Film

Opening Night: The Opposition

Steeped in a legal dispute that prevented its release, The Opposition details the struggle of 3,000 residents of the Paga Hill community in Papua New Guinea who watched helplessly as police bulldozed their homes to make way for a luxury resort.

Film

The Opposition – Encore Screening

Steeped in a legal dispute that prevented its release, The Opposition details the struggle of 3,000 residents of the Paga Hill community in Papua New Guinea who watched helplessly as police bulldozed their homes to make way for a luxury resort.

Film

Melbourne Cinémathèque: Water Rites

In the 5th year of this collaboration, this screening profiles cinema as a truly global art form. It features two films restored by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, an initiative dedicated to preserving and restoring neglected films from around the world.

Film

Hear My Eyes: Fire at Sea

Academy Award nominee and winner of the Berlinale’s prestigious Golden Bear, Fire at Sea is a poetic and haunting portrait of Lampedusa.

Special Event | HRAFF Gala

2017 HRAFF GALA

Join us at our annual HRAFF Gala Film Screening and Cocktail party at the prestigious St Kilda Town Hall.

Film

Closing Night: Quest

Critics favorite at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this high profile American documentary provides a stunning illumination into race, class and community.

Film

The Opposition

Steeped in a legal dispute that prevented its release, The Opposition details the struggle of 3,000 residents of the Paga Hill community in Papua New Guinea who watched helplessly as police bulldozed their homes to make way for a luxury resort.

Film

Quest

Critics favorite at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this high profile American documentary provides a stunning illumination into race, class and community.

Film

The Opposition

Steeped in a legal dispute that prevented its release, The Opposition details the struggle of 3,000 residents of the Paga Hill community in Papua New Guinea who watched helplessly as police bulldozed their homes to make way for a luxury resort.

Film

Quest

Critics favorite at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this high profile American documentary provides a stunning illumination into race, class and community.

Film | Profile

Constance on the Edge

Constance is a strong Acholi woman who was one of the first refugees from South Sudan to settle in Wagga Wagga with her family in 2005.

Film | Australian Shorts

Australian Shorts

Sophisticated, sensitive and surprising. Cinematic gems from Australia’s finest short-filmmakers.

Film | Confrontations

Stranger in Paradise

A simple classroom is the setting for this complex exploration of the starkly relevant topic of mass global immigration.

Film | Express Yourself

Happyland

Fuelled by curiosity, artistic challenge and the desire to offer practical support, Australian street artist Kaff-eine and her international team work with two of Manila’s most impoverished dumpsite slums to make something creative, valuable and special.

Film | Drama

Dheepan

Winner of the top prize at Cannes Film Festival 2015, Dheepan is the latest critically acclaimed work from French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone).

Film | CineSeeds

CINESEEDS: Zach’s Ceremony

“I’m not black. I’m not white. I’m sort of in the middle.” Zach Doomadgee is an Indigenous Australian teenager in Sydney torn between two worlds.

Film | CineSeeds

CINESEEDS: Satellite Boy

For Pete, a 12-year-old Indigenous Australian boy and his elderly grandfather Old Jagamarra (David Gulpilil), home is an abandoned outdoor cinema in the outback town of Wyndham.

Film | Perspectives

Salero

The extraterrestrial scenery of Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, has been the secluded home of Indigenous salt gatherers for generations.

Film | Drama

Lamb

The first Ethiopian film ever in Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival, Lamb is a loving tale of a small boy sent with his beloved pet lamb to live with relations in the country – and discovering a culturally inappropriate talent for cooking.

Film | Express Yourself

Happyland – Encore Screening

Fuelled by curiosity, artistic challenge and the desire to offer practical support, Australian street artist Kaff-eine and her international team work with two of Manila’s most impoverished dumpsite slums to make something creative, valuable and special.

Film | Express Yourself

Check It

Armed with Louis Vuitton bags and pink tasers, a group of black queer youth band together to fight back against the violence and prejudice they experience on the streets of Washington DC.

Film | Confrontations

Radio Kobani

Winner of the Best Dutch Documentary Award at IDFA 2016, Radio Kobani is a moving documentary about the struggle to rebuild lives after the Syrian border town of Kobani was captured by IS forces in 2014.

Film | Profile

Off the Rails (Open Caption Screening)

Winner of DOC NYC’s Metropolis Award, Off the Rails follows Darius McCollum, who has spent over half his adult life in prison for impersonating Metro Transit Authority staff and stealing trains.

