Skip to content

Dr Katherine Putnam

Dr Katherine Putnam
Name Katherine Putnam
Pronoun She/Her/Hers
Position Lecturer (Film and Screen Production)
Section School of Education and Creative Arts
Office A216
Location Toowoomba Campus
Phone +61 7 4631 2805
Extension 2805
Email
Qualifications BSocComm Pontif Cath Uni of RdJ , Master of Screen Production Griffith University , PhD Griffith University
Languages English (accredited translator)
Portuguese (accredited translator)

Biography

Dr Katherine Chediak Putnam is an award-winning Brazilian filmmaker and academic. She is a Lecturer in Film and Screen Production at the University of Southern Queensland and an Executive Member of the Centre for Heritage and Culture (CHC). Her research bridges creative practice and community engagement, exploring how filmmaking can foster connection and cultural understanding across diverse communities. Her current work includes a cross-cultural filmmaking project funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), which examines creative partnerships between Australian and Indonesian filmmakers through the lens of horror cinema.

In addition to her academic work, Putnam is an established filmmaker. She has co-written two horror short films – Stray (2018) and Inferno (2020) – and directed the latter. Both films were screened at prestigious international film festivals, including the Seattle International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, Dances With Films, and Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan). In 2019, Stray was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Best Short Screenplay. In 2023, Putnam’s debut Brazilian feature film, Perdida, was released in cinemas across Brazil and subsequently on Disney+. Co-produced and distributed by Disney Brazil, the film marked a significant milestone in her career. Putnam sits on the editorial committee of Sightlines: Filmmaking in the Academy Journal—Australia’s leading publication for screen-based non-traditional research outputs.

Research Career


  • Screen And Digital Media ( 360500 )
  • Creative And Professional Writing ( 360200 )
  • Creative Writing (incl. Scriptwriting) ( 360201 )

Cross-Cultural Filmmaking; Diversity and Inclusion; Genre Cinema; Screenwriting Studies


Australian Screen Production Education & Research Association (ASPERA)


Australian Writers' Guild (AWG)


  • Institute for Communities and Regional Development (ICRD)
  • Centre for Heritage and Culture (CHC)