2018 Youth, Animation, Documentary International Jury

Mitzi is a founder and CEO of the Documentary Australia Foundation, having been instrumental in its realisation since its inception in 2006.  With 30 years’ experience as a documentary director, producer and editor, through her production company, Looking Glass Pictures, she has created many award winning international documentaries. Her most recent films include Ka-Ching! Pokie Nation (2015) and Night Parrot Stories (2016), which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival. Previous credits include A Common Purpose (2011), winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sydney Film Festival and was nominated for Best Feature Length Documentary at 2012 AACTA Awards; End of the Rainbow(2007), which screened at over 20 international festivals and was the winner of eight international awards including IDFA 2008. Other previous credits include Hatred, Ports of Destiny, Chinese Take Away, Bloodlines, National Geographic’s Memoirs of a Plague, which screened in competition at IDFA in 2010, and Love and Sex in an Age of Pornography.

From 2002 to 2008, Mitzi was Co-Head of Documentary at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). She has also been Co-Chair of the Australian International Documentary Conference and co-founded Ozdox, a monthly forum on documentary culture. Mitzi holds a BA from University of Sydney and a PhD in Cultural Studies and Political Philosophy.

Rubaiyat Hossain is one of Bangladesh’s handful of female filmmakers, known for her debut feature film Meherjaan (2011), which faced political and cultural wrath in Bangladesh for its anti-war narrative and its critique of masculine nationalism from a feminine point of view. The film won over 20 awards from film festivals around the world including the Audience Award at Northampton Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Movie Awards.

Her second feature Under Construction (2015) premiered at New Directors Showcase at Seattle International Film Festival and was theatrically released in Bangladesh and France. She was awarded many awards including the Emerging Director Award at the Asian American International Film Festival and two at the National Film Awards of Bangladesh. She has also produced several short films and is currently in post-production on her third feature, Made in Bangladesh. Hossain uses a feminist lens to deconstruct the otherwise phallocentric institution of cinema. She currently lives between Shaka and New York making films and attending Tisch School of Arts at New York University in Cinema Studies.

Luke Hetherington is the Executive in Charge of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in Singapore and is responsible for all projects in production at the studio and developing regional partnerships, overseeing studio operations, marketing, and bidding on future projects. Hetherington’s experience in building high functioning teams plays a critical role in his work at the studio, as does his knowledge of the Asian market.

Prior to joining ILM, Hetherington had 20 years of experience in the animation and visual effects industry. He spent the 17 years at Animal Logic in Australia where he helped lead the company through a period of outstanding growth in roles including Head of Film VFX, Executive Producer, Head of Production, and Head of CG.

His credits include Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Ready Player One, Avengers Infinity War, Monster Hunt 2, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Sucker Punch, Knowing, Stealth, Monk Comes Down the Mountain, Walking with Dinosaurs 3D and the sci-fi television series Farscape. For House of Flying Daggers (2004), directed by APSA 2011 FIAPF Award recipient Zhang Yimou, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects.