2024 Academy Awards Winners – ‘Oppenheimer’ & Nolan Win Oscars | FirstShowing.net

2024 Academy Awards Winners – ‘Oppenheimer’ & Nolan Win Oscars

by Alex Billington
March 10, 2024

The 96th Academy Awards are finally upon us and it’s time to watch the show and discover the winners of the most prestigious award in Hollywood. The Oscars are back in their normal routine playing out during the winter months, wrapping up this year’s intriguing & extensive awards season in March. All awards will be marked below in the complete list alongside the nominees. There are ten Best Picture noms from 2023, including both Barbie and Oppenheimer from the “Barbenheimer” craze. While I was originally hoping Poor Things would win, it’s expected that Oppenheimer will take home the most awards this year. It may finally be time for Christopher Nolan to have his year! It might also be the first Oscar for Godzilla if it wins in Best VFX. I’m ready for the night and looking forward to find out what The Academy members have chosen. All of the nominated movies are worthy – including American Fiction and Maestro and The Zone of Interest. Now it’s time to find out who’s taking home Oscars, and who isn’t, at the annual Academy Awards. The full set of nominees below will be updated with the winners added once revealed live – refresh for updates.

BEST PICTURE:
Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer!!
Congrats Chris & Emma
BEST DIRECTOR:
Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
BEST ACTOR:
Cillian Murphy - Oppenhimer
Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer
BEST ACTRESS:
Emma Stone - Poor Things
Emma Stone for
Poor Things

Continue reading for a complete list of #Oscars2024 nominees & winners. Comment on the winners below.

This will be updated throughout the night to reflect the winners as revealed. Additionally, I might be adding a small bit of personal commentary beneath each category. Winners are highlighted in BOLD below.

Picture:
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Winner! Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

Thoughts: What a moment! Woohoo! All predictions pointed to this one winning. And yes I am super happy about it!! Nolan finally, finally gets his day. A most deserving win, with Oppie taking home 7 Oscars in total.

Director:
Justine Triet – Anatomy of a Fall
Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Winner! Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
Jonathan Glazer – The Zone of Interest

Thoughts: Nolan did it! He got his Oscar. Finally. Finallyyyyyyyy. Always been a Nolan fan. Glad this is his day. After all these movies, finally recognized as the master filmmaker he is. Love him. Congratulations.

Actor:
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Winner! Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Thoughts: I am ecstatic about this! Finally! He wins it and deserves it and this couldn’t be a better pick.

Cillian Murphy - Best Actor Winner

Actress:
Annette Bening – Nyad
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Winner! Emma Stone – Poor Things

Supporting Actor:
Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Winner! Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

Thoughts: As expect and congrats! Exactly what everyone was hoping! Good news and completely deserving.

Supporting Actress:
Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
America Ferrera – Barbie
Jodie Foster – Nyad
Winner! Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

Thoughts: Of course! She’s the best! I have been rooting her since The Holdovers first opened last fall.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph - Best Supporting Actress Winner

Original Screenplay:
Winner! Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet & Arthur Harari
The Holdovers – David Hemingson
Maestro – Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
May, December – Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
Past Lives – Celine Song

Thoughts: As expected for tonight! A big win for France! This went on long journey from Cannes last year, but this screenplay kept wowing everyone all year with its complexity. Congrats.

Adapted Screenplay:
Winner! American Fiction – Cord Jefferson
Barbie – Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan
Poor Things – Tony McNamara
The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer

Thoughts: Happy about this! I was hoping it would win, had the right buzz & energy behind it all season.

Animated Feature:
Winner! The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Thoughts: Wow! Miyazaki wins! Everyone was expecting Spider-Man, but never doubt the magic of Ghibli.

International Feature:
Io Capitano (Italy)
Perfect Days (Japan)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany)
Winner! The Zone of Interest (UK)

Thoughts: Congrats! As expected. I would’ve loved to have Perfect Days win this one instead, but this is an important film and it’s the right time for it and for Glazer to win anyway.

