Shooting his first Australian film, acclaimed comedian, writer and director Ben Elton, alongside cast from MIFF’s crowd-pleasing Centrepiece Gala Three Summers, will speak with Natalie Bailey – the UK’s go-to comedy director (The Thick of It) – about this hilarious multi-story comedy set over three years at a fictional folk-music festival.

Ben Elton
Ben Elton is a multi-award-winning novelist (Stark, Gridlock, High Society), playwright (Popcorn, We Will Rock You, Love Never Dies), television writer (The Young Ones, Blackadder, Filthy Rich & Catflap), screen writer (Maybe Baby, Three Summers) and lyricist. He is also a theatre, screen and TV director, a stand-up comedian and a very occasional actor. Ben married Australian musician Sophie Gare in 1994 and became an Australian citizen in 2004. He and Sophie have three children and live in Fremantle.

Robert Sheehan
Robert made his acting debut in Aisling Walsh’s acclaimed feature film Song For A Raggy Boy. Since then, he’s starred in numerous films and TV shows, including The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, all three films in the BAFTA award-winning Red Riding trilogy (MIFF 2009), and the BAFTA award-winning Misfits (for which he was also BAFTA nominated for Best Supporting Actor). He is currently filming Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines.

Rebecca Breeds
Rebecca started her career the long-running Australian series Blue Water High and the Home and Away. This was followed by the hugely successful Channel 7 bio pic Molly. More recently, she moved to live in New York and is now regularly working in the US; she has appeared on hit television shows We Are Men, The Originals, Pretty Little Liars and Miranda’s Rights. Rebecca's film credits include Bhaag Mikha Bhaag, Newcastle and now Three Summers.

Magda Szubanski
Magda is one of Australia's most loved and respected actors. She is best known for her role as Mrs Hogged in the Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning film Babe and its sequel Babe: Pig In The City, and also for her performance as Sharon Strzelecki in the hit television series Kath and Kim and feature film Kath and Kimderella. Magda has co-written and performed in some of Australia's most successful television comedy shows including Fast Forward, D Generation and Full Frontal. Magda teamed up with the Babe creators again to voice the box office hit Happy Feet and sequal Happy Feet 2. In addition to her acting work, in October 2015 Magda released her hugely successful first book, Reckoning, which has won several major award including 2016 ABIA Book of the Year.

Kelton Pell
Kelton Pell has built a reputation for being one of our finest indigenous actors. He has an illustrious theatre career performing all around Australia. On the big screen, Kelton has appeared in Mad Bastards, Aunty Maggie and the Womba Wagkun, The Last Ride, Bran Nue Dae (MIFF 2009), Blackfellas, Australian Rules, Confessions of a Headhunter, Cold Turkey, Where Two Rivers Meet, September, One Night the Moon, Stone Brothers, Looking For Grace and Red Dog: True Blue. Widely recognised for his leading role in SBS TV’s The Circuit, Kelton has also appeared in Bush Patrol, Cloudstreet, Redfern Now, Hard Rock Medical, The Moodys, The Gods Of Wheat Street and the Redfern Now telemovie. Kelton also appeared in the recent doco-drama Death or Liberty.

Michael Caton
During his illustrious 40-plus year career, Michael Caton has performed in television, theatre and film both in Australia and abroad. Michael became a household name in the ‘70s as the popular character of Harry Sullivan in The Sullivans, a role for which he won two Logie Awards. In 2014, Michael was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Association of Cinema Operators Australasia, for his distinguished career and contribution to the industry. One of the highlights of his film career thus far has been playing the legendary role of Dale Kerrigan in the much loved (and much quoted) feature film The Castle.

Natalie Bailey
Natalie is a comedy and drama director based in the UK, Australia and the USA. Her credits include Series Director on the 2016 Emmy Award Winner for Best Comedy, Hoff The Record, and Lead Director on BBC2’s award-winning political comedy The Thick of It (series 4). In recent years Natalie has been working in Melbourne as a development producer and director with Princess Pictures, and has also branched into live theatre, directing Joseph Morpurgo's critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe shows.