Wednesday nights are traditionally quite a quiet night, but while you were sitting watching the first instalment of the Ben Cousins doco, we were off to the much-anticipated grand finale of the Focus on Ability film competition. Run annually by Nova Employment, the competition provides a creative platform for many within the Australian disabled community to come together, support one another and share their ideas. Film-makers from student, school or open categories were set the challenge of creating an original short video centred around the idea of ‘focussing on ability’. Nova was blown away by the response to the competition with videos coming in from all over the country – sharing inspiring personal stories and experiences and coming together in showcasing the strength and ability of the disabled community.

With 36,000 votes coming in from 56 countries, the hype was building, and Wednesday was set to be the final instalment in the competition! Naturally, the excited UMM team packed up early at the office, got on our best suits and heels and headed to the event – a major screening of all the films at Hoyts cinemas in Fox Studios.

The whole foyer was buzzing with people – with film-makers, media and many of the film’s stars mingling over popcorn and champagne. The energy and excitement was unreal, as stories were shared, photos taken and speculations were made over the winners.

Having packed out the cinema, Dance Ability kicked off the evening with colourful costumes, big smiles and upbeat dance routines. Toes were left tapping as the group showed off their moves to Grease, and set a positive vibe for the film screening. The finalists’ films were shown on the big screen – an exciting debut for these outstanding entrants into the film industry!

Before we knew it the big announcements were upon us, with runners up and first place prizes awarded to film-makers in the student, schools and open categories. Jack Noble was awarded first place in the student category for his inspiring film following a day in his own life and Bates Drive Ability School came in at number one for the school’s category.

The Industry Choice award went to Pete Doherty for his film ‘Rolling On’. The film features his close friend Jared Martin who, despite the physical restrictions he has fought with ‘brittle bone disease’, has pursued his ambitions of being a 3D computer animator.

However it was Dance Ability which once again stole the show, winning a massive $5000 for first place in the open category and treating us all to an exciting encore!

The night was a huge success and a big thank you to everyone that was involved. We loved being a part of the whole event, and eagerly await next year’s competition!

We’ve put together a fun little clip of the evening which we think you should definitely check out here: Focus on Ability