CinefestOZ acknowledges the Wardandi, Piblemen, Menang and Yawuru people, the spiritual and cultural custodians of this land on which we live and work. We honour and respect the significant role First Nations people play in our community and in guiding us and allowing our festival to flourish.
Festival Organisation
CinefestOZ Board of community volunteers are dedicated to producing Australia’s Premiere Film Festival, celebrating Australian Film awarding a Film Prize of $100,000.
With over 150 exciting screenings and film related events spread across more than 30 venues, film lovers and stars converge to share the excitement and enjoy the highly anticipated film program.
CinefestOZ is a not-for-profit organisation run by a Board of Directors. A team of professional staff and the generosity and dedication of over 350 volunteers help the festival deliver its outstanding program each year.
PATRONS
Emma Booth
Patron
Emma Booth has been a long-time guest and supporter of CinefestOZ. The West Australian-born actress, best known for the TV series Glitch and The Gloaming, became an international success after starring in Clubland, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and introduced her to global audiences. Her acting credits include Once Upon a Time, Cloudstreet, Underbelly and Hounds of Love, for which she won the 2017 AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She also starred in the WA-made feature film H Is For Happiness, which won the $100,000 CinefestOZ Film Prize in 2019.
David Wenham
Patron
Actor David Wenham is a household name in Australia, due to his depiction of an eclectic range of characters in feature film, television and stage productions. His international film credits include roles in Lord of the Rings, Cosi, Moulin Rouge, Van Helsing and Public Enemies. His directorial debut was one of the 17 interconnected stories filmed as The Turning, which premiered in WA at CinefestOZ in 2013. David’s involvement with CinefestOZ since 2011 and role as Patron since 2012, has been pivotal to the Festival’s success.
Myles Pollard
Patron Cinesnaps Schools Program
Myles has a Bachelor of Arts in Education (Secondary) from Edith Cowan University and a Bachelor of Dramatic Art in Acting degree from NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art). He has appeared in many Australian television series including McLeod’s Daughters, Packed to the Rafters, Underbelly and Rescue Special Ops. His feature film credits include Wolverine, Drift (which he also produced), The Turning, The War That Changed Us and has just completed a role in the feature film Looking for Grace starring Richard Roxburgh and Radha Mitchell. Myles has worked as an actor with respected Australian theatre companies including Ensemble, Black Swan and Bell Shakespeare, a company he also teaches for Australia wide. Myles is currently directing short films for the Creative Arts Initiative, a Murdoch University program that aims to develop positive aspirations for WA high school students. Myles has been a great supporter of the Festival over many years and became involved as the Schools Program Patron in 2014.
Kelton Pell
Koorda
Kelton Pell has built a reputation for being one of our finest indigenous actors. He has enjoyed an illustrious theatre career over the last twenty years performing all around Australia. On the big screen, Kelton has appeared numerous feature films including Red Dog: True Blue, Looking For Grace, Bran Nue Dae, Blackfellas and Australian Rules. This year he will be seen in Three Summers, directed by Ben Elton, a CinefestOZ 2017 Film Prize Finalist. Kelton’s work in television includes Redfern Now, The Gods of Wheat Street, Cloudstreet and The Circuit.
AMBASSADORS
Alex Williams
Ambassador
Alex is a very good looking and humble actor/ writer from Perth WA. He played the lead role of Romeo in the Bell Shakespeare Company’s 2016 production of Romeo and Juliet and Damis in the BSSTC/QTC production of Tartuffe. His television credits include his Logie nominated performance in the title role of Julian Assange in the movie UNDERGROUND. He also featured in NEVER TEAR US APART: THE UNTOLD STORY OF INXS, CATCHING MILAT, BROCK, FRIDAY ON MY MIND and THE UNDERBELLY FILES: CHOPPER. Alex appeared on 2 seasons of THE HEIGHTS and PLAYING FOR KEEPS. Alex’s film credits include THE RECKONING and PAPER PLANES. .
