Australian/Zimbabwean actress Charmaine Bingwa became the first black woman and openly gay person to win the Heath Ledger Scholarship in September 2018, following a record number of entries for the coveted prize.

Set up in honour of the late Australian actor, the scholarship helps launch careers of up and coming talent from Down Under in Hollywood (Bella Heathcote, Ashleigh Cummings and Cody Fern are among previous winners) and Bingwa was chosen as the recipient by a panel of judges including Rose Byrne, Matt Damon and Elizabeth Debick. The 33 year old recently appeared with Monica Bellucci in Nekrotronic, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year.