The wonderful ANFF 2022 Gala Dinner was a celebration and an opportunity for the wider ANFF community to get together and network with other ANFF staff.

Our keynote speaker Peter Greste, journalist and media freedom campaigner, provided us with food for thought on how you develop personal resilience in the face of incredible difficulties. In December 2013, he was in Egypt working for Al Jazeera covering the political unrest that was plaguing the country at the time, when national intelligence agents raided his hotel room and arrested him and two Egyptian colleagues.

Peter’s letters describing their detention as an attack on the free press were smuggled out of the prison. Those letters helped inspire a global campaign to free the Al Jazeera three that went all the way to the White House. After 400 days behind bars, Peter walked free.

Appearing by arrangement with Claxton Speakers International, Peter’s presentation was entertaining and challenging all at the same time. The insights Peter gained in prison made for enlightening realisations around the issue of resilience in adversity. He encouraged us to take a clear-eyed look at what is really going on in our lives, without living for some non-existent future that we might hope for but never attain and to acknowledge the role that chance plays in both success and failure. This change in perspective allows us to adapt to difficult situations that we may face.

Chris Gourlay, ANFF’s Chief Operating Officer, said ‘As a newcomer, I was impressed by the diversity of people with incredible skills who make up the ANFF Community and who clearly are committed to making the world a better place through their expertise – and who just enjoyed each other’s company and made new connections after the COVID lockdowns.’

We also took the opportunity to acknowledge our Frater Awardees from last year and celebrate this year’s Frater Award and Career Development Award winners. Giving our staff the full “And the winner is” treatment.

But, best of all, we were able to connect with our greater community over a wonderful meal, in the most beautiful of settings of the National Gallery of Australia.

We thank NanoVacuum for their sponsorship of the 2022 ANFF Showcase Gala.

For visual highlights of the evening, watch this video.