LUMILA FILMS

Lumila is an Australia-based production company specialising in the development and production of quality screen content aimed at a broad female-skewed audience.

Lumila most recently produced, Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black. The film, set in 1959 Sydney, celebrated women across multiple generations. Released through Sony Pictures in 2018, it became the highest grossing Australian film of the year and the most nominated at the AFI/AACTA Awards (Aussie Oscars). The spin off series, produced for Australian broadcaster, ABC, dropped on ABCivew June 2024.

Lumila’s current slate includes a true-based spy thriller about WWII heroine Nancy Wake, and Canary Highway a girls-night-out dramedy.

ALLANAH ZITSERMAN
Creative Director, Lumila Films

Allanah is an award-winning filmmaker, creative entrepreneur, and champion of original Australian storytelling. Her screen career began straight out of university when she landed a production role on Strange Planet (1999), starring Naomi Watts. Just one year later, she wrote and produced her debut feature film, Russian Doll (2000), starring Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. This breakout project earned her the AACTA (AFI) Award for Best Original Screenplay.

In 2003, she went on to write and produce the black comedy Horseplay, featuring Abbie Cornish, before stepping into a broader industry leadership role. In 2007, she founded the Dungog Film Festival — dubbed “Australia’s Sundance” — and winner of the 2012 Inside Film Best Film Festival Award.

From 2008 to 2012, she helmed the influential development lab In The Raw, nurturing projects that would become produced features including Last Cab to Darwin, Sleeping Beauty, Strangerland (starring Nicole Kidman), and The Little Death.

During this time, she also founded a boutique distribution company dedicated to championing Australian cinema, successfully securing multiplex releases for local indie titles.

In 2017, Allanah returned to production in full force, developing and producing Ladies in Black, directed by Bruce Beresford. Globally released by Sony Pictures, it became one of the highest-grossing Australian films of all time and is now considered a homegrown classic. Following the film’s success, Allanah conceived and executive produced its series adaptation, now renewed for a second season on a major local broadcaster.

In 2025, Allanah co-wrote and directed the short film Sole Mates, a playful and provocative silent romcom — headed for the 2026 international festival circuit.

Currently, she leads Lumila Films, a production company with a dynamic slate of projects centred on female protagonists — including a mother’s coming-of-age story that will mark her debut in long-form directing.