Irina Herrschner, PhD, is a cultural studies researcher with an interest in film festivals, contemporary mobilities and cultural diplomacy. She completed her PhD in German studies on the topic of German cinematic diplomacy and the German Film Festival in Australia at the University of Melbourne. Irina worked as a lecturer in arts and cultural management, German cultural studies and tourism and was previously the film festival director of German Cinema Melbourne. Irina currently manages the Gateway Office of the Universität Bayreuth in Melbourne. Kirsten Stevens, PhD, is a film writer, lecturer and researcher working in the areas of film festivals, reception studies and film exhibition practice. She completed her PhD in film and screen studies at Monash University, and has taught extensively in film and screen studies, media and communications, cultural studies, and arts and cultural management. Kirsten is currently a lecturer in arts and cultural management at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is Deputy Director of the Melbourne Women in Film Festival, Vice President of the Senses of Cinema journal, and a member of the Screen Studies Association of Aotearoa New Zealand executive. Her current research interests include: the impact of digitisation and connected viewing practices on television and film festival audiences; women's filmmaking and its circulation within alternative distribution networks; and histories of film and film culture in Australia.Benjamin Nickl, PhD, is a cultural studies researcher with an interest in popular culture studies in film, television, literature, performative and mass media. He is also interested in educational studies and researches in the areas of transnational cultures, German, American, and Australian transnationalisms and global transcultural dialogue, as well as transnational educational practices in secondary and tertiary education. Currently, he works on transnational German visual culture at the intersection of cinema and online media.