Sophia Forrest
Ambassador
Sophia Forrest is one of Australia’s most exciting new performers. Sophia trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) graduating in 2016. There she performed in various productions including Les Liaisons Dangereuses which toured to Hong Kong and Coriolanus which toured to Hydra Festival in Greece. After graduating from WAAPA, Sophia made her television debut on the hit Nine Network Series Love Child as ‘Debbie Hampshire’. Sophia’s feature film credits include Reaching Distance, Warner Bros Aquaman and Ride Like A Girl, opposite Teresa Palmer.
Travis Jeffrey
Ambassador
Travis is best known for his roles on acclaimed miniseries Gallipolli, Universal Pictures’ Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie and Sony’s Spin Out- which premiered at CinefestOZ. Some of his recent works include Top End Wedding which had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival, Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and AMC series The Preacher season 4. Travis had his stage debut in 2017 when he performed in Sport Jove’s One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, playing Billy Bibbit, followed by the highly acclaimed Tonsils and Tweezers which he received a Broadway World ‘Best Actor’ nomination. Released in 2020, Travis played Finnish twins Gael and Gideon in horror comedy Bloody Hell, which is set to become a trilogy. Travis starred in 2021 war epic Before Dawn.
Lynette NARKLE
Bunbury Ambassador
Lynette Narkle is an Indigenous Australian theatre and film actor and director. She started in theatre in 1979, with Indigenous playwright Jack Davis. Narkle worked for Screenwest increasing the engagement of Indigenous filmmakers with screen culture and was an associate director at Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company from 2002 to 2006. Narkle was on the Board of the Australia Council for the Arts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board from 2008 to 2010. Narkle was on the Board of the Yirra Yaakin Aboriginal Corporation from 2003 to 2007 and a WA representative on the Australia Council for the Arts Community Cultural Development Fund from 1996 to 1999. She is the recipient of 2017 Red Ochre Award, Australia Council for the Arts and the 2018 Honorary Doctor of Arts, Edith Cowan University
Karla Hart
Albany Ambassador
A proud Noongar woman , Karla was raised on Goreng country in the Great Southern taking her determination in telling First Nations stories to our screens. Hart has a great deal of experience in the industry producing Yokayi Footy once more this
season in collaboration with the AFL. In 2021 being recognised as Aboriginal West Australian of the Year for her connection to country and the arts. Her project Virtual Whadjuk came to CinefestOZ in 2021 and will return this year.
Joel Jackson
Albany Ambassador
Joel Jackson was Chair of the Cinesnaps Competition Jury in 2021. He currently stars in Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries and has previously adorned our screens with CinefestOZ Film Prize Winner H is For Happiness, CinefestOZ Film Prize Finalist Jungle and WA series Mystery Road.
BOARD
Margaret Buswell
Chair
After growing up in Busselton, Margaret completed a Commerce Degree in Accounting and Finance from UWA, she went on to work for one of the Big 8 Accounting firms in Perth and was then seconded to its UK office. In 1992, Margaret returned to Busselton to start her own tourism business. She has overseen its growth as it has evolved in to a major tourism company. She has a proven background in fundraising with various not for profit organisations and has a keen interest in Australian film. Margaret joined the Board in 2009 and has served as the Deputy Chair since 2016, she is dedicated to advancing CinefestOZ and tourism in the South West region.
Cristofer Leal
Treasurer
Cristofer completed an undergraduate Commerce Degree majoring in Professional Accounting at Murdoch University, working for accounting firms such as Horwath (WA) (now BDO) and one of the major 4 accounting firms KPMG as an auditor. After leaving the auditing field he obtained his Master Degree in Property, majoring in Valuations and became a Licenced Property Valuer working for Burgess Rawson for 13 years.
During his time as a Property Valuer, Cris along with his wife, owned and operated various hospitality venues throughout the Perth region. This expanded upon his wealth of experience and knowledge in business operations. He is currently the Director of his own consulting firm, specialising in local and international equity/ bond and currency markets, along with commercial property investments.
