The Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) (March 20th – 24th, 2025) is an exciting, volunteer-run festival that aims to inspire and empower established and emerging women and gender diverse screen practitioners from Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand and the wider Moana region through the celebration of their work and artistry. MWFF exhibits work from collaborative teams of women and gender diverse practitioners working in all facets of screen production to help redress the gender imbalance on and behind the screen.
Since launching in 2017, MWFF has delivered eight festivals to date, engaging audiences in venues and online with dynamic and inclusive screen experiences. Our program includes feature and short screenings, panel discussions, workshops, education programs, a critics lab, and other industry events. MWFF also partners on screenings and events in line with its mission throughout the year.
Following its launch last night with the gala event screening of We Were Dangerous, a powerful story of hope, girlhood and the celebration of female friendships, festival director Sian Mitchell spoke with our Peter Gray about MWFF’s unique mission statement, how she’s making sure to amplify the right voices, and the biggest lesson she’s learnt from her role.
When it comes to the festival, is there a core mission statement that you go by? And how has that message evolved since its inception?
There is a mission statement that we have. I’m trying to remember the wording of it (laughs), but it basically talks about us wanting to create a really dynamic, exciting, entertaining festival that showcases women and gender diverse stories and perspectives from our region. The change that we’ve had over time is that we started just focusing on Australian films in the program, but in 2020 we opened it out to Pacifica filmmakers, because we wanted to create a bit of dialogue between the regions.
It’s interesting to hear that it was 2020 that was the year you opened it up further. Obviously so much happened in that year that threatened the industry, but I felt in some ways the smaller films found a way to get their voices heard amongst the pandemic. Did you feel that shift from your perspective?
Interestingly, our festival was timed in such a way that we were almost between the crises of that year. We had the bushfires and then that first lockdown. The festival in between, we were able to do that in-person, but that was between lockdowns. And then in 2021 we had capacity limits, but we did do a lot of stuff online that year, and I think we learned from that that people still want to have that connection through film, or through connecting with each other in interactive online ways.
At the same time, for us as a festival we got to look at how we might engage audiences beyond Melbourne. I think with film festivals, they tend to be social spaces, and you have to go to them in person. That’s part of the charm of them. I would never want to take that away. But they’re also very city centric as well. What we’ve tried to do is keep panels, because we want people to be a part of the conversation, and people go to YouTube and live stream and things like that.
With the films this year, have you noticed a key theme or any trends when it comes to the submissions?
Well, we actually program to a theme every year. We’re looking for something quite specific. We do an open call process for short films, and we invite features and do retrospectives. This year’s theme was all about things that might be a little bit taboo or transgressive, or how women and gender diverse storytellers push the boundaries of narrative or themes within their own work. It’s playing with style and aesthetic. That’s why Audrey is in there, because that film is pretty dark. It’s pretty black. You know, seeing this female character centered in that way is so fun, and as a woman it’s kind of cathartic to see someone be really transgressive.
Obviously, you see the festival adapting to the landscape of distribution and consumption. Is that something you’re thinking about? As the industry changes, you have to shift as well.
We do always talk about (creating visibility) and when we think about our programming, what kind of angle we might be able to take. I guess, things like funding and particular programs are out there. By the festival’s very existence, we’re responding with showcasing that gender matters and putting these films on a screen that might not make it into a mainstream cinema or onto a streaming service. But streaming services have so much content, how does it get seen there as well? How is it curated on those platforms? But at the same time, what is it about this particular film, or short films, that we can make a statement that responds to what’s going on at the time? We’re always talking about that, and that’s partly why we theme it, because we can quite quickly be a part of that conversation.
And being in that position, what have been the biggest lessons you’ve learned from your role as a festival director? Any surprises or challenges?
I guess the first and biggest that comes to mind is that we’re still grappling with the changes in language in the way the word woman has, how do I put this diplomatically? Weaponized. So, we want to be clear about our values and visible in those values. We want to be very inclusive. This is why our language is women and gender diverse. We welcome trans women into the fold (too). And that’s a part of our festival this year, with us co-presenting a session with TILDE, the Melbourne Trans and Gender Diverse Film Festival, of another Alice Maio Mackay film (T Blockers). We wanted to make a statement to take the word ‘woman’ back as this inclusive thing. This concept, this idea, this identity. That’s where our values are. But, of course, we get pushback because of the discourse, particularly at the moment with queer and trans visibility.
The Melbourne Women in Film Festival is supported by the City of Melbourne and VicScreen. For more information and tickets visit mwff.org.au.
