Penny Vozniak is an independent filmmaker and video artist working in hybrid documentary and VR. Her first film, Despite the Gods, screened at over 40 international film festivals winning best film, best director, and best comedy awards. Her next feature, Captain Jackson, is in post-production, alongside a rotoscoped documentary exploring subversive romance writers in Northern Nigeria. Her side project is creating single-take dream-themed video art. The first video in this series, Precious, received a special commendation at London’s Shots Magazine Asia-Pacific New Director Awards and won the inaugural Sandfly Film Festival. Upcoming participatory video-artworks focus on designing and developing data sonification and XR experiences for peace interventions.

Penny has led masterclasses in nonfiction filmmaking at the Victorian College of the Arts, Stockholm International Film Festival, and RMU Pittsburgh where she was also a filmmaker-in-residence. Her films have received funding from Screen Australia, Documentary Australia, and National Geographic. She is also a Berlinale Talents alumna.

Australian but based between Sweden and the UK, Penny has a BA (Hons) in English Literature and a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies. In her downtime she leads the National Photography Network (NPN) for Amnesty International Australia.

*The moving image above is from a video art experiment designed to answer two questions: How do emotions affect peace of mind, and can data visualisation and sonification be used as a creative diagnostic tool for self-awareness?

Published in the Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change.