The Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) is delighted to reveal its highly anticipated program for 2024, showcasing a dynamic lineup of feature films, shorts, panels, and workshops in its eighth year at ACMI from March 21-25.
The festival opens with the screening of WINHANGANHA, directed by acclaimed Wiradjuri artist Jazz Money and commissioned by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. WINHANGANHA, meaning remember, know, think in Wiradjuri language, sets the stage for a week of diverse and empowering cinematic offerings.
MWFF is introducing the themed short film series, Our World, which explores contemporary women and gender diverse perspectives through a mix of fiction and documentary stories. Highlights include Babanil, a heartfelt documentary by filmmaker Marlikka Perdristat, and Undercurrents, a poetic essay documentary by Margot Nash that reflects on global issues with a focus on resistance. Undercurrents investigates the connections between racism, colonisation, environmental degradation, and patriarchal dominance while respecting the life-affirming force of resistance.
Making its Australian Premiere, Get to the Wire, directed by Paul Burns, is set in a dystopian future, following an Australian-Iraqi woman navigating a chaotic British immigration detention centre to survive and reconnect with her estranged family.
The short film program continues with the return of the successful Freshly Squeezed Shorts (March 23-24) and Next Gen Shorts (March 24) series, both setting out to showcase the region’s best emerging women and gender diverse filmmakers.
The feature film program includes Carbon: the Unauthorised Biography (March 24, 2:15 pm), directed by Daniella Ortega and Niobe Thompson, and narrated by Sarah Snook (Succession). The Royal Hotel (March 22, 7:00 pm) by Kitty Green stars Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick, unfolding the unnerving experience of two Americans in a remote Australian Outback mining town. Satranic Panic (March 23, 7:00pm) follows friends Aria and Jay on a road trip to unearth the mystery behind the murder of Max, Aria’s brother, and Jay’s great love.
The festival concludes on Monday, March 25, with the Closing Night feature, Memory Film: a Filmmaker’s Diary. Directed by Jeni Thornley, this poetic documentary draws on Thornley’s Super 8 archive (1974-2003) and chronicles decades of activism and social change.
VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher said, “MWFF have unveiled another electric program, jam-packed with unmissable screenings, panels and workshops. We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the festival, championing brilliant cinema from women and gender diverse people, and this year, we are excited to present three unique sustainability sessions. We can’t wait to see MWFF in full swing, later this month.”
Once again, MWFF presents a line-up of career development workshops for early career and emerging practitioners. Highlights include: The Lifecycle of Film (Saturday, March 23, 2:30 pm), which is an intimate round table conversation led by industry experts exploring various facets of the screen industries from development to exhibition.
Sustainable Methods (Sunday, March 24, 2:00 pm) [pictured], co-presented with Sustainable Screens Australia, is a workshop led by industry veteran George McClements focusing on the environmental impacts of the screen industry and ways to integrate sustainable practices in production.
There will also be an educational panel co-presented between MWFF and ATOM Victoria on Sustainable Film and TV (March 22, 12 pm) for secondary school students and teachers. This discussion will feature filmmakers and climate activists discussing the importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly productions.
Melbourne Women in Film Festival aims to expand the vision of gender equality and diversity in the Australian screen industries and culture by creating dynamic and inclusive spaces that bring diverse practitioners and audiences together to be moved by compelling, provocative, and entertaining cinema. MWFF is supported by the City of Melbourne Arts and Creative Investment Partnership program.
Melbourne Women in Film Festival at ACMI
21 – 25 March 2024
mwff.org.au
