Ian Darling is an award winning documentary filmmaker with Shark Island Productions in Sydney, Australia. His director and producer credits include THE OASIS, IN THE COMPANY OF ACTORS, ALONE ACROSS AUSTRALIA and WOODSTOCK FOR CAPITALISTS. His films have all screened on ABC Television in Australia, a variety of television networks around the world, and at over 100 international film festivals.

He has recently produced two short fiction films, POLLY AND ME (writer and director) and WALL BOY. Both social policy short films will act as companion pieces to the homeless documentary THE OASIS, and its on-going outreach and education campaign.

Currently he is directing and producing two feature documentaries, both with extensive outreach and education programs: PAUL KELLY - STORIES OF ME and OUR LITTLE GARDEN, and a short documentary THE SOLDIER.

He is the founder and Chair of the Documentary Australia Foundation, a philanthropic initiative supporting the documentary film industry in Australia. He is Chair of The Caledonia Foundation, a private foundation focusing on the education, training and welfare of disadvantaged young Australians. He also manages the Shark Island Foundation and the Shark Island Documentary Fund, which supports Australian documentary filmmakers and the local film industry.

Ian Darling was Chair of the Sydney Theatre Company and the STC Foundation, from 2006-2010. He has been a Director of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Social Impact.

In 2008 he won the AFI Award for Best Direction in a Documentary for THE OASIS. The film was also nominated for a Walkley, IF, ATOM, Australian Directors Guild and Logie Award.

He was a recipient of the AbaF Business Arts Leadership Award in 2008, and in 2009 his photo "Jon" was a finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.