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Students learn the tricks and traps of running a film festival

In 12 short weeks, RMIT media students put together a film festival as part of their degree. The theme is nifty: first films by directors, both famous and emerging.

30 May 2023 16:51

Rochelle Siemienowicz

All Arts

Peter Murphy of Bauhaus performing ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ in ‘The Hunger’. Image: Supplied.

The Debut International Film Festival (DIFF) is an entirely student-run event, from theme to programming, website design, venue hire and fundraising.

Running over three nights, from 31 May to 2 June, and across two venues in Melbourne’s CBD (The Capitol and RMIT’s Kaleide Theatre) the event is a chance for the 21 media students to fully understand the elation and last-minute panic of running a real, ticketed event.

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Rochelle Siemienowicz

Rochelle Siemienowicz is a Melbourne writer and editor. Her first book Fallen, a memoir was published in 2014 and her second, Double Happiness, a novel, in 2024. She has a PhD in Australian cinema and was previously a journalist at ScreenHub and ArtsHub. ou can find her on Instagram: @Rochelle_Rochelle or at Substack where she writes a fortnightly newsletter, The Fool and the Queen.