MWFF Critics Lab 2024
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s cohort for the MWFF Critics Lab. Each year we select a small group of emerging critics to experience MWFF as an in-house critic. As part of the experience, MWFF Critics are mentored by industry professionals who help them to produce a portfolio of work. They also get the opportunity to meet filmmakers, watch all of the films in the program, and connect with programmers and the MWFF festival team. This year, we welcome Grace Boschetti, Riley Waite, Hannah Torregosa, and Ruby O’Sullivan-Belfrage to the MWFF Critics Lab. They’ll be mentored by Nadine Whitney and Flick Ford!
Meet our Mentors
Nadine Whitney is an experienced film critic who works in the intersection of consumer reviews and academic writing. She is the co-chair of The Australian Film Critics Association, a Rotten Tomatoes accredited critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Nadine is also an international voter for The Golden Globes, The Independent Spirit Awards, and an occasional film festival judge. Nadine is passionate about uplifting underrepresented voices in film criticism and filmmaking. Women, gender diverse folks, queer folk, disabled people, and POC have for too long existed in the margins. Her motto is, “Raise your voice and claim your space.”
Dr. Flick Ford is the host and producer of Triple R's weekly film show and podcast, Primal Screen. She has a PhD in screen studies and disability, and her work has appeared in publications such as Film Philosophy, Screen Education, and Metro Magazine. She is one of the contributing authors of A Companion to Australian Cinema (2019).
Meet our Mentees
Grace Boschetti: Grace is a freelance critic with a passion for feminist and experimental cinema. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts in 2020 and from RMIT University with an Advanced Diploma of Professional Screenwriting in 2023. Grace has written for ScreenHub, Senses of Cinema, Metro and In Review Online. She can be found on Letterboxd @gracedaisy or Twitter @graceboschetti.
Riley Waite: Riley is a final year undergraduate student at RMIT University, majoring in Professional Communication. Riley’s interest in the representation of women in cinema and its relation to real-world social and political contexts is what inspired her to start writing film criticism. When she isn’t commuting between Regional Victoria and Naarm/Melbourne, Riley is a budding writer and is working on a novel.
Hannah Torregosa: Hannah is an aspiring writer with a keen passion for storytelling and authentic media representations. Currently a communications and media studies, and marketing major with a minor in film and screen studies, Hannah is fascinated by the complex relationships between media landscapes and the formation and perception of identities.
Ruby O’Sullivan-Belfrage: Through film editing and writing, Ruby holds a space for ideas that explore the universal in the personal. She gleans creative energy from the synergy produced at the intersection of disciplines, particularly that of film, sound design and writing. Ruby’s screen work has been featured in Iceland's RVK Feminist Film Festival. She is the founding editor of Deco Radio, an audio journal that places sonic and literary artworks in conversation. Ruby has a background in film production and cinema studies. She works and plays on unceded Wurundjeri land