Bitter & Sweet

Amal Awad is an Australian writer, director and performer. She has contributed to such publications as The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, ELLE, Meanjin and Frankie, and has produced and presented for ABC Radio National. Outside of mainstream media, Amal has held senior editorial roles at a number of trade media publications, reporting on the financial services, property and pharmacy industries. Amal has appeared as a speaker at schools, universities and writers' festivals around Australia. In 2019, she was a TEDx Macquarie speaker, giving a talk on 'Moving beyond the token minority' in film and television. Amal is the author of eight books, which include both fiction and non-fiction titles. As a screenwriter, Amal has worked on several film and television projects, including her own. In recent years, Amal has also pursued directing and acting, and has taught story and writing intensives.

Nisrine Amine is an AWGIE-nominated, Lebanese-Australian actress, writer and director. She is known for her various stage and screen credits including Home and Away, Amazing Grace, Mr Inbetween, and Frayed. She is the co-writer on the feature film Here Out West which will be the opening night film at the 2021 Sydney Film Festival. Nisrine is also the co-founder and creative director of Parramatta Actors Centre.