• I’ve always loved film and its ability to affect people beyond the surface. Being on a film set allowed me to realise the importance of creativity in my life and so I value anything that fuels that same innovation. I’m interested in experiencing the film environment with passionate people to continuously learn the beauty of creating.

  • Achala's passion for television and cinema has driven her career since her early years. She began in India with production houses like Balaji Telefilms, Aruna Irani Productions and became an executive producer at ZEE TV. After moving to Australia in 2006, she expanded her skills into radio production and film distribution. With over 15 years of experience, Achala has worked on major Bollywood films like Kurbaan and Bachna Ae Haseeno and has developed distribution strategies for Australian films such as Backyard Ashes and Babadook. Currently, she leads Zee Studios’ film distribution operations in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, and promotes regional language films focusing on Marathi. In addition to her professional work, Achala mentors media students through the Inner Northern Local Learning and Employment Network (INLLEN) and actively participates in various organizations, demonstrating her commitment to giving back to the industry and community.

    Achala has been appointed to the National Board of the Australia India Film Council, which is dedicated to supporting and encouraging the growing ties between the Indian and Australian film industries.

  • Anna is a doctoral candidate, sessional teacher and research assistant in Screen and Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her work lies at the intersection of cinema and disability studies, focusing on the ambivalent political implications of emotive representations of disabled women in film. She is committed to exploring the intersection of disability and gender both on and off screen. She is interested in how films can be made, exhibited, taught and discussed in inclusive and accessible ways, and how we can increase the presence of minority perspectives in all these areas.

  • Sonja is a diaspora First Nations (Ngati Kahungunu, Kuki Airani-Aitutaki) originally from Aotearoa/NZ, identifying as Takatapui (‘Queer’ in Te Reo Maori, pronoun is Ia), and is Takiwatanga (Autism spectrum). Sonja’s focus has been on marginalised experiences of Indigenous and Queer Indigenous in Oceania and in particular Diaspora within so-called Australia through producing radio programs like PX Whanau the very first MVPFAFF++ radio show in Australia, a Diploma Radio Broadcasting at Victoria University, and curating representations of First Nations in cinema through film festivals some based in Naarm/Melbourne, others in the U.S territories and Europe.

    Sonja has programmed for the Environmental Film Festival Australia (now known as EFA) and the Wairoa Maori Film Festival (Aotearoa). Currently programming for Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF), deadCenter (Oklahoma,U.S - Academy Award qualifying festival), Hawai’i Film Festival (HIFF- Academy Award qualifying festival), The Down Under Film Festival (Berlin & Copenhagen) and Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF).

    They have also worked in the capacity as Creative Arts Ambassador on the Board of queer Pasifika not-for-profit organization PacifiqueX, which was recently awarded Creative Australia’s ‘Connect Award’ 2025 for an organisation ‘delivering an intersectional program to a diverse audience’.

    Sonja lives and works in Naarm on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung & Bunurong Lands of the Kulin Nation.

  • Dr Janice Loreck is a Lecturer in Screen and Cultural Studies at The University of Melbourne. Her background is in gender, women's filmmaking and global art cinema in twenty-first century screen culture. She is the author of the book Violent Women in Contemporary Cinema (2016), co-editor of Screening Scarlett Johansson: Gender, Genre, Stardom (2019), and has published in numerous international journals on feminist film theory and international cinema culture. She also works as a film critic for community and commercial radio in Perth and Melbourne.

  • Madeleine is a film and television enthusiast with a Bachelor’s degree with honours in Screen Studies from the University of Melbourne. She further developed her critical skills through participation in the Critics Lab with MWFF, and later became involved as a screener. In addition to her work with the festival, Madeleine writes film reviews on her blog, The Cinematic Experience, where she shares her insights and passion for cinema. With a deep love for storytelling and screen media, she combines her academic background, festival experience, and writing to contribute meaningfully to the world of film.

  • Dr Sian Mitchell 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 Historic Environment, Peephole Journal, NFSA, and the AFI Research Collection. 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. Most of all though, Sian loves finding and sharing incredible stories made for the screen with others.

  • Dr Whitney Monaghan (she/her) is a screen critic and Lecturer in Communications and Media Studies at Monash University. Her academic work engages with queer and feminist media studies. Her current research examines LGBTIQ representation on screen and uncovers Australia's queer TV histories. Whitney is the author of Queer Girls, Temporality and Screen Media: Not ‘Just a Phase’ (2016), co-editor of Screening Scarlett Johansson (2019), co-author of Queer Theory Now (2019), and the founding editor of Peephole Journal, an online magazine devoted to creative screen criticism. She has reported on films, television and film festivals for many publications with international reach. 

  • Katie is a film programmer and event producer working in the wonderful world of film exhibition. Throughout her screen career, Katie has worked alongside global film distributors, established and emerging film festivals and everything in between.

    With a background in film, art history, graphic design and philosophy, Katie’s education and work experience has been focused on understanding how we tell and share stories across different genres and mediums.

    As Vice President of Women in Film & Television, Victoria (WIFT Vic) Katie is passionate about empowering women and gender diverse practitioners to create a screen industry that is diverse and inclusive across all levels and sectors.

  • Dr Kirsten Stevens is an internationally known film writer and researcher working in the areas of film festivals and film exhibition practice. Author of the book, Australian Film Festivals: Audience, Place and Exhibition Culture (2016), she has spent several years tracing the history of Australia's engagement with cinema and the practices that have built the country's vibrant film culture. Now a leading scholar on Australia's film festival history, she has presented her work around the world. Since gaining her PhD in film studies at Monash University in 2013, she has become increasingly involved in Australia's film festival scene, reporting on and volunteering in several festivals, as well as teaching a course on film festival research and practice in 2016. In 2015 and 2016 Kirsten volunteered with the St Kilda Film Festival, gaining invaluable first hand front-of-house experience of the day-to-day running of a large film festival, which further built on her experience in audience research and event management gained through working within the university and at Museum Victoria.