Ausfilm First Nations Spotlight: Karla Hart
This article was originally published by Ausfilm.
Karla Hart can’t remember a time when she wasn’t acting, singing or dancing as a child.
Raised on Goreng Country in Western Australia’s Great Southern region, she loved all sorts of creative pursuits – but it was always cultural storytelling that resonated with her most deeply.
Now one of Australia’s most influential First Nations filmmakers, the proud Noongar performer, writer, producer and director has forged a multi-disciplinary career in the arts spanning theatre, screen, radio and events.
“I grew up in a little country town (Gnowangerup) where I had family on the same street, lots of cousins, aunties and uncles, nans and pops – lots of Noongars in town, lots of bush food, lots of language and lots of non-Indigenous mob too who are still some of my dearest friends,” Hart says.
“We’re the oldest storytellers in the world. You only have to go to any of our family’s houses and we hear the best stories – stories that could be on stages in Broadway!”
Karla Hart, Writer, Producer, Director
After time working in a bank and in the justice system, Hart embarked on her “dream of a career in the arts”, studying Aboriginal theatre and contemporary performance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and Edith Cowan University.
She then moved into non-fiction storytelling on screen – a move that has earned her kudos and respect across the sector, delivering community-driven projects with purpose, heart and social impact.
Hart’s catalogue includes more than 140 episodes of broadcast television, including Our Medicine, Yokayi Footy, Family Rules and the cooking-travel series On Country Kitchen with Derek Nannup and Mark Olive.
Her upcoming series Saltwater Cowboys is due to air in 2027 and her first feature film, Moodja is now in development.
“I started in film because there was actually an initiative run by Screenwest and someone recommended I do it. It was called Seasons where you had to create a short film around an Aboriginal season story. My first film was Magic Quandong in 2013 and I went on to win a West Australian Screen Award for that film. I haven’t looked back since.”
Karla Hart, Writer, Producer, Director
By her own admission, Hart says there’s not much she hasn’t tried.
She founded the Kwarbah Djookian Noongar Women’s Dance Group in 2008, set-up Aboriginal-owned company Karla Hart Productions, and has been a radio presenter and MC.
Karla Hart and crew filming in Warakurna, Western Australia © Photo by Danni Booth
Named Aboriginal West Australian of the Year in 2021 and a two-time Perth NAIDOC Artist of the Year, Hart has attracted an array of high-profile awards and was most recently a 2026 Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) Southern Light Award winner.
“I never really think I can’t do something, I just dream big and I put it out to the universe and give it a crack,” Hart says.
“I surprise myself. I never really do it because of awards. I do it because I love it. I pinch myself that I get to have a job getting to know the most incredible people.”
Hart says connecting on Country with her community makes her job as a filmmaker fulfilling.
“Our country is just so beautiful, but it’s the people in these places that warmed my heart and filled my soul. I feel so incredibly blessed to have a career where I get to go to these places.”
Karla Hart, Writer, Producer, Director
“I know what my brand is and I’m confident to trust myself and think outside the box…I want to work hard to follow my dreams and create opportunities for other people,” says Karla.
“I feel a responsibility to my community to do that – to my grandmother and my old people who went through so much in this country. I have this freedom now, and I don’t take that lightly, I want to make them proud and I want to take advantage of those things that are afforded to me because of what our old people did to travel this path.
“Our people are the most generous, loving, most inclusive, protective people you will ever meet – they’ll give you the jumper off their back.
“When I’ve gone around to these communities, they’ve been so happy to me showing that respect and love to them, and being happy to be in their country and be guided by their knowledge, to see their strengths and celebrate that with them, everywhere I look I see Black excellence. I see incredible, deadly community people doing incredible things.”
Karla Hart, Writer, Producer, Director
Hart says Western Australia has some of the most brilliant filming locations and it is an honour to work on Country.
“I love being on Country and filming on Country because Country is a character in itself. It’s a spirit. We talk to Country. We acknowledge Country everywhere we go.
I love filming on Country because Country is who we are. When we, as Aboriginal people, identify ourselves the first thing we say is who we are and where we’re from and that’s because Country is part of who we are.
You go anywhere in Western Australia and the locations are just incredible. I was part of Blueback and those oceans and beach country – you can’t get anywhere better than this to film in the world.”
Karla Hart, Writer, Producer, Director