Melbourne Women in Film Festival returns exploring connections and creative collaborations.
The annual Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) will return for its seventh year from 23 – 27 February 2023, taking place at ACMI, the official presenting partner of the festival. Through the theme Connections, MWFF will explore creative collaborations with local and international filmmakers.
Melbourne Women in Film Festival 2023
- Melbourne Women in Film Festival at ACMI
- 23 – 27 February 2023
- mwff.org.au
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Also exploring this theme is the MWFF partnership with Femme Frontera, a Latinx-led film organization made up of, and founded by women and non-binary filmmakers from the U.S.-Mexico border regions of Texas and Mexico. MWFF will screen Femme Frontera’s 2022 showcase of short films, documentaries, narrative and animation. The 2023 MWFF Best Short award winner also gets an opportunity to screen at the festival in Texas.
The MWFF program will also feature a special screening of short documentary Imagined Touch which explores the collaboration of two deafblind performers Heather Lawson and Michelle Stevens, together with director Jodee Mundy, as they wrestle with the question – how do they perform if they can’t see or hear on stage, while leading the audience to a true understanding of what it is like to be deprived of sight and hearing. The screening will also include a panel talk with the filmmakers that focuses on Disability and connection through art practice.
The Closing Night event is a screening of Kāinga (pictured) which debuted at New Zealand International Film Festival 2022 and features eight Pan-Asian Women female filmmakers’ powerful anthology, illuminating the immigrant experience in Aotearoa, New Zealand through the lives of eight Asian women connected by the house they have all called home during different generations. Directed by Julie Zhu, Asuka Sylvie, Michelle Ang, Nahyeon Lee, Yamin Tun, Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, HASH and Angelina Loo. Producer Kerry Warkia will be in attendance for Closing Night.
MWFF Director Sian Mitchell was recently awarded the the 2022 Natalie Miller Fellowship, which 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. Annually, the Natalie Miller Fellowship awards a cash grant of up to $20,000 to a recipient to pursue leadership development opportunities focused on building and enhancing their leadership capabilities and creating positive outcomes for the industry as a whole.
Sian said: “The Fellowship is such an important initiative because it advocates for women in positions of leadership across the screen sector. With the Fellowship, I’ll be able to visit international women’s film festivals and learn from their directors on ways to strengthen the networks and opportunities for the benefit of early career women and gender diverse practitioners, and bring these learnings back to MWFF”.
The festival will once again host panel talks and discussions, co-presented by research partner, Monash University. The full program will be revealed on 2 February and once again includes regular short film sessions – Freshly Squeezed Shorts, Reel Shorts (documentaries) and Next Gen shorts, the education program and the closing night movie.
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. The Melbourne Women in Film Festival is supported by the City of Melbourne Arts and Creative Investment Partnership program.
MWFF runs from 23 – 27 February 2023. Head here for all the latest festival info.
