ADM+S researcher awarded Best Director at Melbourne Queer Film Festival
Author Kathy Nickels
Date 28 November 2024
Lesley Luo, a PhD candidate at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) researching the intersection of recommender systems and queer representation, has been awarded the prestigious VicScreen Best Director of Australian Short Film at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF).
The film, Outpicker, tells the poignant story of a queer immigrant navigating themes of belonging and community building through the act of litter picking across regional Victoria. The film, an Official Selection of MQFF 2024, has been celebrated for its authentic representation of queer women from diverse backgrounds and its compelling narrative of connection and resilience.
“I’m absolutely thrilled about this. Being awarded as Best Director made me feel so encouraged and how important representation is for queer multicultural communities – it’s a reminder of the power of storytelling to create visibility and connection,” said Ms Luo.
Lesley’s creative work is informed by her research, as the recommender systems not only shape the way she consumes content on digital platforms, but also impact her own content creation and engagement with the queer audiences and community in the digital realm.
Her focus lies in the recommender system and platform mechanism’s role in shaping the content production and consumption of queer women’s narrative short films and web series. This research explores how the platform mobilises or moderates the queer content, in a way, influencing cultural representation and community building.
The Melbourne Queer Film Festival, one of Australia’s premier LGBTQIA+ cultural events, showcases the best in queer cinema from around the globe.
The VicScreen Best Director award celebrates Lesley’s innovative approach to filmmaking, her dedication to representation, and her ability to tell stories that resonate across cultural and geographic boundaries.
