Meet the filmmakers selected for AFF x JAFF 2026
Meet the filmmakers selected for AFF x JAFF 2026
Four Australian filmmakers are heading to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, this November as part of Adelaide Film Festival's (AFF) ongoing partnership with the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) Market.
Director and producer Rosie Lourde and writer and producer Katharine McPhee have been selected for the JAFF Future Project with their feature film Wreck and Ruin, while producers Lisa Scott and Rae Choi will participate in the inaugural JAFF Producers Exchange.
This marks the third year AFF has supported Australian filmmakers to attend the JAFF Future Project, which brings together filmmakers, producers, financiers and international industry partners in Yogyakarta. The initiative champions original storytelling from the Asia-Pacific region, encouraging creative exchange and cross-border collaboration.
JAFF Future Project
Rosie Lourde and Katharine McPhee will present Wreck and Ruin, a supernatural thriller currently in development, with Joshua Trevorrow (Kumarangk: Sacred Women's Business) also attached as executive producer.
After surviving a shipwreck that kills her sister, a studious young woman stranded on a remote tropical island falls for an alluring stranger whose tragic secret threatens to turn their romance into an eternal prison.
JAFF Producers Exchange
New to JAFF Market in 2026, the Producers Exchange connects international producers with the Indonesian and wider Asian film industries, creating opportunities to develop industry relationships and explore future collaborations.
Lisa Scott and Rae Choi are among 12 producers selected for the inaugural exchange, each bringing a feature film project to the program.
Lisa Scott will present Under The Banyan Moon, a romantic drama following an Adelaide schoolteacher who flees a broken engagement for vibrant Yogyakarta. There, an old flame and a captivating stranger reawaken her dormant creative spark, forcing her to choose between the life she keeps imagining and the one unfolding before her.
Rae Choi will present Days Under the Sun, a coming-of-age drama incorporating magical realism. Fiercely independent teenager Kitty is forced to join her mother, Lydia, on a reunion trip to Malaysia, where the two continue to clash over unspoken disappointments and dreams. But when Kitty follows a mysterious butterfly into the forest and encounters a woman who looks remarkably like Lydia, she begins to see her mother in a new light.
Connecting Australian filmmakers with the world
The AFF x JAFF Market initiative strengthens connections between Australian and Indonesian filmmakers, encouraging cultural exchange, creative collaboration and new opportunities for Australian screen practitioners.
The partnership forms part of AFF's Festival Bridges program, which supports Australian filmmakers to connect with international festivals and markets, including the Cannes Marché du Film. Through these initiatives, AFF works to develop, support and engage the filmmaking community, facilitating opportunities for Australian filmmakers to build relationships and share their work internationally.
AFF CEO & Creative Director Mat Kesting said:
"Film is such a powerful way to bring together people from all backgrounds and cultures in a shared emotional experience, and this is true for both audiences and the creative teams who bring films to the screens. AFF's partnership with JAFF Market and JAFF Festival connects Australian filmmakers with their colleagues from our largest neighbour, Indonesia, to share creative visions and to collaborate in bold, new and exciting ways. We are immensely proud of this cultural exchange program."
The AFF x JAFF Market initiative is funded by the Australian Government through the Office for the Arts.
JAFF Market 2026 takes place from 28–30 November in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
About the filmmakers
Rosie Lourde
Rosie Lourde is a storyteller working across roles, formats and genres. She was nominated for a Directors Guild Award for her feature directorial debut, the romantic comedy Romance On The Menu (2020), which trended twice on Netflix in Australia and New Zealand and was acquired by Hallmark.
Her work also includes the horror short Dashcam (Canneseries/Shudder), sci-fi VR short Breach (Sundance shortlisted), digital series Starting From Now (over 250 million YouTube views) and ABC comedy series White Fever.
Rosie produced Skin Deep, which received a Best Scripted Feature Honourable Mention at Austin Film Festival, and was an executive producer of Sweet Milk Lake, as well as the documentaries Young Bloods (TikTok) and The Long Game (AFL).
Katharine McPhee
Katharine McPhee has been developing a slate of work through Untold Productions with First Nations Ngarrindjeri filmmaker Joshua Trevorrow since 2019.
She produced the short documentary Keep Yarning Strong, co-directed by Shantae Barnes-Cowan and Joshua Trevorrow, and has consulted on projects for Australian production companies including Emu Creek Pictures, Steel Springs Pictures and Pictures in Paradise.
Her project Blak Coffee was selected for Screen Australia and SBS Digital Originals development initiatives in 2023.
Lisa Scott
Lisa Scott is one of Australia's leading producers, with an extensive body of work across television, documentary and feature film.
Her recent productions include RFDS Season 3 for the Seven Network, feature documentary The Speedway Murders, short film Blame The Rabbit and the first season of The Tourist (BBC One/Stan), produced in collaboration with UK production company Two Brothers Pictures (Fleabag).
Other credits include A Sunburnt Christmas (Stan), The Hunting (SBS), Pine Gap (Netflix/ABC), Wolf Creek (Stan), ANZAC Girls (ABC) and three seasons of Janet King (ABC).
Rae Choi
Rae Choi is a filmmaker with family ties to Hong Kong and Borneo, Malaysia. Her producing credits include the Canneseries-selected series Ina and feature Paris Funeral, 1972.
Her writing and directing work includes the AWGIE-nominated When The Sky Was Blue and Some Kind Of Blue, which premiered at Adelaide Film Festival.
She has undertaken international producer placements with Heretic (Greece) and Paloma Productions (Denmark) through Screen Producers Australia's Ones to Watch program, as well as a director's attachment to Robert Connolly on his upcoming film Shiver.