This month we’re holding our inaugural Video Junkee festival — an event to celebrate film, TV, online video. In the weeks beforehand we’re taking a moment to spotlight some of the people who make your favourite work.

One of the sessions we’re hosting will dive into ABC’s groundbreaking series Cleverman with the cast and creators of the show. However, they’re far from the only ones doing great stuff at the moment. Here’s a little intro guide to what some of Australia’s most legendary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators are working on right now.

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Cleverman

Since its premiere last year, Cleverman has broken new ground not only in Indigenous storytelling but also in local genre texts. The series is a clever blend of Aboriginal mythology, science fiction and political/cultural dystopia and was quickly dubbed “the show Australia has been waiting for” by Junkee upon its release.

If you haven’t watched before (um, what have you been doing?), Cleverman is set in a fictionalised version of Australia’s future in which the nation is split into humans and “Hairies”. The Hairypeople are a physically strong but violently subjugated group, who share some mythology with Aboriginal culture (they also speak in Kumbainggar, an Indigenous language from northern NSW).

The story follows Koen (Hunter Page Lochart) on his journey becoming the Cleverman — a mythical figure with powers to protect people from an evil spirit called the namorrodor, and to protect the Hairies from the brutal authoritarian regime of the Containment Authority. It can be a brutal watch at times, but is also one of the most entertaining and inventive shows on TV at the moment.

Watch it on: ABC and ABC iview.

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Black As

The premise of Black As is pretty basic: the episodes follow three Yolngu men as they hunt and live in Arnhem Land. They mess around, go fishing, and generally have a sick time together in the bush. But in a country that quite regularly sends old white people into the outback to yell racist stuff for entertainment, it’s actually pretty rare and interesting.

Black As began back in 2015 as a webseries and has since been picked up to screen exclusively on ABC iview after gathering a strong following. The five-minute episodes are frequently funny insights into an underrepresented part of the country; they dive into everyday life in local Aboriginal communities with loads of heart and no sense of gross voyeurism.

If the style looks familiar to you, that’s because the series comes from director David Batty who was also behind the iconic 2001 series Bush Mechanics.

Watch it on: ABC iview.

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Little J And Big Cuz

Making headlines earlier this year, Little J and Big Cuz is the first animated kids show that’s centred on Indigenous culture! The cartoon is all about two kids (played by Miranda Tapsell and Deborah Mailman) learning about their culture and country through family and community.

Importantly, the series is the first to portray an experience that’s catered explicitly towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait kids. It’s the first time many will see themselves on screen, and that’s made all the more impactful through its use of Indigenous languages. Little J and Big Cuz is released with multiple voiceover options — from Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara to Walmajarri and palawa kani.

Watch it on: SBS OnDemand.

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Black Comedy

Black Comedy is straight up one of the funniest shows of the past few years on Australian TV. The ABC series inhabits the beloved Aussie tradition of sketch comedy and infuses it with a witty and incisive critique of the nation’s race relations, and a deep love for Indigenous culture.

The cast is stacked with a huge roster of household names these days including Nakkiah Lui, Adam Briggs and cameos from the likes of Deb Mailman. And Lui, who is also a lead writer on the series, is now working on a new comedy series called Kiki & Kitty, which sounds like it’ll be in the same vein. Kiki is a “young, black woman in a big, white world, where her vagina is a big black woman and her best friend.” Can’t. Wait.

Watch it on: ABC iview.

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The Point

Now in its second season, The Point is news show that provides a much-needed Indigenous focus and perspective on current affairs. With a huge array of Indigenous issues being underreported in much of the media, The Point works over-time in holding the government to account on issues such as land rights, institutional abuse and climate justice, as well as spotlighting local legends.

The show was hosted last year by journalist Stan Grant, and has since been taken over by a bigger group of heavy hitters including Karla Grant, Natalie Ahmat and Ryan Liddle, Rae Johnston and Allan Clarke.

Watch it on: SBS OnDemand.

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We’re holding our inaugural Video Junkee festival this month, a new annual event for lovers and creators of online video. Video Junkee is on July 28 & 29 at Carriageworks in Sydney, featuring keynotes, masterclasses, screenings, interviews and more. Tickets are on sale now.