Marissa Gibson is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n actress. She played the central role of Delilah in the 2009 film Samson and Delilah

Samson and Delilah (2009 film)

Samson and Delilah is a 2009 Australian film and was directed by Warwick Thornton. It stars Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson, both young first time actors. It was filmed in and around Alice Springs...

. The film won the Caméra d'Or

Caméra d'Or

The Caméra d'Or is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections ....

 award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

  and Best Film at the 2009 AFI Awards

Australian Film Institute Awards

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...

.

Gibson attends high school in Alice Springs, where she lives with her uncle, aunt and grandmother, Mitjili Napanangka Gibson, who portrayed her grandmother in the film. She speaks three languages, Warlpiri

Warlpiri language

The Warlpiri language is spoken by about 3000 of the Warlpiri people in Australia's Northern Territory. It is one of the Ngarrkic languages of the large Southwest branch of the Pama–Nyungan family, and is one of the largest aboriginal languages in Australia in terms of number of speakers.-...

, Luritja

Luritja

Luritja is a name used to refer to several dialects of the Indigenous Australian Western Desert Language, and thereby also to the people who speak these varieties, and their traditional lands.-Origin and meaning of Luritja:...

 and English, and is learning Japanese.

Gibson lived previously in Kintore

Kintore, Northern Territory

Kintore is a remote settlement in the Northern Territory of Australia, located approximately 530 km west of Alice Springs and close to the border with Western Australia. At the 2001 census, Kintore had a population of 691, of which 95% identified themselves as Aboriginal...

 where she experienced first hand the desolation of life in isolated communities that is portrayed in the film.

Awards

• 2009: Deadly awards: Female Actor of the Year - NOMINATED
• 2009: IF Awards: Best Actress - WON
• 2009: AFI Awards
  Australian Film Institute Awards
  The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
  
  : Best Lead Actress - NOMINATED
• 2009: AFI Awards
  Australian Film Institute Awards
  The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
  
  : Young Actor Award - JOINT WINNER

External links