Daybreak Films acknowledges that we work and create on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, as well as to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider Melbourne community and beyond. Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded.

Daybreak is an Australian based production company whose work traverses feature films, documentaries, short films and installation work. Owned and directed by filmmaker Rhys Graham, Daybreak's core team consists of Natalie Nalesnyik & Craig Irvin and collaborates with a number of writers, editors and cinematographers to create bold, independent, creative, and ethically produced film for big and small screens.

Daybreak’s fiction and documentary films have been nominated for seven AFI/AACTA awards and won two, as well as the grand prix at Seminci and FIFO International Film Festivals, a Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival and a UN Media Peace Prize. Their films have been screened at acclaimed A-List festivals including Berlinale and Tribeca, as well as numerous other film festivals around the world.

Daybreak is the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. The time haunted by the sleepless, the crazy, the lovers and the lost, the drunk, the dreamers and the workers.

Daybreak’s installation work has been collected at ACMI, the Bauhaus Archiv and the National Portrait Gallery and has been exhibited in permanent or temporary exhibitions in AGNSW, Asia Pacific Triennial, Museum Victoria, War Memorial Artist’s Gallery and the Museo Italiano.

Daybreak Express is a short film from 1953 by legendary filmmaker DA Pennebaker filmed from New York’s soon to be demolished Third Avenue elevated train line set to the classic Duke Ellington track.

Daybreak’s films for live theatrical or concert experiences have shown in front of tens of thousands of people at venues including the Barbican Centre, the Myer Music Bowl and in arts venues across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Daybreak collaborates extensively with musicians and artists in creating music videos as well as dance and concert films. We’ve collaborated with, filmed, or created live moving images for artists as diverse as Archie Roach, Sinead O’Connor, Mono, Mavis Staples, Joelistics, Dan Sultan, John Cale, Paul Kelly, Taxes, Motor Ace, Emma Donovan, Billy Bragg, Joss Stone and Hiatus Kaiyote.

Daybreak has worked with numerous agencies and clients in producing and creating commercials, online content and fashion film for diverse requirements. See our selected works for examples of our commercial work or contact us for commercial reels.

Daybreak has worked and continues to collaborate with the brilliant minds of Film Camp, Aquarius Films, ArenaMedia, Buster Productions, Matchbox Pictures, Tony Ayres Productions, N0 Colectivo and Rhapsody Films.

Daybreak's website is designed by Lucrezia Invernizzi Tettoni of www.luca.studio