What Happens After the Film is Made? Discoverability in Australian Screen Culture

The Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) brings together a panel of leading voices from across Australia’s screen culture sector to discuss the visibility of local content in today’s rapidly changing screen landscape.

So, you’ve made a film. In an environment shaped by algorithms and streaming platforms – how do you get people to see it?

The panel will discuss whose stories are being seen on screen in 2026, who they reach, and why Australian perspectives – particularly those historically marginalised – continue to matter.

The group will consider the shifting role of film festivals and other exhibition spaces as cultural curators and pathways for emerging and underrepresented voices, as well as the influence of screen publications in shaping critical discourse.

Together, they will explore the importance of a diverse screen culture ecology – encompassing festivals, criticism, education, archives, platforms and independent exhibition – and what is at stake when access, representation or visibility within that ecosystem is diminished or goes unsupported.

The panel will discuss how cultural institutions, media and policy can play an active role in amplifying underrepresented Australian work, ensuring it can be found, contextualised and valued, now and into the future.

For more information visit: https://www.mwff.org.au/

Image credit: Alexandre Bucquet