Swinburne student among Australia’s brightest to receive scholarship

Swinburne Film and Television student Alinta Haydock-Burton is among 125 of Australia’s brightest undergraduates to be awarded scholarships by the federal government.

The prestigious New Colombo Plan (NCP) scholarships are awarded by the Australian Government and provide students with the opportunity to live, study and work in the Indo-Pacific region in 2019.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Honourable Marise Payne and Minister for Education, the Honourable Dan Tehan MP, announced this year’s recipients in Canberra last week.

Ms Haydock-Burton has been awarded a scholarship to study production and cinematography at the Hong Kong Baptist University Academy of Film.

Already working as a solo filmmaker in Australia, Ms Haydock-Burton is looking forward to gaining further experience abroad.  

“I’m sure it will be a big learning curve working in a non-Western film industry and I’m hoping that it will help me become a more globally minded graduate and filmmaker in the future,” says Ms Haydock-Burton.

“Hong Kong Baptist University has an internationally renowned film academy, and I am hoping that during my time abroad I can help encourage other Film and TV students to get out of their comfort zones and study in Asia.”

Along with study, Ms Haydock-Burton plans to undertake an internship with a non-government organisation working on a documentary film and then another at a film/television studio in another country.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure where yet, but it might be China, India or Nepal,” Ms Haydock-Burton says.

“Right now, I’m sure there is so much that will happen during my time abroad I couldn’t currently imagine, so I’m really just looking forward to what opportunities present themselves, the unknown challenges I’ll face and the people I’ll meet along the way.”

To see the entire list of scholarship recipients view the New Colombo Plan 2019 Scholarships ceremony booklet. 

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