By Travis Johnson
Running from February 22 – 25 at venues across Melbourne, the Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) celebrates and supports the work of women screen practitioners of all stripes: directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, sound designers, editors, and more. This year’s program includes over 30 films, plus a full side program of panels and Q&As.
“This annual festival advocates for gender equality in the Australian screen industry and provides a platform for emerging female filmmakers to exhibit their work to Melbourne audiences,” said Festival Director Sian Mitchell. “We are truly excited to bring these incredible films to the big screen.”
This year’s opening night film is the Australian classic Love Serenade, which won the Golden Camera at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for 2 AFI Awards. Writer and director Shirley Barrett will be on hand to introduce the film.
“I’m so delighted that Love Serenade is opening MWFF 2018,” Barrett said. “With the exception of our production designer, Steven Jones-Evans, all the key creative positions were filled by incredibly talented women. It was my first film but as you can see, I was in very good hands!”
Closing out the festival is Drama, the first feature from Sophie Mathisen. Mathisen stars, writes, directs, and produces the film, which was largely crowdfunded, working with her sister Dominique Mathisen as co- producer.
Other highlights this year include Don’t Tell, directed by Tori Garrett, and the ‘Music in Motion’ which features such tune-centric films as Rachel Perkins’ One Night the Moon, starring musician Paul Kelly, and The Was, Soda Jerk’s collaboration with The Avalanches.
To get the full run-down, head over to the official site.
