bioGRAPHY

Born in Sydney, Dustin Feneley is an MFA graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts Film School. His short films as a writer and director (Night, Snow, Hawker, Eskimo Kiss) have won numerous awards and screened at over one hundred film festivals, including official selections at Cannes, London, Sydney and Melbourne.

In 2006, his short film Snow premiered in Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cinéfondation section. Snow was further honoured that year by exhibition at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

In 2007, Dustin was the recipient of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Award for Moving Image, the leading awards in Australia for emerging creative talent. In 2011, he was awarded the Filmmaker Grand Prix at the Sapporo International Short Film Festival in Japan, a unique award that recognises a filmmaker’s body of work in short films.

 Set in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, Dustin’s debut feature project Stray was selected for development at the Directors Lab of the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam and for CineMart at Rotterdam.

 Made independently, Stray holds the record for the largest amount ever raised via crowdfunding for a New Zealand film. Stray screened and won awards at numerous festivals worldwide, including Best Director at the 2019 Brooklyn Film Festival and Best Direction in a Feature Film at the 2019 Australian Directors Guild Awards.

Stray was released nationally in cinemas in New Zealand, screening at a total of 43 cinemas over 10 weeks. The film garnered strong critical acclaim and five-star reviews, scoring 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was hailed by critics as the best New Zealand film of the year – with one critic declaring it “one of the very best films ever made in New Zealand.” (The Post)

Dustin is a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand, currently based in Melbourne.