Meet the Programmers of the 2025 Sydney Film Festival

NASHEN MOODLEY – FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Festival Director Nashen Moodley will be running his 13th Festival this coming June. During his tenure, the festival has grown vastly. Moodley’s career in film programming has encompassed many leadership roles, including Manager at the Durban International Film Festival (2001–2011) and as a Programming Consultant for Dubai International Film Festival (2005–2017). During his tenure, he dramatically increased Durban’s content and reach. He has been a jury member at various film festivals worldwide including San Sebastián, Busan, Toronto, Rotterdam, El Gouna, Durban and Tokyo film festivals. Moodley studied English and philosophy at the University of Natal and worked as a journalist before turning to film programming.

JUSTIN MARTYNIUK – HEAD OF PROGRAMS

Justin Martyniuk was appointed Head of Programs at Sydney Film Festival in 2024 after serving as a key member of the Festival’s programming team since 2018. Prior to joining SFF, he began his career at the Adelaide Film Festival, where he was Curator in Residence in 2017, overseeing the festival’s shorts programs before moving on to program feature films in 2018 and 2020. With over eight years of experience in film curation, Justin has played a significant role in shaping Sydney Film Festival’s selection, working closely with Festival Director Nashen Moodley. He has been instrumental in programming Australian independent films and securing titles that resonate with younger audiences.

JESS EllicotT – Program Manager

Jess Ellicott is Program Manager at Sydney Film Festival. She has gathered over a decade of industry experience in film programming and marketing across roles at the Sydney Opera House, Golden Age Cinema and Transmission Films. As a film critic, she’s been featured in The Big Issue, The Screen Show on ABC RN, Runway Journal and more.

JENNY NEIGHBOUR – Australian Documentary PROGRAMMER

Jenny Neighbour has a long well-regarded history of programming films for the Sydney Film Festival, across fiction and non-fiction, features and short films. In her 35 years at the festival she presented both international and Australian documentaries, introducing the work of key filmmakers to Sydney audiences, showcasing a wealth of topics, and championing films by debut filmmakers. Her commitment to the documentary realm sees her return to the Festival (after stepping down as Head of Programs following SFF 2024) to present the finest Australian documentaries.

Paul StRuthers – International Documentary PROGRAMMER

Paul Struthers brings over 20 years of experience in the film industry across the UK, USA, and Australia, including at Sydney Film Festival as a Program Consultant and in marketing over the years. His career spans distribution, sales, exhibition, film festivals, and producing. He served as Festival Director for Mardi Gras Film Festival and Director of Programming at Frameline. Recently, he was Senior Programmer at the Adelaide Film Festival. Currently, Paul is an Associate Programmer for Tribeca, Curator and Founder of First Films, and Consultant for Africa Film Fest Australia. A former juror at Berlinale and Cannes, Paul was named one of Screen International’s 2024 Future Leaders.

Richard Kuipers – Freak Me Out Programmer

Richard Kuipers curates the Freak Me Out program. He is a Variety film critic, a specialist in weird cinema and has produced documentaries including The Cambodian Space Project – Not Easy Rock’n’Roll (SFF 2015).

Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd – FLUX Art+Film Co-curator

Film curator Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd returns to SFF to co-curate FLUX: Art + Cinema, putting together groundbreaking films that explore the intersection of art and cinema. Ruby regularly programs the weekly cinematheque at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Harriet Johnson – FLUX Art+Film Co-curator

Joining Ruby as co-curator is Harriet Johnson, an educator and researcher. She holds a PhD in Critical Theory from the University of Sydney, where she has also taught aesthetics, politics, and literary criticism.

Paul Matereke – Shorts Programmer

Programming SFF shorts for a fourth year is Zimbabwean filmmaker Paul Matereke, who focuses on the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films. Paul is the co-founder of production company Treason Flowers and has directed films through the collective. They include David McBride: Declassified, selected at Antenna Documentary Film Festival in 2022.

Rebecca McCormack – Screenability Programmer

Writer and creative Rebecca McCormack curates the Screenability program, showcasing inclusive stories by filmmakers with disabilities. With a strong passion for curating diverse and inclusive programs within the arts sector, Rebecca also regularly programs at Accessible Arts as an Arts Advisor.

Laurrie Mansfield – First Nations Advisor

Laurrie Mansfield (nee Brannigan-Onato) is a developer, facilitator, and producer for the screen arts. With 10 years’ experience in the screen industry, Laurrie has worked with leading organisations both locally and globally including: Screen Australia (First Nations, Enterprise, Content, Online), Netflix (Production and ANZ Grow Creative), Australians in Film (AiF), Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), Arts Cultural Exchange (A.C.E.), Screen NSW, Curious Works, Screenworks and Sydney Film Festival.

Laurrie’s background as an Aboriginal-Filipino-Irish and Bi+ / Gender Queer individual, raised in Western Sydney, has informed their practice, and has equipped them to facilitate discussions about culture, class, collaboration, equity, gender, mental health, and power dynamics in the screen arts.

Shelly Kraicer – Programming Consultant

Writer and film curator Shelly Kraicer is our Programming Consultant for Chinese-language films. Shelly has written extensively on Chinese cinema and has subtitled numerous Chinese films into English. He has curated retrospectives on Johnnie To, Hong Kong political cinema, the Fourth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, and Pema Tseden.

Felix Hubble – Program Advisor

Felix Hubble is one of two Program Advisors at the Festival. He co-founded the arthouse cinema collective Static Vision, and was a programmer at SXSW Sydney during its inaugural year in 2023. Outside SFF, Felix is a professional film and television classifier, and was an editor at film journal 4:3.

Melba Proestos – Program Advisor

Programmer and creative director Melba Proestos also returns to the Festival as Program Advisor this year. Melba curated and presented the Jane Campion – Her Way retrospective at SFF 2023. Outside SFF, Melba has headed content, communications and marketing at AFTRS and Golden Age Cinema.

Lies Bruines – Assistant Program Advisor

Lies Bruines is one of three Assistant Program Advisors returning to the Festival. Lies has also assisted with programming the Flickerfest International Short Film Festival since 2016. Hailing from the Netherlands, she is currently the Head of Guest Services at the IDFA Institute.

Claire Cao – Assistant Program Advisor

Claire Cao is a writer, editor and critic from Western Sydney. A MIFF Critics Campus alumni, Claire is the Film Editor of The Big Issue Australia and the Fiction Editor for Meanjin. She also has screenwriting credits for SFF 2021’s Opening Night Film, Here Out West.

Kyle Goldfinch – Assistant Program Advisor

Kyle Goldfinch is a producer, writer, host and film programmer from Western Sydney. With a special interest in the LGBTQI+ screen space, Kyle has previously programmed for Flickerfest, Scout Film Festival and Mardi Gras Film Festival, where he premiered his short film Neuromance.

Emily Hawe – Assistant Program Advisor

Emily is a Maori-Australian film director and screenwriter from Larrakia, Northern Territory. She has worked as director’s assistant to Gracie Otto (2015-2019) and Abe Forsythe (Wolf Like Me season 2) and was recently the producer’s assistant on I Know What You Did Last Summer. Emily was the recipient of the Canon Filmmaker grant in 2019 and writers trainee on Thor: Love and Thunder.