Africa Film Fest Australia - Screen Industry Forum

In partnership with the Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS), and with the support of Black Music Alliance, ACE Parramatta will host the 2025 Screen Industry Forum as part of 2025 Africa Film Fest Australia program. MC, and festival co-director Mumbi Hinga, will facilitate conversations with emerging and established talent working across film, TV, animation and digital platforms, exploring the challenges and opportunities facing African Australian storytellers in the industry today.

A key finding in the recent Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network’s (SDIN) Everyone Counts 2.0 report, shows diversity gaps for people from African backgrounds (IF Magazine, 8 July 2025). The report examines representation both on and off screen, working across Australian TV and film projects completed from July 2021 to June 2024. The data indicates under-representation for individuals with and African (1.4 per cent) and Asian (10 per cent) ancestries/ethnicities across all screen roles, while people of European (37 per cent) and Anglo-Celtic (56 per cent) ancestries/ethnicities continue to be over-represented.

The Screen Industry Forum is a chance to interrogate the issue of representation and flag strategies to address these gaps. Be part of the conversation.

Tickets: $10

Guest Speakers Include:

Kalu Oji is a Nigerian-Australian a filmmaker and writer whose practice is rooted in process-driven collaboration and the exploration of memory, place, and identity. His short films have screened at festivals including BFI London Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, and Chicago International Film Festival, and have received awards from Flickerfest, Sydney Film Festival, and Atlanta Film Festival. In August 2025, Kalu’s debut feature, ‘Pasa Faho’, will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Alongside his artistic practice, he also works across education and facilitation spaces at both institutional and community levels.

Belinda Jombwe is a Ugandan-Australian producer, writer, and actor. Her recent screen credits include Apples Never Fall (Peacock), The Secrets She Keeps (Paramount), Five Blind Dates (Amazon Prime), and Interceptor (Netflix). She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Performance Studies, Sociology) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) from the University of Sydney. In 2024, she was recognised as an emerging arts leader through Diversity Arts Australia’s Shifting the Balance program. Her TikTok series GOING HOME developed with support from Screen Australia and Screen NSW launches on 30 September. Belinda is also the founder of The Nansumba Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to creating safe and accessible spaces for culturally and racially marginalised Australians to develop and produce marketable screen projects.

Bethany Bruce is an independent producer and co-founder of Staple Fiction, working across drama and documentary with a focus on bold, socially engaged stories. Her latest feature doc Make It Look Real (dir. Kate Blackmore) explores intimacy coordination in post-MeToo filmmaking. It premiered at Adelaide Film Festival, screened at SXSW, and is now on Netflix Australia. Past credits include The Butter Scene (SFF), The Art of Collecting (ABC), Broken Line North (Lexus Fellowship), and Martha: A Picture Story (Tribeca). A collaborator who champions female and gender diverse voices, Bethany is developing a slate of projects driven by creative ambition and social impact.

Ratidzo Mambo is an award-winning Australian-Zimbabwean actor, writer, and producer, with extensive experience in international Film and TV Distribution. She is currently developing and producing several funded projects under her production company, Jacaranda Dreams Productions. Ratidzo also produced and co-created a half-hour comedy series supported by Screen Australia and SBS Digital Originals, later acquired by an international streamer.

John Godfrey is Head of Commissioning at SBS, overseeing SBS’s distinctive commissioned content offering across original unscripted and scripted programming. Prior to his appointment in this role in November 2022, John was Head of Unscripted for SBS, overseeing commissioned documentaries, factual entertainment, food and entertainment across SBS channels and platforms. This includes everything from the Eurovision Song Contest, Mastermind and The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, dramas such as 4 Years Later, to the broad range of original SBS standalone documentaries and series like Alone Australia. He joined SBS in 2008 and during his time with the network has been responsible for some of SBS’s highest rating and iconic programs, including Go Back to Where You Came From, First Contact, Struggle Street, and Filthy Rich and Homeless. John is also responsible for SBS Commissioning’s Equity & Inclusion Guidelines and Targets, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. John has been in Australia since 2003, working in the UK prior to that for 10 years, series/exec producing for Channel 4 and BBC2.