The milestone 15th annual Archer Film Festival will feature a trio of entertainment industry insiders (including one of its founding members).

Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Lynette Howell Taylor, Oscar-winning One Battle After Another producer Sara Murphy and filmmaker Nastasya Popov are booked to share the stage set inside in Pacific Design Center’s Silver Screen Theater in West Hollywood on April 17. Their panel discussion, “Women Behind the Camera: Shifting Power in Film,” is meant to examine “how power is evolving in the entertainment industry” with commentary on how they “are actively reshaping the stories we tell and the systems that bring them to life.”

The Archer Film Fest is an entirely student-led and organized effort that seeks to empower female filmmakers and amplify underrepresented voices. In addition to the Q&A, the fest will screen a selection of finalist films. More than 300 student-produced film submissions were received from more than 50 countries. Event sponsors include Boardwalk Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, Mark Gordon Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Paramount, Campfire Studios, Apache Digital, and Jack Tar Pictures.

Taylor serves as the Academy president and continues to work as an active producer with credits including The Accountant 2, Roofman, A Star Is Born, The Accountant, Big Eyes, The Place Beyond The Pines, Half Nelson, Blue Valentine and I Know This Much Is True.

Murphy recently won a best picture Oscar for producing Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Her other credits include Licorice Pizza, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Anima, If Beale Street Could Talk, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and The History of Sound.

Popov is a director and writer whose breakout feature, Idiotka, was acquired by Utopia following its world premiere at SXSW 2025. An alum of the Archer School for Girls, Popov was a founding member of the Archer Film Festival.

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