The comedown each year after the Melbourne International Film Festival consists of a curious blend of relief that the onslaught of cinema has stopped and a sadness that the intensive four-films-a-day, dumplings-and-caffeine lifestyle has also come to a halt.

2017 was an exciting festival for me. For the last few years my presence has been in a primarily professional capacity as a film critic at Triple R’s Plato’s Cave programme, and last year as a mentor on MIFF’s excellent Critics Campus programme that fosters the talent and career aspirations of emerging young critics from around Australia.