Cinematography:
El Conde – Edward Lachman
Killers of the Flower Moon – Rodrigo Prieto
Maestro – Matthew Libatique
Winner! Oppenheimer – Hoyte van Hoytema
Poor Things – Robbie Ryan

Thoughts: Huzzah! Congrats to the genius Hoyte for finally winning his first Oscar. Totally deserves it.

Documentary Feature:
Bobi Wine: The People’s President – Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek
The Eternal Memory – Maite Alberdi
Four Daughters – Kaouther Ben Hania & Nadim Cheikhrouha
To Kill a Tiger – Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe, David Oppenheim
Winner! 20 Days in Mariupol – Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath

Documentary Short:
The ABCs of Book Banning – Sheila Nevins & Trish Adlesic
The Barber of Little Rock – John Hoffman & Christine Turner
Island in Between – S. Leo Chiang & Jean Tsien
Winner! The Last Repair Shop – Ben Proudfoot & Kris Bowers
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó – Sean Wang & Sam Davis

Animated Short:
Letter to a Pig – Tal Kantor & Amit R. Gicelter
Ninety-Five Senses – Jerusha Hess & Jared Hess
Our Uniform – Yegane Moghaddam
Pachyderme – Stéphanie Clément & Marc Rius
Winner! War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko – Dave Mullins & Brad Booker

Live-Action Short:
The After – Misan Harriman & Nicky Bentham
Invincible – Vincent René-Lortie & Samuel Caron
Knight of Fortune – Lasse Lyskjær Noer & Christian Norlyk
Red, White and Blue – Nazrin Choudhury & Sara McFarlane
Winner! The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – Wes Anderson & Steven Rales

Visual Effects:
The Creator
Winner! Godzilla: Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

Thoughts: YES! I am so happy for them! Congrats! Right what I was hoping would happen. Huzzah. Super happy to see the whole VFX team bringing Godzilla toys up on stage and juggling them and Oscar statues.

Godzilla: Minus One - Best Visual Effects Winner

Production Design:
Barbie – PD: Sarah Greenwood; Set: Katie Spencer
Killers of the Flower Moon – PD: Jack Fisk; Set: Adam Willis
Napoleon – PD: Arthur Max; Set: Elli Griff
Oppenheimer – PD: Ruth De Jong; Set: Claire Kaufman
Winner! Poor Things – PD: James Price & Shona Heath; Set: Zsuzsa Mihalek

Thoughts: Yes! Congrats! So glad Poor Things is picking up some wins, especially for the totally wacky and crazy and brilliant sets in this film. Love it.

Costume Design:
Barbie – Jacqueline Durran
Killers – Jacqueline West
Napoleon – Janty Yates & Dave Crossman
Oppenheimer – Ellen Mirojnick
Winner! Poor Things – Holly Waddington

Make-Up & Hair:
Golda – Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby, Ashra Kelly-Blue
Maestro – Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou, Lori McCoy-Bell
Oppenheimer – Luisa Abel
Winner! Poor Things – Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, Josh Weston
Society of the Snow – Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí, Montse Ribé

Editing:
Anatomy of a Fall – Laurent Sénéchal
The Holdovers – Kevin Tent
Killers of the Flower Moon – Thelma Schoonmaker
Winner! Oppenheimer – Jennifer Lame
Poor Things – Yorgos Mavropsaridis

Thoughts: Deserving win here. And the first of many to come at the ceremony tonight for Oppenheimer.

Sound:
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
Winner! The Zone of Interest

Thoughts: Wow! A surprise win but of course the incredible, unsettling sound work in this deserves to win.

Original Score:
American Fiction – Laura Karpman
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – John Williams
Killers of the Flower Moon – Robbie Robertson
Winner! Oppenheimer – Ludwig Göransson
Poor Things – Jerskin Fendrix

Thoughts: YES! Phew! An all-timer score here, one of the best ever – so so so glad this won.

