer
Educational Qualifications:
2017 - 2021
Doctor of Creative Arts (Arts and Social Sciences)– University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Field: Indigenous auto-ethnography, Practice-based research
Supervisors: Distinguished Prof. Larissa Behrendt, Dr Timothy Laurie
Feature Documentary: Hip Hop and The Block https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/justus-hip-hop-and-the-block/
Exegesis title: “JustUS: What Hip Hop Wants You to Know” https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/handle/10453/149456
2004-2006
MA (Honours) Film and TV Documentary – Australian Film, TV and Radio School (AFTRS)
Field: Documentary film and TV Production, Indigenous auto-ethnography, Practice-based research
Supervisors: Dr Mitzi Goldman, Dr Ben Goldsmith
Film and Thesis title: “B.L.A.C.K. An Indigenous Song of Hip Hop” https://vimeo.com/59720608
Faculty of DVC Academic
NG Academic Programs
Dr Grant Leigh Saunders is a filmmaker and Creative Research scholar who graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School with an MA (Honours) in Documentary. He produced over 20 documentaries (NTRO's) for ABC’s Message Stick, alongside music videos and short-form content. His online sketch comedy series ‘WhiteBlackAtcha’ led to an ABC commission for ‘Black Santa’ (2013). He later produced ‘A Flash Black? The Michael McLeod Story’ (2016) for National Indigenous Television (NITV) and co-produced the feature documentary ‘Teach a Man to Fish’, a finalist for best documentary at both the Sydney International and Byron Bay International Film festivals and commissioned for NITV in 2018. His traditional research publications include the first edited volume on Hip Hop cultures in Australia, titled: ‘Representing Hip Hop Histories, Politics and Practices in Australia’. Saunders holds a Doctor of Creative Arts from the University of Technology Sydney and is currently lecturing in Indigenous Studies at Nura Gili at the University of New South Wales
E-mail
Location
Nura Gili, Centre for Indigenous Programs
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Awards and Festivals
2018 - 2021- Recipient of UTS Research Excellence and Jumbunna IHL Scholarships to undertake Doctor of Creative Arts degree, UTS
2018 - Official selection Sydney Film Festival for “Teach a Man to Fish”, NITV.
- Official Selection Byron Bay International Film Festival, “Teach a Man to Fish”, NITV.
2012 - Official Selection for Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival for 'In the Frame: Alison Page', ABC.
2010 - Indigenous Excellence Staff Scholarship Award, ABC.
- Finalist for UN Media Peace Awards for ‘We the Problem, We the Solution’, ABC.
- Official Selection Yalingup Surf Film Festival for ‘Black Beach’, Independent.
2008 - Inaugural John Newfong Media Award for ‘Freakshow to Big Top’, ABC.
2007 - Best Indigenous film, St Kilda Film Festival, ‘B.L.A.C.K.: An Aboriginal Song of Hip Hop’
2006 - Pan African Film Festival, ‘B.L.A.C.K.: An Aboriginal Song of Hip Hop’
- European Union Award, Marseilles France, ‘B.L.A.C.K.: An Aboriginal Song of Hip Hop’
- Audience Choice Award, Riddu Riddu Sami Film and Music Festival, Norway, ‘B.L.A.C.K.: An Aboriginal Song of Hip Hop’
- Harlem Curated Film Festival, USA, ‘B.L.A.C.K.: An Aboriginal Song of Hip Hop’
My Teaching
I will begin teaching in T3, 2026 in the subject ATSI2003 'Reclaiming Material Culture' for Nura Gili. More information can be found here: https://handbook.unsw.edu.au/undergraduate/courses/2026/atsi2003.
The focus of this course is on the role of museums and art galleries in the representation of Indigenous peoples and their cultures. The course begins with an introduction to Indigenous material culture, in both pre-contact and contact Australia. Students will also learn about the collection, study and display of Indigenous objects by museums and galleries. In this context disciplines of anthropology, ethnography, archaeology and museology are examined. Particular attention is given to the ways in which we can study objects and their different meanings as they journey from Indigenous contexts to non-Indigenous institutions. Students undertake an excursion to one or more local museums and participate in interactive seminar discussion as part of this course.