2027 Selection Panel
Sarah Hurwood
Sarah is a Gippsland born creative, local Mum, and like most, a self-proclaimed film buff. Having grown up in Warragul, Sarah noticed a lack of creative opportunities in Gippsland and is now passionate about inspiring young Gippslanders to pursue creative education and filmmaking. She has spent the past 10 years of her career working across content creation, events, digital marketing and short film. Sarah is ecstatic to be working as a part of the GIFF team and can’t wait to see the impact it has on local creatives and the awareness it brings to the wider Gippsland community. In 2026-2027 she is working as the GIFF Festival Coordinator.
Joyce Agee
Joyce Agee had a successful career as a documentary photographer and art curator in England and Australia. She has worked as a film and television stills photographer, and produced the award-winning film Grays Harbor Happenings: The Newsreels of C.D. Anderson while working at the University of Washington in Seattle. She has had a lifelong romance with film and considers it a great honor to be contributing to the Gippsland International Film Festival.
Kaylene Tyler
Kaylene Tyler is Melbourne/Narrm based screen practitioner who grew up in Gippsland. Kaylene combined a background in graphic design with a Bachelor of Film and Television Honours in 2012, both these disciplines centred in a love of visual storytelling.
She has worked across the screen ecosystem – from developing and producing award winning shorts such as Sineang (2023) to working in art department: including Art Directing Victorian Queens (2022) as well as designing for screen events and streaming platforms. Recently Kaylene has coordinated industry projects and lectured for Swinburne University’s Screen and Media programs.
Her love of building striking visual worlds and supporting local production lead her to join the Locations and Production Support team at VicScreen in 2022. Growing up in Morwell on GunaiKurnai land and retaining close ties to the region, she is passionate about increasing accessibility to screen arts and championing original storytelling. Kaylene tells people her favourite films are The Apartment, The Piano Teacher and Melancholia, but in her truest heart they are Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Lion King and Dumber and Dumber.
Nic Alexander
Nic is a Melbourne-based Australian actor, writer and creator working across film, television and digital platforms. She is the creator and lead actor of the award-winning comedy short Keith, which premiered at the Gippsland International Film Festival (GIFF), taking home Best Comedy Short Film.
With a recurring role in the popular web series Flunk and training at NIDA, Brave Studios and The Film & TV Studio International, Nic brings both performance and filmmaking experience to the panel. Some of her favourite films are Gone Girl, Office Christmas Party and Labyrinth. She is delighted to return to GIFF as a Guest Selection Panelist for 2027.
Alana Auden
Alana Auden is a multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker with a background in medical science and research. She has made three short films that have screened at festivals in Australia and internationally. Alana also works in the Engagement team at Federation University. She was one of the GIFF festival directors for the inaugural 2026 run of the festival. Some of her favourite films include Fight Club, Drop Dead Gorgeous and The Big Lebowski. Returning as one of the festival directors, she is excited about the possibilities for the 2027 program.
Edward Yates
Edward Yates is a screen and media practitioner with over 15 years’ experience within the film and television industry. He has made three short films that have screened in film festivals in Australia and internationally. Since 2013 Edward has worked as a freelance artist in film and television within prosthetic make-up, art department and special effects, including Predestination, Cargo and Bring Her Back. Prior to this, he wrote film and television reviews as a media critic for ATOM Publications from 2009. He holds a PhD in Social Science and has a background in cultural anthropology. Some of his favourite films include Bladerunner, Lost Highway and The Big Lebowski. In 2027 Edward is one of the festival directors for GIFF.