AARON FA’AOSO

DIRECTOR

Aaron Fa’Aoso first came to prominence in 2004 with his performance as Eddie in the critically-acclaimed SBS mini-series, R.A.N., for which he received a nomination for an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama and a LOGIE Award nomination for Most Outstanding New Talent. Following on from that success, Aaron joined the multi-award winning SBS series East West 101 which recently had its third season go to air. Aaron received a AACTA nomination for his work in the third season ‘The Heroes Journey’. Aaron received a 2011 Monte- Carlo TV Festival award nomination for Most Outstanding Actor for his work in the series. His other television credits include City Homicide and Sea Patrol. In 2009, he made his feature film debut in Sue Brooks’s Subdivision. Aaron has also been active behind the camera writing and directing the short film, Sharpeye, as part of the SBS Television series Bit of Black Business.

Fa’Aoso’s career is paving way for indigenous storytelling and it’s landscape in the industry, coming from an Indigenous, Torres Strait Islander, Tongan and Samoan background. He’s now taking the reins as a director on the upcoming documentary series Elements from Screen Queensland and NITV.

ALEX PROYAS

DIRECTOR

Alex is one of Australia’s most successful directors on the International film landscape. An AFTRS graduate directing international blockbuster films with some of the world’s most recognised leading actors.

Alex is known as one of the leading genre filmmakers in the world today with two renowned cult classic films The Crow starring Brandon Lee and Dark City starring William Hurt, Keifer Sutherland and  David Wenham. Other well-known blockbuster directing feature film credits include I Robot starring Will Smith, Gods of Egypt starring Brenton Thwaites and Gerard Butler, the Australian film Garage Days starring Kick Gurry and Maya Stange.

Alex has also worked with Academy Award winner Nicholas Cage and one of Hollywood’s most in demand actors today Rose Byrne.  Alex is developing a world leading Green Screen Virtual filming facility embracing the future concepts of film and working environments for actors and story tellers. Alex is the patron of the inaugural 2020 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival at ACA Sydney.

KRIV STENDERS

DIRECTOR

Kriv Stenders, multi award nominee and AFI winner. One of Australia’s leading creative forces in the Australian Film and TV Industry with directing credits in TV, Documentary, Advertising and Feature Films. Kriv directed the Box Office record breaking Red Dog, the riveting and controversial Australia Day, Boxing Day, the recent acclaimed war epic Danger Close – The Battle of Long Tan, Doctor Doctor, Slim and I and Brock Over the Top.

Kriv is highly regarded within the industry as a passionate supporter of Australian stories. Kriv’s writing and cinematography credits have added to his reputation as an astute actor’s director. Some of the actors Kriv has directed have been Sam Neil, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Nicole De Silva, Alex Dimitriades and Roger Corser.

SHANNON MURPHY

DIRECTOR

Shannon Murphy is an award-winning screen and stage director. She has directed plays and other stage work for many prominent Australian and international theatre companies. Shannon screen directing includes episodes of the Australian series Rake, Love Child, Offspring and Sisters. She was the sole director of the Lingo/SBS mini-series On The Ropes, and was nominated for an Australian Directors Guild Award. Her debut feature film Babyteeth, debuted in Official Competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2019.

Babyteeth has appeared in over twenty film festivals, which have so far included BFI London, Zurich International, Rotterdam International, Mumbai and Marrakech International. Shannon recently directed Eps 5 & 6 on the third season of Killing Eve. She is on Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch List for 2020.

SAMANTHA LANG

DIRECTOR

Samantha Lang is one of Australia’s most respected directors. She directs, writes and produces. Her films have screened at major international festivals including Sundance, Toronto, Locarno, and have received international recognition at the highest level, her film ‘The Well’ competing at the Cannes Film Festival for the prestigious Palme D’Or. She is one of the 82 women directors since 1946 to have done so. Samantha’s films have been awarded many times including – at AACTA and Sydney Film Festival. Her film ‘Carlotta’ was nominated for 5 AACTA awards and won three. Samantha is the head of development at one of Australia’s most recognised production companies See-Saw Films.

Samantha was the Head of Directing at AFTRS 2010-2016. Her expertise and passion for directing has seen her appointment in 2015 as the President of The Australian Directors and was instrumental in the Screen Australia Genders Matters initiative.  Samantha’s current projects include feature adaptations of rom-com ‘Kill The Messenger’ (playwright, Nakkiah Lui) and “Laurinda’ aka Lucy and Linh (US) by Asian Australian screenwriter Michelle Law, as well as TV drama series of ‘Night Games’ (Aquarius Films- Lion). She directed her first VR film ‘Prehistoric VR’ in 2017 (screened at ACMI) and is in development with her next VR anthology ‘Anthropocene Project’ Samantha has worked with leading Australian actors Pamela Rabe, Alex Dimitriades, Susie Porter, Abbie Cornish, Jessica Marais.

MEGAN RIAKOS

DIRECTOR

Megan Riakos is a dynamic filmmaker bringing a distinctive female lens to the world of genre filmmaking. As the writer/director/producer of the thriller Crushed, she was behind the film’s innovative Australian release becoming one of the most successful cinema-on-demand screening runs in the country and acquisitions by Qantas an Channel 10. She is the creator and producer of Australia’s first female horror anthology Dark Whispers – Volume 1 in which she wrote and directed the wraparound segment and is also the writer/director of Episode 2: No Pain No Gain of the upcoming Deadhouse Dark horror series.

Megan complements her filmmaking with her role as co-founder and board member of the not-for-profit organisation Women in Film & Television (WIFT) Australia and merges these two fields of creativity and advocacy via her company Hemlock & Cedar Films, which focuses on amplifying female voices. 

Megan is also a regular speaker and panellist on filmmaking and gender equality and is a mentor and teacher, having taught at the University of NSW, Australian Film Television & Radio School, Queensland University of Technology and Academy of Information Technology.

MONICA ZANETTI

DIRECTOR

Monica Zanetti is one of Australia’s emerging innovating forces in Directing. An advocate for the actor developing and creating own work to pursue the passion and vision that develops an actors presence in the industry and market place.   Monica is an award winning Australian screenwriter and director. Her debut feature ‘Skin Deep’, screened at over eight international film festivals and was honoured at Austin Film Festival with an award for Best Narrative Feature.

The film also earned Monica an AWGIE nomination for Best Original Screenplay and was released internationally in 2016. Monica then went on to work in various TV writers rooms before joining the writing team for the Channel 10/Netflix series ‘Sisters’. She was a writer/director on the ABC Comedy series ‘Tonightly with Tom Ballard’, and worked on the 2019 channel 10 series ‘My Life is Murder’. Monica’s second feature film, ‘Ellie & Abbie (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt)’ was the first Australian film to ever open the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival before screening as part of MIFF 68 ½ this year and will be released in 2021.