THE FESTIVAL TEAM
Claire Jager
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
Claire brings a wealth of experience to the Festival. She is a director and producer, with award-winning films to her credit and has worked with the ABC as an Executive Producer; with SBS as a Commissioning Editor (Documentary); with the Australian Film Commission as a development executive, and Screen Australia as Investment Manager for Documentary.
Alongside her role as curator of the annual screening programs and related screen-based media events, Claire also focuses on future directions with the CDoc team and the Board.
Alex Riches
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR (She/They)
Alex is an independent filmmaker who has written and directed short films, music videos, and promotional videos for not-for-profit organisations. Since graduating from Victoria University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Screen Media, they have focused on making content that elevates the voices and celebrates the stories of the LGBTQIA+ communities. They have worked as an Impact Producer for the Who I Am short film national tour last year and was the co-creator for a verbatim theatre piece Thrive: Queer Voices Out Loud in 2023.
They see their work as an extension of their values and has enjoyed volunteering for the Australian Red Cross, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival over the years. Alex is the Membership Coordinator for Women in Film and Television Victoria as well, and finds working with filmmakers at every stage of their careers very rewarding.
Beth Knights
EVENT & MEDIA MANAGER (She/Her)
Beth is a freelance screenwriter and writer with experience in scripted television, digital media and print. Beth enjoys partnering with small businesses to develop marketing strategies and create compelling content for web and print. Beth's creative approach and storytelling skills help brands find their voice.
Fiona Dann
PARTNERSHIP LIAISON
Fiona brings a depth of experience to the role of Partnership Liaison. Establishing a niche as a casting director promoting diverse stories, Fiona’s wide ranging portfolio includes feature films, short films, TV series, commercials and docudramas, collaborating with emerging filmmakers and seasoned directors to realise their visions. Her commitment to authentic representation of diversity made her a sought-after collaborator, ensuring stories are rich and varied. A valued member of Castlemaine’s vibrant creative community, Fiona’s storytelling chops complement CDoc’s mission perfectly.
Carla Alderuccio
FESTIVAL PUBLICIST
Carla is an experienced public relations and communications professional. She is currently the Publicity Lead for The Australian Open at Tennis Australia. Carla was previously an Account Director at That Communications Company, a Melbourne-based PR agency. She has worked with clients from a wide range of industries including technology, education, professional services, not-for-profit, women’s advocacy, health, lifestyle and sport. She has also worked as a tutor at RMIT University teaching public relations and writing to students undertaking the Bachelor of Communications
Diane Cook
WRITER
Diane has been a freelance writer since 2021, after spending eight-and-a-half years with Aesop as Senior Copywriting Manager. Her prior professional roles include Cultural Activities and Creative Development Manager at Film Victoria; lecturer in creative writing, screenwriting and communications at the University of Canberra and RMIT respectively; Co-Director of the St Kilda Film Festival; freelance script editor; and freelance script/screen culture projects assessor for Film Victoria, the Australian Film Commission, Screen NSW and Screen Tasmania.
Anna Williams
VOLUNTEERS COORDINATOR
Anna is a former teacher and current administrator in education. She has worked across most sectors of education - primary, secondary and tertiary and also in the sporting world. Anna has a great love of cinema so working in this role for the Castlemaine Documentary Festival is the perfect fit.
Our Board
Marylou Verbene
CHAIR
Marylou Verberne Marylou Verberne is an emerging artist from Castlemaine, in the Central Goldfields of Victoria. While from a young age she imagined a future in the arts, Marylou got sidelined by an international career in law and social impact. Initially working as a lawyer in top-tier firms in Australia and Hong Kong, she went on to work in the offices of State and Federal members of parliament, established an education not-for-profit, got involved in documentary filmmaking and set up a social impact consulting firm. For Marylou, the “gift” of COVID was to make a long-overdue decision to commit to a full-time art practice as a photographer. She is involved in a number of local artist groups and is on the board of the Mountain Festival in Macedon.
Deane Williams
DEPUTY CHAIR
Deane Williams is Associate Professor in Film and Screen Studies, Monash University. Deane is a film historian specialising in documentary film history and Australian documentary authoring or editing 12 monographs and of numerous articles. From 2007-2017 he was foundation editor of Studies in Documentary Film a scholarly journal dedicated to the history and criticism of documentary. He has regularly served in leadership and community engagement positions.
Hollie Fifer
CHAIR
As a documentary filmmaker, Hollie’s films have screened at festivals and broadcasted within Australia and internationally. THE OPPOSITION is Hollie’s debut feature documentary produced by Media Stockade that world premiered at Hot Docs and IDFA in 2016 before winning the Grand Prize at FIFO, screening at the UN Human Rights Council, winning Best Documentary Feature at the Oz Flix Independent Film Awards and screening in over 35 countries. Hollie’s latest short film UNBALANCED recently premiered on Australian newspapers The Age/Sydney Morning Herald’s Vox Dox series. Hollie serves on the Board of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC)and the Global Impact Producers Alliance (GIPA). In her previous work she has been a freelance tutor in Documentary Directing at NIDA and AFTRS, Co-Director of The Artists Guild, Director of Schoolhouse Studios and selected for MECCA M-Power Program.
Michelle Tyson Clark
Michelle is Strategic Adviser at Adelaide Festival. Previously, she was General Manager at the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne’s home of books, writing and ideas. She has stayed on with the Wheeler Centre part-time as Governance Lead, working between Naarm and Kaurna Country. Michelle has over 20 years of experience in governance, strategy and administration across festivals, performing arts, film, television, and the independent production sector. Previously, she was Strategic Adviser to the Dean at Monash Art Design and Architecture (MADA), and before MADA she was Chief of Staff at RISING, the festival formed from White Night and Melbourne International Festival of the Arts. She has held roles at Melbourne Festival, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Screen Australia, Film Australia, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and Cinemedia.
Suzanne Donisthorpe
Suzanne has been an arts broadcaster for over 30 years, working on the various incarnations of the books and arts programs at ABC Radio National. She also worked for a number of years with the sculptor Frank Veldze on a range of creative projects. Her novel Getting Up was published by Pan MacMillan in 2013. Since leaving the ABC in 2015, Suzanne has been closely involved with the local Castlemaine Public radio station MAINfm. She presented the award winning ArtSwank program and worked as the Program Manager and Board member. She currently presents two arts and current affairs shows: Hear Say and The Shout Out.
Ira Barker
Ira is a Gunditjmara and Barkindji filmmaker, cook and farmer. Ira edited and released their first documentary in 2021 as part of CVIFF, has contributed to several panel discussions and is working to edit documentary scripts for cultural inclusion. They have also been involved in film distribution since 2016, running the local Family Videoland until its closure in 2020.
Tony Jackson
Tony has spent more than thirty years making television and documentaries, earning his first stripes at the BBC before becoming Head of Television at Lonely Planet and then Executive Producer/Writer/Director at Chemical Media. Tony has worked with international broadcasters and screen funding bodies in North America, Europe, the Middle East, China and Australia. He’s been twice nominated for a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism and is the winner of a Screen Producers Australia Award.
Kylie Pascoe
With a 20-year career in film and television, Kylie broke new ground in subscription television, creating innovative campaigns alongside several Hollywood Studios. In 1996 she moved into film and has been behind the release of over 30 films and series. Kylie spent two years as director of Queensland’s largest film festival (GCFF) establishing three of their flagship events before relocating to Victoria in 2016 to focus on producing. A keen collaborator, Kylie has produced a broadcast documentary, and co-produced eleven feature films and a Netflix series. Her latest feature documentary – The Art of Incarceration – was acquired by Netflix for global release mid 2022.