Dylan River

River was born in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. His father, Warwick Thornton, is a filmmaker and his mother, Penelope McDonald, is a producer,^[1] screenwriter, and director.^[2] He is the grandson of Freda Glynn, the co-founder of CAAMA.^[3]

River's work includes writing, direction and cinematography.^[4][5]

In 2013, his debut feature documentary, Buckskin, won the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize.^[6]

He directed the 2022 six-part prequel series Mystery Road: Origin,^[7] and co-wrote several episodes.^[8][9]

Over some of the 10 years leading up to its release in June 2023, River worked with his mother, Penelope McDonald, as co-writer and cinematographer on the feature-length documentary film Audrey Napanangka, about a Warlpiri woman and her partner, Santos, who have raised many children in the Central Desert. The film's locations included Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Yuendumu, and Mount Theo (Purturlu), Audrey's country, and it was co-produced by Trisha Morton-Thomas and Rachel Clements.^[2][10] Rona Glynn-McDonald (founder of not-for-profit Common Ground^[11][12]) was executive producer of the film.^[10]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

• Mailman, Deborah (introduction) (2018), Duthie, Amanda (ed.), Kin : an extraordinary Australian filmmaking family: Including Freda Glynn, Warwick Thornton, Erica Glynn, Dylan River, Tanith Glynn-Maloney (catalogue entry), Wakefield Press, ISBN 978-1-74305-635-6 – via Trove
• Siemienowicz, Rochelle (1 November 2018). "Freda Glynn - from little things, big things grow". ScreenHub Australia. Book review and extract.

• Dylan River at IMDb