I’m a Perth-based filmmaker passionate about all aspects of storytelling, from camera work to directing. I was a key Shooter/Director on Aussie Gold Hunters (Discovery UK) and Co-director on SBS’s Are You Addicted to Technology. My camera work features in acclaimed SBS and ABC docs like Secrets of Our Cities and Is Australia Sexist?. My short doc The Tale of Mr. Kimberley won Best WA Short at Cinefest Oz and was nominated at SXSW Sydney.
A filmmaker in his own right (‘Norita’, 2024; ‘Messenger on a White Horse’, 2018), Jayson is Mint’s archive researcher.
Born in Western Australian, Jayson was smitten by his dad’s VHS tapes as a young child. He then worked as a newspaper journalist and deputy editor in chief for English-language news publications, including the prestigious Buenos Aires Herald.
He then honed in on archive under the stewardship of senior Australian archive producer Lisa Savage, who mentored him for 3 years.
Brooke Collard is a Ballardong/Whadjuk Noongar woman, and proud mother of a toddler. As a Producer and Writer, Brooke works with authentic representation for those who have been marginalised in media, such as stories of First Nations people and LGBTQIA+.
Brooke has a successful podcast series, “Noongar Wellbeing” which has over 16,000 plays. Brooke wrote and produced award winning short film “Aboriginal Warrior”. With a primary focus on facilitating stories that encourage others and help on the journey of healing.
Rosie Jones is an award-winning documentary writer, director and editor.
Her most recent work as director is Abebe – Butterfly Song, a feature doc
about the deep friendship between David Bridie and George Telek, two
musicians from two vastly different cultures. Other recent credits include
The Cult of The Family, a three-part series broadcast on the ABC, SKY
UK and STARZ USA for which she collected an Australian Directors’
Guild Award for Best Series Director and an ATOM Best Documentary
Award.
Kylie Boltin is a multiple Walkley award-winning journalist and producer in the categories of Digital Storytelling (2014 for ‘Cronulla Riots: The Day that Shocked the Nation’) and Innovation (2022 for ‘Ravi and Emma’). Kylie is also the recipient of a NSW Premier’s Literary Award for screenwriting (2021 for ‘Missing’) amongst other local and international awards.
Kylie’s work has been widely exhibited at film festivals including SXSW and International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, where she won the IDFA Creative Technology Award.
Kalinda Palmer (Gal) is a proud Nyikina and Jabbirr Jabbirr storyteller, producer, and emerging filmmaker from the Kimberley. Her work spans decolonisation, environmentalism, and cultural sustainability, driven by a deep love for her land, people, and future generations. Gal’s filmmaking journey began in 2017 with a climate change project in the Arctic. Now a mother, she is passionate about remote living, language, and community, and is committed to sharing stories that empower First Nations people locally and globally.
Kimberley Benjamin is a proud Yawuru, Bardi and Kija woman from Rubibi/Broome, now based back on Country. She has worked as a writer, director, and story producer on projects including Back to Nature (ABC) and Our Medicine (NITV), and recently directed for SBS’s Warm Props and completed a Netflix attachment on Surviving Summer S2. Having lived in Boorloo and Naarm, Kimba’s storytelling is shaped by strong connections to community and a deep passion for sharing First Nations stories.
Shari Hutchison is a Nyikina woman from the Kimberley
region of Western Australia and a dedicated documentary
filmmaker. With over 9 years of experience in film and television
production, Shari specialises in crafting meaningful narratives that
explore culture, identity, and resilience. Through her production
company, Kirri Media, her award-winning films have screened
internationally, amplifying diverse voices, especially those from
Indigenous communities. Shari’s career spans acclaimed
projects for major networks, showcasing her passion for driving
change and fostering understanding through storytelling.
Aung Khant Si Thu is a Bangkok-based multimedia journalist and documentary filmmaker reporting across Southeast Asia. He focuses on conflict, human rights, and transnational crime, with extensive field experience in Myanmar’s conflict zones. His work has appeared on Al Jazeera, Sky News, National Geographic, and other international platforms. Aung combines investigative research with powerful visual storytelling to uncover underreported issues and elevate marginalized voices.
Han Yan Yuen specializes in documentaries on current affairs and social issues. Along with other collaborators, she directed and produced When a City Rises, a feature-length documentary that won the CPH:Dox F:ACT Awards.
Her films have appeared on Arte (France/ Germany), WDR (Germany), VGTV (Norway), Al Jazeera, Discovery Channel and more.
Aung Naing Soe, a filmmaker and journalist from Yangon, Myanmar now lives in exile.
He has been working as a journalist, director of photography and field producer since 2012. His video works have appeared on Channel 4, Al Jazeera, Vice News among other outlets.
In 2020, he witnessed the military coup and has been covering the civil unrest in Myanmar ever since.
Lay Thida joined the YFS course in 2005. Her directorial debut, “Just A Boy,” won the Heinrich Boell Foundation Documentary Award in 2007. Her films include “A Farmer’s Tale,” “The Change Maker,” and “Unreported Story.” Lay study at the National Film and Television School (Summer Course), producing “Wrong Side Up.” Her film “Bunkus” won an award at the Singapore Film Festival. She recently completed “Shadaw” and is working on her first feature-length film, “Sisters in War.”
Ekta M, co-founded Maraa, a media and arts collective (www.maraa.in) in Bangalore in 2008. She works as a practitioner, researcher, curator and facilitator on issues of gender, labour & caste in rural and urban contexts. She has also been making films on labour, migration and cities since 2009. Her films focus on the inner worlds of workers include Absence and Missing Days, both of which have travelled widely across international festivals.
Anushka Meenakshi works in both theatre and film. Her first feature film ‘Up Down & Sideways’ (2017) is about the polyphonic music of a community of rice farmers in Phek, Nagaland. It premiered at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival where it won the New Asian Currents and the Directors Guild awards and had a European premiere at IDFA. Subsequently the film travelled to over 70 international film festivals, won 13 awards, and had a theatrical release in Japan.
Pei-yun graduated from the Department of Psychology at East China Normal University and majored in Journalism at the University of Westminster in the UK. She previously worked for The Paper, focusing on environmental and mental health issues. She coordinates the production of multimedia news reports. She has repeatedly won awards from Shanghai Newspaper Group. Restless Farewell is her first feature-length documentary.