Original Song:
“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot – Diane Warren
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie – Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt
“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony – Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon – Scott George
Winner! “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie – Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell

Thoughts: Barbie wins an Oscar! But I would’ve rather given it to “I’m Just Ken” instead…

Honorary:
Winner! Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, Carol Littleton (More info)

2024 Oscar Nominees

Final Thoughts: Congrats to all of the winners! I’m extremely happy about Oppenheimer and Poor Things winning so many Oscars – both of these were in my Top 5 of 2023. I think Emma Stone absolutely deserves the win over Lily! She gave the most impressive performance of the year, without a doubt, and while Lily’s performance is also outstanding it was truly Stone’s to win. I was also hoping to Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Cillian Murphy would win – and they did! Huzzah! I do think Paul Giamatti would’ve been just as satisfying instead, but once again it’s Murphy’s year and it would’ve been a bigger travesty if he didn’t take home the Oscar. Nearly every other win is just right. The Zone of Interest winning Best Sound over Oppenheimer was a big surprise at first, but also a great win – that sound design is astonishing and vital to the film’s unsettling vibe. Of course it’s the right pick in the end. And finally, Godzilla: Minus One is a sweet victory! Godzilla’s first ever Oscar after 70 years since the big lizard first appeared on the big screen in 1954. What a night. I’m not upset about much…! Every winner this year really deserved it and I think The Academy chose well again.

[For last year’s Academy Awards winners, fear. Everything Everywhere All at Once winning big, click here.]

Chime in below after reviewing the list of 2024 Oscars winners updated throughout the night and tell us if you’re satisfied with this year’s awards, and thoughts on the amusing ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel – the main event being held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. One final congratulations to all of 2024’s winners as well as every last nominee! Are you relieved? Any thoughts on the 96th Academy Awards?

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Who Got Richer And Poorer : Gautam Adani Was Up, While Dish Network’s Chairman Got Downgraded

A Mumbai real estate developer and a high school dropout who flies fighter jets for fun also soared this week.


Fast-growing U.S. labor costs and a dip in the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims presented a rocky week for the markets. But overall the indexes saw a modest increase since last Friday, with the S&P 500 up 1.9% and the tech-centric Nasdaq Composite up 2.6%.

But not everyone fared well this week. Charles Ergen, the billionaire cofounder and chairman of Dish Network, shed $600 million of his fortune since last Friday as shares of his pay TV and wireless firm hit a 14-year low. Early this week Dish Network disclosed that it was hit by a ransomware attack in late February and that unspecified data was stolen.

Shares of Dish Network fell more than 6% on Tuesday after the company stated in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that “certain data was extracted” in a breach that targeted internal communications and customer support operations. On top of that one influential analyst downgraded the firm on Tuesday, likely pushing shares even lower.

Other billionaires had a much better week. Indian tycoon Mangal Prabhat Lodha’s real estate firm Macrotech Developers reversed course from a 52-week low on Friday Feb. 24 following an analyst upgrade for the Mumbai-based property developer. Shares rose 38% this week. And India’s Gautam Adani–who was the world’s third richest person in mid January–got a boost as U.S.-based investor GQG Partners injected nearly $1.9 billion into four of the Adani Group’s listed companies. The investment followed a difficult month for Adani Group in the wake of a short-seller report released on Jan. 24.

Another billionaire who had a good week: Jared Isaacman, a fighter-jet flying payments entrepreneur, who got 18% richer after his payment processing company Shift4 Payments reported strong 2022 results, lifting shares to a 52-week high.

We tracked the change in fortunes from the market close on Friday, February 24 through the close on Friday, March 3.

Here’s how some of the world’s richest people fared this week.


Charles Ergen

Net Worth: $3.4 bil 🔴 Down $600 mil, -15%

Country: United States | Source Of Wealth: Satellite TV | View profile

The cyber attack that caused a multi-day service outage wasn’t the only thing that affected Dish this week. On Tuesday, Bank of America senior research analyst David Barden issued a rare double-downgrade for Dish, lowering the stock from buy to underperform. For Ergen, who took the pay television provider public in 1996 and in recent quarters has continued to watch Dish lose subscribers, the bad news represents a dentin his fortune. Dish shares price closed down 15% this week.

Dish has been trying for years to build a 5G wireless network to cover at least 70% of the U.S. by June of this year following the 2020 merger of its competitors Sprint and T-Mobile. Barden, along with other analysts, noted future opportunities in 5G might be scarce for Dish due to competition and technological challenges in the past year.


