Awards for ‘Solid Screen Queens’

Two Indigenous Australian women were among five to be acknowledged as Solid Screen Queens at the Solid Screen Awards 2025.

The Awards highlighted the strength and talent of Indigenous women in shaping screen culture, honouring them as “Warrior Women” of the industry.

Shareena Clanton and Brenda Matthews were honoured for their contribution to culture, along with Gail Maurice (Canada), Kath Akuhata Brown (Aotearoa) and Paula Fuga (Hawaii).

2025 marked the 12th Solid Screen Awards, and also part of the cyberTribe 25 Years Proud Honouring Ceremonies.

The Solid Awards began in 2014 at the inaugural Solid Screen Festival held by cyberTribe at Innot Hot Springs, a remote gathering held On Country in Far North Queensland.

In Australia, Brenda and Shareena’s awards were announced in time for the 2025 Solid Screening titled ‘Women’s Work’ which was held in partnership with Lismore Women’s Festival.

Shareena Clanton is a proud Wongatha/Yamatji and Noongar/Gitja woman from Western Australia with paternal Etowah Cherokee/Blackfoot and African-American heritage.

Starred in Wentworth

She is an actor with a strong advocacy for Human Rights and Indigenous Affairs, and stars in the Foxtel/US Netflix series “Wentworth”, where she played her role for five years before leaving the show to focus on her passion for Indigenous Rights.

The role marked her as the first Indigenous actor in a lead capacity on the series, and career highlights include nominations for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent at the 2014 Logie Awards and the Astra Award for Best New Talent, recognising her breakout performance.

During a 2018 appearance on ABC’s Q&A, she asserted that Indigenous Australians “have never ceded sovereignty” and demanded inclusion in decision-making processes, stating, “When do Indigenous people get social, cultural and economic empowerment and voice in parliament?”.

Shareena has served as a cultural consultant on major television productions in Australia and continues to encourage Indigenous women to be global citizens.

Stolen generation

Brenda’s journey from being taken away – stolen, to becoming an author, speaker, film director and Indigenous Director of Learning Circle Australia is an inspiring testament to the power of healing and reconciliation.

Brenda penned her first book, ‘The Last Daughter’, an account of her journey to discover the truth about her past—and to unite her two families.

As a first time feature film co-director, the documentary based on the book was released in Australian cinemas and on Netflix in mid-2023 to excellent reviews and critical acclaim.

‘The Last Daughter’ won Best Australian Film at the Gold Coast Film Festival Screen Industry Gala Awards.

Brenda is a natural Storyteller with an active presence on social media, sharing her philosophical insights and personal story out of love and forgiveness, with the goal of reaching all Australian school students, teachers, and the wider community.

Paulal Fuga and independent artist curator Jenny Fraser.

International awards

Paula Fuga was another honouree, from Hawaii, a co-writer, producer, and executive producer of Kukini, and she also acts in the film and contributed to the music score.

Kukini originated as a story by Paula, best known as a very successful singer and performer.

She wanted to tell a story so she could bring it to classrooms and inspire other Kanaka Maoli Native Hawaiians to make their stories and films.

Gail Maurice is an award winning Director, Writer, Producer and Actor from Canada.

Gail grew up in a Métis village in Saskatchewan and she uses her language, Michif, in as many of her films as she can to keep the language alive and to promote Métis culture and identity.

Michif is spoken by less than 1,100 people in the world and her dialect is only spoken in 5 villages in Northern Canada.

Gail created Assini Productions, to tell stories with strong Indigenous female leads, and her own short films include Smudge (2006), Kihtwam misawac na-wapamitin (2011), Assini (2015), and her debut Feature Film Rosie (2018). Gail’s second feature film, ‘Blood Lines’ premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

Kath Akuhata-Brown is a Maori Wahine Writer, Film-maker, and Creative hailing from the East Coast of Aotearoa New Zealand.

She’s been writing, directing and producing film and television since the mid-90s and is a graduate of the Binger Film School in Amsterdam.

In 2025 Koka won the Network for the Promotion of Asian-Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) Award at the 45th annual Hawai’i International Film Festival.

What is cybertribe?

cyberTribe is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025 as an independent arts and culture initiative showcasing Aboriginal art and other Indigenous cultural expressions.

cyberTribe is a non-government self-funded corroboree running community screenings and celebrating Indigenous Artists via online platforms for love since 2000, mostly funded by independent artist curator Jenny Fraser.

“The Solid Screen Awards honour an unparalleled global network of Indigenous Women cultural leaders, and recognise their lasting impact on Silver Screen Culture and mobile storytelling, which has become essential to our historic quarter century Curatorial and matriarchal Impact” Ms Fraser said.