INDUSTRY PROGRAM
INDUSTRY PROGRAM
Lesbian Space Princess: From Concept to Screen
Friday 20th March
2pm, 75mins
ACMI Cinema 2
All tickets $10
Go behind the scenes of Lesbian Space Princess (2025), a bold and genre-defying animation that blends animated sci-fi spectacle with queer storytelling. This panel brings together the creative team to unpack the journey from initial idea to final production—exploring the artistic vision, development process, animation, audience strategies, and the challenges and triumphs of bringing a unique narrative to life. Whether you're a fan, filmmaker, or curious creative, join us for an inspiring conversation about collaboration, representation, and pushing boundaries in the screen industry.
Meet the Speakers
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Emma Hough Hobbs (she/they) is a queer artist from Adelaide. They’re a filmmaker, animator and production designer. Their award winning short On Film was in competition at SXSW Sydney 2023. As a props master they have worked on projects such as A24’s Talk To Me and Gold starring Zac Efron.
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Leela Varghese (she/her) is an award winning Australian writer/ director. Her most recent short film I’m The Most Racist Person I Know was selected SXSW Austin 2025 having its world premiere in the narrative short competition. Leela is known for telling joyful, fun and impactful queer stories that spotlight cultural diversity in Australia. She is also known for her work as a musical comedian, television presenter and voice actor.
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Dr Sian Mitchell (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer in Film, Television and Animation at Deakin University where she revels in the opportunity to work with the next generation of screen storytellers and creative practitioners. Sian has a PhD in film studies and a Masters in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies and her research in areas of Australian and women’s screen practice has been published in journals and industry blogs, including NECSUS, and Camera Obscura. Sian was the 2022 recipient of the Natalie Miller Fellowship, an initiative that supports the professional leadership of aspirational women in all sectors of the Australian screen industry; developing further skills, knowledge and connections through fellowships and programs.
What Happens After the Film is Made? Discoverability in Australian Screen Culture
Friday 20th March
4pm, 90mins
The Edge, Fed Square
Auslan Interpreted
Free
You’ve made a film, what’s next? This panel brings together leading voices from across Australia’s screen culture sector to discuss the visibility of local content in today’s rapidly changing screen landscape. Amid significant technological change and increasingly globalised viewing habits, the panel asks whose stories are being seen, who they reach, and why Australian perspectives — particularly those historically marginalised — continue to matter.
Panelists will consider the shifting role of film festivals and other exhibition spaces as cultural curators, community builders, and pathways for emerging and underrepresented voices, alongside the influence of screen publications in shaping critical discourse, preserving screen histories, and expanding audience understanding. Together, they will explore the importance of a diverse screen culture ecology — encompassing festivals, criticism, education, archives, platforms, and independent exhibition — and what is at stake when access, representation, or visibility within that ecosystem is diminished or goes unsupported.
At the heart of the conversation is the challenge of discoverability in an environment shaped by algorithms, streaming platforms, and global content flows. The panel will discuss how cultural institutions, media, and policy can play an active role in amplifying underrepresented Australian work, ensuring it can be found, contextualised, and valued, now and into the future.
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Ro Bright (they/them) is a writer, producer and programmer. They are the CEO of TILDE trans and gender diverse film festival, they were the Program Director of Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2025, and they are the Co-creative Director of theatre company Bullet Heart Club. A preoccupation with indie recording artists inspired Ro to write the play DAFFODILS (awarded a Scotsman Fringe First and Irish Times Top 10 Show at Edinburgh Festival Fringe), SUGAR (nominated for a 2025 Green room award), ELIZABETH (written with Lisa Crawley, nominated Best Cabaret Melbourne Fringe) and THE HALL (written with Pat Irwin, The Age 2024 Theatre highlight). The Edinburgh Guide reviewed DAFFODILS as "an eloquently, elegiac love poem." ★ ★ ★ ★. In 2019, Ro wrote the screenplay for the feature adaptation of DAFFODILS with recording artists Lips (Steph Brown & Fen Ikner), which screened at Busan International Film Festival, MIFF, HIFF and Sydney Film Festival. They graduated from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, the University of Auckland and Upright Citizens Brigade NYC.
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Pronouns: Ia, She, Them
Sonja Hammer is a diaspora First Nations Pasifika (Ngati Kahungunu, Kuki Airani/Cook Islands) woman originally from Aotearoa/NZ, identifying as Takatapui (‘Queer’ meaning in Te Reo Maori/Maori language), and is Takiwatanga (Autism spectrum).
Curating representations of First Nations in cinema through film festivals some based in Naarm/Melbourne,others in the U.S territories and Europe. Included in that intersectionality is a focus where applicable on Climate Justice, Sovereignty, Social Justice, Anti-Racism and Self-Determination, LGBTIQA+ visibility and Inclusion.
Sonja also has a long and varied background in the analysis of pop-culture and especially in genre and speculative film and television through broadcast media and print and in person on panel discussions.
They have worked in the capacity as Creative Arts Ambassador on the Board of queer Pasifika not-for-profit organization PacifiqueX, which was awarded Creative Australia’s ‘Connect Award’ 2025 for an organisation ‘delivering an intersectional program to a diverse audience’ as the very first queer Pasifika (PX Whanau) radio show in Australia.
Sonja currently programs for Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF), deadCenter (Oklahoma,U.S), Hawai’i Film Festival (HIFF),The Down Under Film Festival (Berlin & Copenhagen) and Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF). They have also programmed for the Wairoa Maori Film Festival in Aotearoa (‘Whenua Jury’ for Maori Pasifika short films) and the Environmental Film Festival Australia.