Mangal Prabhat Lodha

Net Worth: $4.9 bil 🟢 Up $1.5 bil, +44%

Country: India | Source Of Wealth: Real estate | View profile

Property magnate Lodha of India saw a massive 44% increase in his fortune this week after his Mumbai-based real estate firm Macrotech Developers was upgraded by Motilal Oswald Research, which noted an increase in the number of housing units registered in Mumbai in February and predicted that India’s per capita income will grow in the next decade. Lodha founded his property development firm in 1980 and took it public in 2021. He started out building homes for the middle class in Mumbai suburbs and later built Trump Tower Mumbai, a 75-story luxury apartment skyscraper. He and his family members own about 85% of the company’s shares.


Gautam Adani

Net Worth: $42.7 bil 🟢 Up $7.4 bil, +21%

Country: India | Source Of Wealth: Adani Group | View profile

GQG Partners, a U.S.-based firm with $92 billion in assets under management, put a total of $1.87 billion into four listed Adani Group companies, the group announced Thursday. The move boosted confidence in the group’s ability to bring in outside funding more than a month after short seller Hindenburg Research alleged the group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. Adani Group has denied all such allegations.

Shares of Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship company, rose a notable 43% this week, a climb that started several days before the GQG injection was disclosed. Adani Enterprises shares rose nearly 17% on Friday after GQG’s $660 million investment in the principal namesake was announced on Thursday after Indian markets closed. Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone jumped 10% after GQG dropped $640 million on the firm; shares of Adani Ports hit a high mark since the Hindenburg report was released in late January.


Jared Isaacman

Net Worth: $2.2 bil 🟢 Up $400 mil, +18%

Country: United States | Source Of Wealth: Payment processing | View profile

Last year was a good one for Isaacman, the founder and CEO of payment processing firm Shift4 Payments. The company, which reported 2022 results on Tuesday, beat analysts’ earnings per share estimates and reported nearly $2 billion in 2022 revenue, a 46% increase over 2021, leading to a strong spike in the share price Tuesday that continued, lifting shares by 25% for the week.

“The success Shift4 enjoys today is the result of our early entry into the world of integrated payments,” Isaacman said in a letter to shareholders. “We are taking an aggressive position with respect to controlling costs in an uncertain environment and are committed to maintaining flat as possible headcount from 2022 exit levels.”

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From the Top End to down south, these young Australians are determined to make a difference

A TikTok teacher, a drag king and a pilot are just some of the inspiring young Australians who have won this year’s Heywire Trailblazer competition.

Thirteen Trailblazer winners have been named – all of whom are aged 18–28 and are doing incredible things in their regional home towns.

This week, they’ll head to Parliament House to share the stories behind their big ideas with politicians and community leaders as part of the Trailblazers summit.

Their projects are unique, but the individuals behind them have a shared kind of origin story: a painful turning point in their lives became the start of change for themselves and their communities.

Mayála-bol

Menah Mackenzie is reclaiming “self-care” – integrating connection to country, kinship and yarning into wellness so First Nations women and youth can meet their own needs, their way.  (Supplied: Menah Mackenzie)

Menah McKenzie had felt the excruciating ripple effect of suicide across her family and community three times before losing her older brother to suicide in 2019. 

Coming together with like-minded people was where healing started.

Together with her cousin Noni, also bereaved by suicide, she founded Mayála-bol — a social enterprise focused on holistic social and emotional wellbeing for First Nations women and youth

“We know the wellness space can often be a barrier or stigmatising for First Nations people, which can prevent people from accessing these spaces,” Menah says. 

To break down those barriers, Menah’s approach to culture is strengths-based: she embeds connection to country, kinship and yarning into wellness.

Mayála-bol strives to create accessible spaces that are culturally safe and embedded with cultural integration, ensuring First Nations women and youth can meet their own needs, their way

“Wellness our way acknowledges our pain, our trauma and our lived experience, but it also allows First Nations people to be guided and held in a culturally safe space that sees the importance of our culture, our identity and our belonging,” Menah says.

“Wellness our way taps into country as healing, storytelling as healing, sitting in circle as healing, dance and song as healing, language as healing, breath as healing.”

