We speak to Critics Campus alumni Michael Sun (2019 cohort), Isabella Trimboli (2019 cohort) and David Heslin (2015 cohort) about where their professional paths have led since their participation in MIFF’s incubator program for emerging critics.

Coinciding with the theatrical release of the MIFF Premiere Fund–supported Of an Age, Stephen A Russell speaks to director Goran Stolevski about inspiration, casting and capturing intimacy, as seen in his masterful MIFF 70 festival opener.

We speak to Debbie Zhou and Jessica Kiang about their experiences as mentee and mentor, respectively, during MIFF 2018’s Critics Campus.

Critics Campus participant James Walsh speaks to The Home Song Stories director Tony Ayres about exposing the personal, the power of storytelling and what’s next for the screen.

Critics Campus participant Lamya Nawar speaks to Hannah Barlow about self-awareness, self-forgiveness, and the power and perils of social media, as tackled in the pop-horror film Sissy.

Critics Campus participant Digby Houghton speaks to Senses of Cinema co-director John Hughes about subversion, collective filmmaking and historiography.

Critics Campus participant Andrew Fraser speaks to Petrol writer/director Alena Lodkina about creative synergies, cultural cringe and challenging audiences to watch films as co-creators.

Critics Campus participant Lily Rodgers speaks to director Beck Cole about collaboration, revelation and transformative storytelling as embodied in the dynamic anthology We Are Still Here.

Critics Campus participant Isabelle Carney speaks to Lime Parfait director Pat Mooney about intent, nostalgia and the ethics of the fib.

Critics Campus participant Brooke Heinz speaks to producer Kerry Warkia about the importance of representation and collective creativity, as exemplified by the film Kaīnga and its predecessors Waru and Vai.