Film | Perspectives

Fallen Flowers Thick Leaves

Wen Wen, a young outgoing careerist, and Xiao, a shy middle-aged widow, are two very different women, unconnected except for one person: Hongli, their unflinching sex therapist who encourages women in Beijing to explore their sexuality.

Film | International Shorts

International Shorts

Provocative cinema from across the globe, these international perspectives explore the astounding complexities of what it is to be human.

Film | Perspectives

When The Earth Seems to be Light

A group of misfit skaters search for their place in Georgian society by roaming the streets on their boards, tired of being judged and misunderstood.

Film | Confrontations

The Settlers

Moving beyond what is reported in the news, The Settlers offers an intimate compilation of the lives and experiences of the people occupying one of the world’s most contested regions: Israel’s West Bank territory.

Film | International Shorts

International Shorts: Departure

Reflections on the global movement of people, these dynamic stories shed light on the issue of our time.

Film | Drama

Tanna

Australia’s first-ever Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Tanna tells the story of young lovers from a tribe in Vanuatu, kept apart when elders arrange for her to marry a man in another tribe.

Film | Express Yourself

Raving Iran

Raw and exhilarating, Raving Iran follows DJ’s Anoosh and Arash (aka Blade & Beard) as they try to pursue their musical dreams in a society where techno is severely forbidden.

Film | Express Yourself

Intent to Destroy

Grab a Pass to Opening Night + Intent to Destroy at $15 off. Details at bottom of page under ‘Purchase Tickets’.   “Academy Award®-nominated director Joe Berlinger takes an unwavering look at the Armenian genocide after a century of denial by the Turkish government and its strategic allies.” Hollywood Reporter Legendary documentarian Joe Berlinger’s (Metallica: Some Kind More…

Film | HRAFF Goes West

HRAFF Goes West: Music and Movement

As we celebrate HRAFF’s 10th Birthday, join us at the Footscray Community Arts Centre as we highlight our rich multicultural and Indigenous tapestry and what makes our community so unique and special.

Film | Perspectives

Café Waldluft

Café Waldluft is not what it used to be. Once a popular tourist destination, nestled in the picturesque mountain town of Berchtesgaden, Flora Kurz’s rustic hotel today exclusively welcomes refugees from across the globe.

Film | Drama

The White Knights (Les Chevaliers Blancs)

Winner of Best Director at San Sebastian Film Festival, Les Chevaliers Blancs follows a fictional humanitarian organisation that claims to provide better lives for orphans in an unspecified African country.

Film | HRAFF Goes West

HRAFF Goes West: Spear

As we celebrate HRAFF’s 10th Birthday, join us at the Footscray Community Arts Centre as we highlight our rich multicultural and Indigenous tapestry and what makes our community so unique and special.

Film | Drama

War Book

Opening Night film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Tom Harper’s sharp-tongued political thriller War Book is sure to set hearts racing.

Film | Confrontations

Nowhere to Hide

Winner of IDFA’s top accolade for Best Feature-Length Documentary, one humble paramedic with a camera shows us his Iraq in Nowhere to Hide.

Film | Profile

The Freedom to Marry

June 26, 2015, former US President Barack Obama declared, “Our nation was founded on a bedrock principle that we are all created equal”.

Film | Profile

The Pearl of Africa

An internationally acclaimed story about love, discrimination and being transgender in Uganda.

Film | Profile

Tempestad

Tempestad is an emotional and contemplative journey told through the voice-over of two women victimised by their country’s corruption and injustice.

Film | Profile

An Insignificant Man

Commonly referred to as ‘the Bernie Sanders of India’, former bureaucrat Arvind Kejriwal achieved the impossible in 2013.

Film | Profile

Off the Rails

Winner of DOC NYC’s Metropolis Award, Off the Rails follows Darius McCollum, who has spent over half his adult life in prison for impersonating Metro Transit Authority staff and stealing trains.

Film | Express Yourself

Sonita

Acclaimed documentarian, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, brings us the remarkable and exhilarating story of Sonita.

Film | International Shorts

International Shorts: Defiance

Extraordinary individuals of bravery and integrity, these captivating portraits celebrate those who stand their ground.

Film | Confrontations

Do Not Resist

Winner of the Best Documentary Prize at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, Do Not Resist presents an unsettling examination of the rapid militarisation of the United States police force.

Film | Profile

Constance on the Edge

Constance is a strong Acholi woman who was one of the first refugees from South Sudan to settle in Wagga Wagga with her family in 2005.

Film | International Shorts

International Shorts: Defiance

Extraordinary individuals of bravery and integrity, these captivating portraits celebrate those who stand their ground.

