An Indigenous director has been acknowledged for filmmaking excellence at the Melbourne International Film Festival after being awarded an inaugural MIFF award.

Nyul Nyul and Yawuru woman Jub Clerc, director of feature film Sweet As was awarded the Blackmagic Digital Australian Innovation Award at Saturday's gala evening.

The award recognises Ms Clerc's filmmaking talent and for her work within an Australian feature length film that was screened at the festival.

She was selected as the award recipient from a field of five nominees by a panel of industry experts including filmmaker Lynette Wallworth, actor and director Shareena Clanton, Indonesian film director and screenwriter Mouly Surya and Australian cinematographer Adam Arkapaw.

Jub Clerc pictured with Sweet As cast and crew at Saturday's MIFF gala. Image: Diego Fedele.

Sweet As is the debut feature from the director, who was inspired by her own experience as a Indigenous teenager growing up in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia.

Described by critics as The Breakfast Club meets the outback, Sweet As is a coming of age road movie as seen through the eyes of Murra, a 15-year-old Indigenous girl from Port Hedland who is on the verge of self-destruction.

In accepting her award at Saturday's gala, Ms Clerc payed homage to her Indigenous heritage.

"Storytelling is in our blood," she said.

"We never had a written language."

"We sang, we danced and painted all of our stories, and now we have a new medium."

Ms Clerc also offered a tongue-in-cheek comment about the $70,000 prize money that accompanied the award.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhebCb1rVqk&t=24s

"This is not my film but our film," she said.

"Not the prize money of course, that's all mine."

In commenting on Ms Clerc's success, the panel of industry judges hoped that the award encouraged both her and other Indigenous women to tell their own stories through film.

"We are so excited to see what happens next in this filmmaker's journey, and hope that this award encourages their future film-making projects; that it not just inspires more Indigenous women to be central characters in their own stories", they said.

The Melbourne International Film Festival screened 370 movies over the 18 day festival, with a prize pool totalling $210,000 making it one of the most lucrative and lengthy film festivals worldwide.