The founder and principal of Chili Films, an independent Australian production company based out of Alice Springs (Northern Territory), Penelope McDonald has produced and directed a number of internationally acclaimed films. For example, Chili Films produced the highly acclaimed feature documentary My Mother India for SBS Television and Much Ado About Something (directed by Mike Rubbo), which was aired on ABC TV, BBC, and PBS, as well as touring theatrically in Australia. Chili Films also produced twelve state-of-the-millennium audio-visual installations that have been on permanent display in the Gallery of First Australians at the new National Museum of Australia since 2001.
McDonald's and Chili Films' body of work largely explores the relationships between cultures, particularly between indigenous and other cultures. Among the company's award- winning productions are the documentaries Too Many Captain Cooks, Black Sheep, and Photographic Memory and the dramas My Mother My Son, My Bed Your Bed, and Payback. One of McDonald's early films, Night Cries, A Rural Tragedy (directed by Tracey Moffat), was a finalist at Cannes in 1990.
In addition to her work with Chili Films, McDonald worked for many years with Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory. She worked in the education sector with both children and adults, and has also been employed on contract by peak government film organisations, including the Australian Film Television and Radio School, the New South Wales Film and Television Office, and Film Australia. She was a founding member and past president of Women in Film and Television and is a member of the Australian Film Institute. In 2004, she also became the inaugural Director of the Northern Territory Film Television and New Media Office.