Sonja lives and works in Naarm on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung & Bunurong Lands of the Kulin Nation.
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As the Senior Manager Acquisitions at Umbrella Entertainment, Jasmin leads on international and local acquisitions for the territory., as well as producing New Zealand productions as the producer for Sanctuary Pictures NZ.
For over a decade, Jasmin was the Head of Marketing at Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga – the New Zealand Film Commission. In this role, Jasmin was responsible for the promotion and marketing of New Zealand films both within Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.
During her time at the NZFC Jasmin worked closely with filmmakers, distributors, film festivals, and international market partners. She played a key role in crafting the festival strategies and release plans for all feature films funded by the NZFC. Her influence can be seen in the successful marketing campaigns and theatrical releases of 13 of the top 20 New Zealand films, including iconic titles such as HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, BOY, THE WORLD’S FASTEST INDIAN, SAVAGE, CHASING GREAT, BLACK SHEEP and THE DARK HORSE.
In recognition of her contribution to the film industry, Jasmin was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to Film in 2022.
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Nicole Titheridge is the General Manager of Theatrical at Madman Entertainment, bringing nearly two decades of experience in the independent film distribution world—15 of those years at Madman. Over that time, she’s worn many hats, rising through a variety of roles to now oversee theatrical sales and operations while also managing the marketing team.
In 2018, Nicole was awarded a Film Victoria grant in conjunction with the Natalie Miller Fellowship, supporting her leadership development through the General Management Program at Melbourne Business School. Nicole is also the Co-Vice President of the Australian Independent Distributors Association (AIDA).
Favourite Madman films? Searching for Sugarman, Parasite, Sirat, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople —just a few highlights from a long list of cinematic loves.
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Jamie Tram is an award-winning critic and editor.
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Kate is a Senior Programmer at Melbourne International Film Festival where she programs a range of new and retrospective features, MIFF XR and MIFF Schools. She has worked at ACMI, does critic work on Triple R and the ABC and served on several festival juries.
Meet the Commissioners & Screen Funding Agencies
Saturday 21st March
11am, 60mins
Gandel Digital Lab 1
Auslan Interpreted
Free
Co-presented by SIGN (Streaming Industries and Genres Network)
Commissioners play a pivotal role in shaping what we see on Australian TV screens, working closely with creators to select and develop their stories. This unique panel at MWFF gives you the chance to hear from Australian content commissioners and screen funding agencies and learn about the work they do. Our panel of industry professionals will explain their place in the Australian screen ecology, demystify the commissioning process, and reveal what they wish creators knew about working with them. This panel is a must-see for screen creators—don’t miss it.
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Zaina is the Scripted Development Executive at SBS where she works across the broadcaster’s slate of bold primetime and short form drama.
Before joining the broadcaster, she was the Associate Producer of the AACTA and Logie-nominated SBS Original series EROTIC STORIES, and prior to that the Development & Production Coordinator at Wooden Horse. She also has experience in TV sales at the independent distributor Entertainment One, and TVC production at the production & design studio Collider. In a past life, she got her start in the industry producing live comedy in Sydney.
A Bangladeshi-Australian raised in the Philippines and Indonesia, she is an advocate for diversity & equity in the sector. At SBS, her role encompasses support for the organisation’s career pathways and content initiatives for underrepresented screen practitioners. She was also Coordinator for the Screen Australia Gender Matters Taskforce.
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Rebecca Anderson is a highly experienced Scripted Television Executive with a proven track record of developing and overseeing the production of quality, award-winning and high-rating Drama and Comedy for Australian audiences. With over 150 hours of commissioned/broadcast comedy and drama under her belt, Rebecca has worked across Hollywood films, live broadcasts, soaps, and exceptional scripted content. In her nearly 30-year career in television, she has worked in development, production and post-production and has executive produced many award-winning and record-breaking dramas and comedies for the ABC including: The Family Next Door, Mystery Road, Austin, The Letdown, Savage River, The Messenger, In Limbo, Barons and Aftertaste.
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Joanna Beveridge is a producer, writer and director based in Western Sydney. She has a double degree in Nuclear Medicine and Digital Media, and has worked as a creative producer/digital editor for companies such as Network Ten, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery and ITV Studios. Jo was selected for Screen NSW’s Emerging Producer Placement which saw her completing a producer attachment with Matchbox Pictures and she was a Screen Producers Australia ‘Ones to Watch’. She’s produced a number of titles including two romcom digital series – No Ordinary Love and Shippers.
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Dr Kirsten Stevens is a film programmer, writer, and researcher based in Naarm. She is Head of Program in the Arts and Cultural Management program at The University of Melbourne and is a founding member of the Screen Industries and Genre Network (SIGN). She has published widely on the Australian screen industry and is working on a forthcoming co-authored book Streaming Cinema which explores the position of films and film industries in the streaming era. Kirsten is deputy director of the Melbourne Women in Film Festival.
The Lifecycle of Film
Saturday 21st March
2:30pm, 180 mins
Swinburne Studio, ACMI
$40/$30/$25
$20 entry for WIFT Victoria members
Co-presented by Women in Film and Television Victoria.
The Lifecycle of Film brings together experts from different facets of the screen industry to guide early and mid- career women and gender diverse practitioners through short form spontaneous mentorships.
Over an afternoon, attendees are invited to participate in 2-3 intimate round table conversations lead by industry experts (mentors) based on their interests within the screen industries, from development to distribution and everything in between. This will be an opportunity for attendees to ask the expert questions about their role, the production process, and any other issues they are facing in the screen industry today.