The Pandaemonium Paper

A young woman with blonde hair and a pink shirt smiles for the camera.
Alice Armitage is highlighting regional innovators, creatives and self-starters who are making an impact where they live. (Supplied: Alice Armitage)

Alice Armitage is a farmer’s daughter from Guyra, NSW. 

She knew regional Australia was home to unique opportunities, individuals and communities. 

But she felt like young, ambitious people didn’t always know how to find each other.

After losing her cousin, Nick, to suicide when he was 18, she decided to share the beautiful and brutal behind-the-scenes reality of what country life could be.  

That’s why she founded the Pandaemonium Paper — a quarterly newspaper showcasing the innovators, creatives and self-starters living outside the metropolitan mould.  

Alice is curating a more diverse representation of what’s possible for the youth of regional Australia.

“Founding Pandaemonium has become a channel for me to not only honour Nick’s legacy, but to support the young, ambitious country kids like myself, like Nick, and many others struggling to find their way,” she says.

Down Tilt Esports

Dean Baron (right) with his friend, Jai, standing in front of neon computer lights.
Dean Baron (right) is a video game developer from Launceston, Tasmania.(Supplied)

After Dean Baron lost his Mum to suicide when he was 19, he felt isolated from the world around him. But he found a sense of connection online, playing video games.  

Together with his mate Jai Phillips, he created the Down Tilt Esports league – a place for people to come together in Launceston and online, to be themselves and share their passion for gaming. 

From the mentoring experience he will receive as part of the Trailblazer program, Dean hopes to develop skills and build support to set up events “that celebrate the growing culture around gaming as not only a hobby, but as a community to feel safe in.”

YAAS! Young, Authentic and Social

A woman in a yellow shirt sits in front of a multi-coloured sign that says YAAS!
Carlee Heise is providing a vibrant arts program for young people with diverse identities and abilities.(Supplied: Carlee Heise)

Carlee Heise is a drag king, youth worker and the lead of YAAS! (Young, Authentic and Social) – an arts program for 12–24-year-olds with diverse abilities and identities living on Darkinjung country.  

Carlee grew up in Wagga Wagga and along the Central Coast, but it wasn’t until she left regional NSW that she started to understand her sexuality.

“Visibility affirms the identities of queer young people and promotes a celebration of diversity in the minds of all young people, marginalised or not,” she says.

In her role as a senior youth worker, Carlee has seen the harassment and bullying some young LGBTQIA+ people on the Central Coast experience.

She knows discrimination doesn’t have to be a daily reality and is on a mission to ensure young people can live loudly and proudly in their home town.

Elsie James Grazing Co

A young Indigenous woman with a green button-up shirt, hat and sunglasses poses on a farm smiling.
Zhanae Dodd is connecting young people to country through regenerative agricultural practices.(Supplied: Zhanae Dodd)

Creating safer and more respectful communities is the goal for Zhanae Dodd. Her great-great-grandmother was an Aboriginal horsewoman.

Two generations later, Zhanae’s connected her passion for Indigenous advocacy and culture with her love of agriculture to start a social enterprise.

“As a young person I have experienced what it is like to become a statistic in government systems like health and justice, but I have also experienced the healing which connection to country and culture can bring,” she says.

Elsie James Grazing Co is a mixed farming operation of beef cattle and traditional cropping in Central Queensland.

Zhanae wants to create a place where young people can come to complete a Youth Justice Order, find employment, strengthen their cultural identity and open pathways in the agricultural industry.

“I think there is such power in bringing together the agricultural industry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to create mutual understanding and foster innovation and healing for everyone involved,” she says.

Miss Hobbs Talks All Things VCE

A young woman in a blue button up shirt smiles on a farm with her dog.
Louise Hobbs is ensuring kids have access to educational support, irrespective of where they live.(Supplied: Louise Hobbs)

Louise Hobbs lives in Kaniva, Victoria, on Wotjobaluk Country. She’s collided two worlds – the classroom and TikTok – to create Miss Hobbs Talks All Things VCE.

“I was fortunate I had family support to board an hour away in Horsham for my Year 12. Many country students aren’t that fortunate, it’s the reason I became a teacher,” she says.