Pauline Vukelic
secretary
Pauline has been extensively involved in leadership and community roles in both Bunbury and Busselton over more than two decades, in the fields of higher education, health, tourism, sister city relationships and chambers of commerce. Her family are philanthropic supporters of the arts, events and capital infrastructure in the region, which contribute to the rich tapestry of life in the South West.
Jo Gaines
Deputy Chair
Jo has a wealth of experience in leadership roles within the Western Australia State Government and private sector where she is currently the Director of Gaines Advisory – an international strategic advisory and board search firm.
Duncan Ord
Deputy Chair
Duncan has experience in working at senior levels of government and communities in the spaces of culture, arts, education, training, planning and Aboriginal affairs. His previous roles include being the Dean of WAAPA, as well as the General manager of the WA Theatre Company and Black Swan Theatre. He was also a chair of the arts, sport and recreation industry training council, member of Australia Council boards and committees along with being a consultant to government on arts infrastructure projects. He recently retired from the public service where he acted as a Director General, receiving in 2013, an Order of Australia Medal. In addition to this Duncan was awarded a Churchill fellowship and a Canadian arts fellowship.
Dot West
BOARD
Dot is a Noongar woman from the south west of Western Australia, with ancestral ties to the north and has been living and working in the Kimberley region since 1977. Dot has worked in the media industry for the last 30 years in various capacities commencing as a radio volunteer to Station Manager, Trainer and later diversifying to the screen industry. Dot has served on numerous boards including the Inaugural Vice Chairperson of NITV, Screenwest, Australian International Documentary Conference, the National Indigenous Radio Service along with her current tenure as a non-Executive Director of SBS, Director of Goolarri Media Enterprises and Ramu Productions in Broome and the Chairperson of the national peak body, First Nations Media Australia.
Jub Clerc
Board
Jub is a Nyul Nyul/Yawuru woman from the Kimberley regions of WA. A graduate of WAAPA’s acting course, Jub spent many years performing for numerous theatre companies before moving to film and TV, working on The Circuit 1 & 2, Bran Nue Dae, Jasper Jones and many more. Jub has also written/directed short films and documentaries, including Music Men and Abbreviation, from Tim Winton’s feature – The Turning and directed over 15 Indigenous Community Stories. Jub performed in the world’s first Aboriginal Opera, Pecan Summer, and won the Kate Challis Award in 2017 for her play The Fever and the Fret. Jub is set to direct in 2020, her first feature film Rumurra which she co-wrote, and is also currently developing a supernatural thriller with Truant Pictures.
Susie Annus
board
Susie is a recipient of the Penguin Award – an annual award given for excellence in broadcasting by the Television Society of Australia – for the production values of “Teamworkz” a thirteen-part series that combined drama and music; and an Institute of Architect’s Award for her Television Series “Your Place or Mine”.
She is also a keen and accomplished photographer. During her six years in Washington Susie oversaw major updating of the residence and gardens and produced a pictorial history of the Australian Ambassador’s residence researching and recording information that would otherwise have been lost to history.
Most recently during her time at Government House in Western Australia, Susie organised events that expanded the community experience of Government House through initiatives such as “Restart the Arts, round table talks and lectures and introduced music education for young people in disadvantage suburbs. The Arts became a major focus of the Governor’s Program during the last four years.
STAFF
Cassandra jordan
Chief Executive Officer
Cassandra has significant experience in the arts, cultural and events sectors with a track record of success. She has held senior leadership roles at ARTRAGE, which produces FRINGE WORLD and Rooftop Movies, where she oversaw the implementation of a new philanthropic program and managed stakeholders across local, state and federal government, corporate and supply. Cassandra is passionate about the power of film and festivals to inspire and transform communities.
Gabrielle Whirledge
Communities Manager
Grace Pusey
Stakeholder and Digital Manager
Tom Vincent
Film and Ticketing Manager
Skye Handley
Customer Service and Office Coordinator
Jodie Bell
IndigifestOZ Film Manager
Michelle Kosonen
Marketing Manager
Brooke Thomas
Industry Manager
