Now, the film is impressing judges on the festival run, winning Best Production Design, Best Make Up and Best Drama Film at the Sydney Indie Shorts Festival.

Kelly, who was the producer for El Faro Entertainment with Sydney Director Augusto Garcia, said Terra Incognita tells the story of the encounter that happened between December 20 to 21, 1860 between the Burke and Wills expedition and the Yandruwandha people of the Coopers Creek area.

"The vision was to bring forward a story that recognised and appreciated the different cultures and the vital unrecognised contribution to the expedition from the people that knew the land," Kelly said.

"I hoped to create something bigger that allowed me to learn more about Australia's history and to be able to tell it to you in a way that you would find it fascinating and inspiring.

"I still hope one day I can."

Filmed at Hunter Valley Camels in Muswellbrook, Kelly said the film is close to her heart, capturing the culture and language of the Yandruwandha people.

"It was another proud moment to see another production of mine win some awards and to be recognised in the industry."

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It follows the success of multi-award winning Aboriginal historical short film Mungo, also produced by Kelly.

Tamworth born Emily Ball, owner of Making Faces by Em, was the make-up artist on set, and told the Leader she is so excited and proud to have won the Best Make Up award.

"I moved from Tamworth to Sydney about two years ago now, but I used to do the makeup for all the musicals," she said.

"I've done Beauty and the Beast, Wicked and that's kind of how I started.

"I was shocked, I didn't believe it at first. We shot this film in 2019. I'm so happy that everyone noticed my hard work on that one."

Ms Ball said being on set was an amazing, and fun experience.

"We had all sorts of animals on set - camels, horses, we had it all," she said.

"It was really fascinating to work with some of the cast members because they already had so much experience and listening to their stories was amazing."

The film will be released at the Tamworth Short Film Festival in October.

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