Meet the 2026 Sydney Film Festival Programming Team

Nashen Moodley – Festival Director

Festival Director Nashen Moodley will be running his 14th 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.

JESSICA MORAZA – SENIOR PROGRAMMER

Jessica Moraza is Senior Programmer 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.

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 and an Associate Programmer for Tribeca. Currently he is Curator and Founder of First Films and a Consultant for Africa Film Fest Australia. A former juror at Berlinale and Cannes, Paul was named one of Screen International’s 2024 Future Leaders.

Jenny Neighbour – Australian Documentary Programmer

Jenny Neighbour has a distinguished 35+ year history of programming at SFF. After stepping down as Head of Programs in 2024, her commitment to the genre saw her return to present the finest Australian documentaries.

Paul Matereke – Shorts Programmer

Programming SFF shorts for a sixth 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.

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).

Katharine Rogers – Family Programmer

Katharine Rogers is an award-winning Australian filmmaker crafting stories with humour and heart. Her work spans festivals, broadcast, digital media, mentoring, and storytelling for young audiences.

Lies Bruines – Assistant Program Advisor

Lies Bruines is a programmer for Flickerfest and is currently based in the Netherlands, where she is the International Relations Manager at the renowned documentary film festival & market IDFA.

Felix Hubble – Programming Consultant

Felix Hubble is a Programming Consultant at the Festival. The co-founder/current head of Static Vision and BUFF, Felix was formerly the Screen Program Manager at SXSW Sydney.

Kyle Goldfinch – Assistant Program Advisor

Kyle Goldfinch returns to Sydney Film Festival as an Assistant Program Advisor. He has a strong passion for LGBTQI+ and disability storytelling, and is also a screenwriter, producer, and founder of Filmable Film Festival.

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.

Melba Proestos – Program Advisor

Melba Proestos returns to the Festival as Program Advisor for the 8th year in a row. In recent years, Melba has curated and presented retrospectives of the works of Jane Campion, Nancy Savoca and Elaine May, attracting growing audiences to the Art Gallery of NSW. Outside SFF, Melba has led content, communications, and marketing divisions at AFTRS and at some of Sydney’s most iconic cultural institutions.

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 (née Brannigan-Onato) is a developer, facilitator, and producer for the screen arts. With over a decade of 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.

Emily Hawe – Assistant Program Advisor

Emily Hawe is a Maori-Australian director and screenwriter from Larrakia, Northern Territory. She previously worked as director’s assistant to Gracie Otto (2015-2019) and Abe Forsythe (Wolf Like Me season 2), and producer’s assistant on I Know What You Did Last Summer. She was the writers trainee on Thor: Love and Thunder. Emily’s favourites include The Exorcist, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger and Sense and Sensibility, and the opening monologue in Michael Clayton.

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

Film curator Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd returns to SFF to co-curate FLUX: Art + Cinema, drawing together groundbreaking films that explore the intersection of art and cinema. Ruby programs Sydney Cinémathèque 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.