Melbourne Women in Film Festival

Overview

When Hollywood's biggest awards can run for 96 years and only give three female filmmakers its Best Director gong in that entire time so far, it's clear that gender diversity hasn't been big on the cinema industry's priorities for most of the last century. But for eight years now, the Melbourne Women in Film Festival has been doing its part to celebrate women in film, as its name makes plain — and it's back for 2024.

Melbourne's movie lovers can head along to ACMI from Thursday, March 21–Monday, March 25. The lineup starts with opening night's WINHANGANHA, which is directed by Wiradjuri artist Jazz Money and dives into archives on First Nations people. From there, Kitty Green's outback-set The Royal Hotel is a blistering highlight, following two Americans in Australia who take a job tending bar at a remote pub. Or, thanks to Satranic Panic, get ready for a mix of underworld mania and conspiracies.

Other screening options include documentary Carbon: the Unauthorised Biography, which is narrated by Australian Succession star Sarah Snook; closing night's Memory Film: A Filmmaker's Diary, with Jeni Thornley digging into her Super 8 archive that spans 1974–2003; and shorts programs that tour the world and unearth new talent.

Among the talks and workshops lineup, equitable working conditions, how film is linked to the environment and the full lifecycle of cinema from development to distribution all earn sessions.