Annidette Puni is an Australian Saibailgal (Saibai Island, Torres Strait) and Samoan screenwriter and playwright whose work centres on identity, culture, illness, and the lived experiences of women of colour and marginalised communities. Born in American Samoa and raised on Awabakal Country in Newcastle, NSW, her storytelling is deeply shaped by her cultural heritage and a profound, grounded resilience. She attended a private school where she cleaned the campus each morning before class for years alongside her family to help pay for her tuition, instilling in her a lasting work ethic. She spent her later high school years at a performing arts school studying drama and dance, where her passion for storytelling deepened. Inspired by the strength of ordinary people, her work reveals the extraordinary within lives shaped by cultural intersection. Through the vibrant, reclaimed colours of the female POC experience, she illuminates the universal landscape of the human heart.

Annidette completed her Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), becoming one of the first Islanders to graduate with this degree. She also trained at NIDA in the TV Presenters Studio and Screen Acting Ensemble. She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Creative Writing) from the University of Technology Sydney, an Advanced Diploma in Screenwriting from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), and a Diploma of Screen and Media from TAFE NSW.

Her debut short film, KEYS (2019), premiered at the Topanga Film Festival and won Best Children’s Short at Indie Short Fest, Los Angeles. It screened internationally, won the Spirit of Sydney Award at the Sydney Indie Film Festival, and earned Annidette a Best Actress nomination at the Revolution Me Film Festival, New York, establishing her as a distinctive emerging voice in screen storytelling.

Her original play, DUPLEXITY, marked her playwriting debut and was featured at NIDA’s 2025 Festival of Emerging Artists. In 2025, she was selected for the Seeding Storytellers initiative through Screenworks and the Australian Writers’ Guild, receiving professional training in writers’ room practice, script coordination, and industry development.

Annidette was also selected as a Createability intern with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) Children’s and Family team through Create NSW. She is the recipient of a First Nations scholarship supported by Inghams, enabling her to complete her postgraduate studies and continue developing culturally grounded stories for stage and screen.