Wāhine at Cannes: Insights from the International Stage

Screen wāhine. One iconic festival. A global perspective.

Fresh from the Croisette, join us as three Aotearoa screen professionals share their experiences from the 2025 Cannes Film Festival — the people they met, the trends they spotted, and what it all means for our industry back home. From red carpet reflections to the real talk behind closed doors, this is your insider’s guide to the state of the international screen sector, as seen through the eyes of wāhine in the room.

Jasmin McSweeney
An Industry Award for Excellence recipient and an NZOM for services to film, Jasmin was previously the head of marketing at the NZFC, and now Head of Sales & Acquisitions NZ at Umbrella. She leads the company’s expansion in Aotearoa and overseeing deals across theatrical, VOD, home entertainment, and streaming.

Morgan Leigh Stewart
Morgan is a producer, production human, and screen industry professional with over 10 years experience across film, social media, content creation, event producing, project development, and management. She has worked across a variety of budgets and projects from feature films, short films, TV series, web series, music videos, creative installations, events and festivals to commercials.

Emma Slade
Emma Slade, owner of New Zealand-based Firefly Films, is a prolific producer known for her diverse slate and collaborations with dynamic filmmakers. Her recent work includes Bookworm (starring Elijah Wood), which won the Audience Award at Fantasia 2024, and two upcoming films in post-production: Holy Days and Lomu. Past successes include Uproar, Mister Organ (NZ’s top-grossing 2022 documentary, now on Netflix), Nude Tuesday, The Justice of Bunny King, and Come to Daddy. Her earlier films include The Changeover (Venice Film Festival), the China/NZ co-production Into the Rainbow and the Brazilian/NZ feature LITTLE SECRET, which was nominated as Brazil’s Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film 2017.

Sharon Menzies
A preeminent figure within the film industry, Sharon has experience at the highest levels across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and has been financing cashflow solutions in film and television for producers for over 25 years. Sharon's newest venture, Hinterland, is the culmination of her experience, focusing on providing tailored and producer-friendly financing solutions for independent and creative producers in New Zealand and Australia, with unparalleled local rebate knowledge. Prior to Hinterland, Sharon is most well known for her role in building Fulcrum Media Finance. During her tenure she provided over AUD $750 million in lending on over 450 projects without a single default.

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