Within school hours, you’ll find Miss Hobbs teaching students in the Wimmera region of Victoria.

Outside of that, she’s creating content for Instagram, TikTok or Spotify to meet her students on the platforms they’re on, ensuring young people have access to quality education, no matter where they live.

Now I Can Run

A woman in a race runner
Amy Tobin is one of the 2023 Trailblazer winners.(ABC Sunshine Coast: Meg Bolton)

Amy Tobin is an athlete and businesswoman who has represented regional Australia in the Oceanic Championships and opened sporting clubs in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory. 

On Yugambeh Country along the Gold Coast, she is working to support people living with disability to play sport on their own terms.  

“I am in an electric wheelchair. Growing up, I felt isolated with no opportunities to participate in group or sporting activities,” says Amy, who was born with cerebral palsy.

After training and competing in wheelchair racing, it wasn’t until Amy discovered race running (an innovative sport for people with disability) that she found the freedom and independence she’d been missing.

She wanted to bring this joy to people across Australia and started by fundraising to purchase six frames for local people in her area. Seeing the difference access to a social sporting community made to their lives, Amy founded Now I Can Run. 

These days, she sponsors athletes in remote and rural areas to attend race running camps, workshops and competitions.

Amy is working to create opportunities for other people with disabilities to participate and work in group sporting events to feel connected, empowered and celebrated.

Lake Boga Bank 2 Bank

A young woman with brown hair and a black dress smiles in front of fence covered in plants.
Arlie Atkinson is promoting mental health and community through swimming.(Supplied: Arlie Atkinson)

In Victoria’s Mallee region, Arlie Atkinson is using swimming to promote mental health and foster a sense of community.

Every year, Arlie and her dad swim across Lake Boga. They started to do it in 2014 as a bit of a challenge between the two of them.

Now, the Lake Boga Bank 2 Bank event is an annual event for Arlie’s town and she wants to challenge as many people as possible to take part.

“I feel so honoured to watch the event come together and see citizens from Swan Hill and surrounds unite together at one of the first community events since the pandemic,” she says.

Wings Without Barriers

A young man sits next to his dog in front of a light aircraft.
Hayden McDonald started Wings Without Barriers.(Supplied: Hayden McDonald)

Flying has expanded horizons for Hayden McDonald.

Growing up on the spectrum in Esperance in WA, Hayden felt like sometimes the world wasn’t built for him.

So he decided to combine his twin passions of aviation and promoting real inclusion for people on the spectrum by starting a vlog – Wings Without Barriers.

“I successfully got my recreational pilot’s certificate at 17, but when I started the medical process to apply for commercial training, I was told not to bother, because my autism diagnosis would automatically rule me out,” he says.

“That’s motivated me to speak out about my right, and others’, to be assessed on ability, not disability.”

Hayden plans to solo circumnavigate regional Australia in a light aircraft and wants to present to schools along the way to show other young people that the sky’s the limit.

Project Vulcan

Four performers on stage as part of Project Vulcan, which empowers people with lived experience of disability.
Project Vulcan uses theatre to empower people with lived experience of disability.(Supplied: Project Vulcan)

Tasmania is renowned for its natural wilderness, but George Van Dijk, Nicole Pirlot and Julian Pavy are scared that their safe isle is under threat from warming temperatures.  

As disability advocates and performers, they know that while Tasmania has the highest percentage of disabled persons per capita, they’re not always included in the conversation.

Enter Project Vulcan: a theatre production created and performed by Tasmanian actors with disabilities, supported by their able-bodied director. 

“We tell the story of Vulcan, a god born imperfect who becomes the god of fire,” George says.

“It started in 2020 when we experienced the bushfires and wanted to do something about climate change and disability advocacy.”

A Tasmanian tour is the first step, then they’re off to the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where they hope to represent the Apple Isle and send a “message for the world and our climate”.

The ABC’s Trailblazers program provides a platform for individuals and groups of up to three working on projects to make regional Australia a better place.

Winners receive media support, networking and mentorship opportunities and an all-expenses-paid trip to Canberra.

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