About

With the onset of COVID-19, Australian film festivals scrambled alongside the rest of the world to make sense of what the pandemic would mean for planning months in the making. With each successive week these plans underwent continuous revision as major international festivals were cancelled and the rhythm of post-festival distribution deals was disrupted. Join BIFF Artistic Director Amanda Slack-Smith as she talks with Lucy Fisher, Festival Director and CEO at the Gold Coast Film Festival, Jenny Neighbour, Head of Programs & Documentary Programmer at the Sydney Film Festival and Al Cossar, Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival about the challenges they have faced in 2020 and where they believe festivals will head from here. Due to the current closure of the Queensland borders to Victoria and NSW, a portion of this discussion will be pre-recorded. It will be followed by a live audience discussion with BIFF Artistic Director Amanda Slack-Smith hosted by Sue Swinburne, documentary filmmaker and Program Director of the Masters of Screen Production, Griffith University.