Team

Cerise Howard

Studio Leader

Hailing from Aotearoa New Zealand, Cerise Howard is a co-curator of the Melbourne Cinémathèque, a former Program Director of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (2023-2024), an ex-Artistic Director of the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia (2013-2018) and a co-founder of Tilde – Melbourne Trans & Gender Diverse Film Festival.

As a critic, Cerise’s commentary on film can be found across a wide array of outlets, variously in print, online, integrated within home theatrical releases or in Donna Davies’ documentary feature, 1000 Women in Horror (2025). She has been a FIPRESCI jury member in Berlin, Fribourg, Karlovy Vary (twice) and Odessa; a Teddy Awards juror, and was a member of the International Jury Board of the East-West: Golden Arch Awards, celebrating Eurasian cinema, for its three editions between 2018 and 2021.

Direction & Operations

Changle Ma

Creative Direction

Lucy Lynch

Merch • Fundraising

Darcie O’Brien

Venue Management • After Party Coordinator

Felix Calderon

Festival Director

Morgan Finnigan

Venue Management • After Party Coordinator •  Fundraising

Marketing & Design

Adele Nguyen

Graphic Design • Content Creation •  Fundraising

Ella Hennessy

Merch • Publicity • Content Creation

Audrey Luu

Content Creation

Julie (Shuyun Li)

Graphic Design • Fundraising

Georgia Glavas

HR Coordinator • Graphic Design • Content Creation

Ning Chiew

Website Development • Content Creation

Josie Gaal

Content Creation

India Buckley Jackman

Website Development • Content Creation

Sally Hibbins

Content Creation

Finance & Partnerships

Keyne Ieong

Fundraising Lead

Melody Fadaei

Sponsorships • Fundraising

Nicholas Long

Sponsorships Manager

Ollie Ledger

Finance Manager

Technical

Austin Stellini

Backend • Programming • Ticketing •  Fundraising

Hebe He

Programming • Backend