an abstract photo of a curved building with a blue sky in the background

SCREENPLAY

HISTORICAL, INDIGENOUS, FEMALE-LED FEATURE

THE DEFIANT ONE - Written by Veialu Aila-Unsworth

On a Pacific Island colony, an Indigenous girl accidentally gets her brother arrested and must save him from being executed.

~ Recommend in script coverage (top 2-5% of scripts) ~ One of 10 screenplays chosen for The Black List's CAPE List ~ Second Round of the Sundance Development Track ~ The Black List x WIF Residence Longlist ~ Special Mention at UK Online Pitchbox.

SCREENPLAY

HISTORICAL, FEMALE-LED FEATURE + ONE-HOUR PILOT

WAR DANCER - Written by Veialu Aila-Unsworth

A teenage girl, forced into an arranged marriage, dreams of being a dancer, falls in love and must escape the Japanese invasion of Burma, World War II.

~ Screenplay given a Recommend in script coverage (top 2-5% of scripts)

FABER ACADEMY

WRITING A NOVEL, FICTION, INDIGENOUS

Veialu was awarded the 2025 Faber Writing A Novel Scholarship by Australia's leading independent publishing house Allen & Unwin in partnership with UK publishers Faber & Faber.

MENTOR

ARMED WITH A CAMERA FELLOWSHIP, LOS ANGELES

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Veialu was a mentor for the 2023-2024 Armed With A Camera Fellowship (AWC) in Los Angeles, a program run by the pioneering media arts organisation VCmedia.org.

For over 20 years, this annual fellowship has supported Asian & Pacific Islander filmmakers who empower communities & challenge perspectives. Veialu is also an AWC alum herself.