MIFF Talks: The Screen Show with MIFF's Bright Horizon Filmmakers

As part of Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), a panel of talented international directors with films in competition discuss their journeys with The Screen Show’s Jason Di Rosso in this event co-presented by ABC Radio National.

Join an insightful conversation with three of the most exciting filmmakers from this year’s MIFF Bright Horizons Competition for first and second features, which is attached to one of the richest film prizes in the world and supported by VicScreen.

Featuring American filmmaker Andrew Patterson (The Vast of Night), whose second feature The Rivals of Amziah King, starring Matthew McConaughey, premiered at SXSW this year; Chie Hayakawa (Plan 75, MIFF 2022) from Japan, whose second feature, Renoir, premiered recently in Competition at Cannes; and James J. Robinson, a Filipino/Australian artist based in Los Angeles whose MIFF Premiere Fund–supported feature debut, First Light, has its World Premiere here in Melbourne.

Andrew Patterson is an American filmmaker. His debut feature, The Vast of Night, won the Best Narrative Feature Audience Award at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival. The Rivals of Amziah King premiered at SXSW in 2025. Patterson was raised and lives in Oklahoma.

Chie Hayakawa was born in Tokyo and studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her short film Niagara was selected for the Cinéfondation section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and won awards at other festivals. Plan 75, her feature film debut, premiered at Cannes in 2022, where it won the Camera d’Or Special Mention. Renoir premiered in Competition at Cannes in 2025.

James J. Robinson is a Filipino/ Australian artist based in Los Angeles. His photography has been published in The New York Times and Vogue, and he was one of the first Filipino artists to be exhibited in Australia’s National Portrait Gallery. His 35mm short documentary Inang Maynila screened at a number of international festivals and galleries, winning several cinematography awards. Both Inang Maynila and his next short film project, On Golden Days, were released by NOWNESS. First Light is his first feature film.

Jason Di Rosso hosts ABC Radio National’s weekly program on film and television, The Screen Show. He is also a filmmaker (The Hidden Spring, MIFF 2023) and holds a doctorate in film from the University of Technology, Sydney. He has written on film and popular culture in publications as varied as Senses of Cinema, GQ magazine and The Australian. He is a regular guest speaker at universities and on festival panels, and for the past two years has taught film theory at The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

This event has a ‘Pay What You Wish’ ticket option. This means that if you are not in a position to pay for your ticket but would like to attend this event, you can simply enter an amount over $0 you feel comfortable paying and select the number of tickets you would like to book. If you are not in a position to pay for your ticket, please select the Talk Free option.

Tickets on Sale: The Screen Show: MIFF’s Bright Horizons Filmmakers – Miff 2025.

This event has a ‘Pay What You Wish’ ticket option. This means that if you are not in a position to pay for your ticket but would like to attend this event, you can simply enter an amount over $0 you feel comfortable paying and select the number of tickets you would like to book. If you are not in a position to pay for your ticket, please select the Talk Free option.

Fed Square is the Official Venue Partner of this event.