Film | Profile

The Freedom to Marry

June 26, 2015, former US President Barack Obama declared, “Our nation was founded on a bedrock principle that we are all created equal”.

Film | Express Yourself

Intent to Destroy

“Academy Award®-nominated director Joe Berlinger takes an unwavering look at the Armenian genocide after a century of denial by the Turkish government and its strategic allies.” Hollywood Reporter Legendary documentarian Joe Berlinger’s (Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Tony Robbins: I am Not Your Guru, Crude) thirteenth feature film, captures the cinematic and political challenges of producing a historically More…

Film | Australian Shorts

Australian Shorts

Sophisticated, sensitive and surprising. Cinematic gems from Australia’s finest short-filmmakers.

Film | Express Yourself

Check It

Armed with Louis Vuitton bags and pink tasers, a group of black queer youth band together to fight back against the violence and prejudice they experience on the streets of Washington DC.

Film | Express Yourself

Raving Iran

Raw and exhilarating, Raving Iran follows DJ’s Anoosh and Arash (aka Blade & Beard) as they try to pursue their musical dreams in a society where techno is severely forbidden.

Film | Perspectives

Café Waldluft

Café Waldluft is not what it used to be. Once a popular tourist destination, nestled in the picturesque mountain town of Berchtesgaden, Flora Kurz’s rustic hotel today exclusively welcomes refugees from across the globe.

Film | Australian Shorts

Australian Shorts

Sophisticated, sensitive and surprising. Cinematic gems from Australia’s finest short-filmmakers.

Film | Profile

Constance on the Edge

Constance is a strong Acholi woman who was one of the first refugees from South Sudan to settle in Wagga Wagga with her family in 2005.

Film | Profile

The Freedom to Marry

June 26, 2015, former US President Barack Obama declared, “Our nation was founded on a bedrock principle that we are all created equal”.

Forum | Australian

Protest and Solidarity: First Nations and Indigenous Peoples

HRAFF 2017 continues to feature films highlighting issues confronting Indigenous peoples in various regions.

Forum | Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Building Communities: Immigration and Integration

Australian politics is characterised by heated debates on immigration policy and the scope of the Australian government’s obligation to asylum seekers.

Forum | Australian

All is Love: Families and Marriage Equality

In honour of Mother’s Day, join us as we discuss and celebrate diverse families and guardians, ruminating on the present-day meaning of ‘family’.

Art | Exhibition

Listen to your Elders

This exhibition features recordings from the Koorie Heritage Trust’s Oral History Collection. These recordings share the experiences and knowledge of our Koorie Elders, and explore the very significant role Elders hold in the Victorian Koorie community.

Art | Exhibition

Weaving the Waterways: Women and Fishing

Netmaking came to Glenda Nicholls from her ancestors in a vision and has inspired this exhibition of river-life, featuring woven nets, scoop nets, baskets, fishing lines, hooks and bird nets.

Art | Exhibition

They Cannot Take the Sky: Stories from Detention

An exhibition of personal stories from people who have sought asylum in Australia and have been detained by the Australian Government under its mandatory detention policy.

Art | Exhibition

Rohingya: Refugee Crisis in Colour

The ongoing genocide of Rohingya people in Western Myanmar (formerly Burma) remains almost ignored by world media. Displaced from their homes, attacked by the military, interned in refugee camps and driven across the border into neighbouring Bangladesh, the Rohingya have become known as one of the world’s most persecuted people.

Art | Exhibition

Happyland

Australian street artist Kaff-eine and her international team reunited with garbage scavengers living in two of Manila’s most notorious, impoverished slums, to create an open-air art exhibition that celebrated the communities, while providing them with resources for shelter.

Art | Storytelling

Behind The Wire: Stories From Detention

Through audio, video and live storytelling, Peter, Lina and Jamila will tell stories of hope, suffering and resilience.

Art | Exhibition

Reframe “Home” with Patterns of Displacement

Reframe “Home” with Patterns of Displacement explores issues of displacement due to socio-political persecution. The exhibition aims to reveal the difficulties and suffering of individuals who have faced displacement and dislocation – manifesting a universal understanding for change, fragility and redemption.

Art | HRAFF Goes West

HRAFF Goes West: Create with Kaff-Eine

HRAFF is heading to Phoenix Youth Centre for a fun-filled Friday afternoon of sharing stories and street art!

Art | Exhibition

Conflicted: Works from the Vietnam Archive Project

The Vietnam Archive Project by Phuong Ngo is an ongoing artwork started in 2010. Conflicted explores the political and social aspects of war through the lens of service men and women.

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