FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT GALA EVENT with special guest, lifetime environmental activist BOB BROWN
Totally capturing the zeitgeist of the Youth Climate Change movement, “Youth Unstoppable” was shot over 10 years by a Canadian schoolgirl who was just 15 when she started her quest. Taking on the politicians and the status quo, she crucially shows us what is really at stake for other young people around the world who are on the frontline of climate change.

Opening night of the 2019 Festival will be a green carpet affair, and will include footage of our own Castlemaine student climate strikers! The screening will be followed by a live Skype Q&A with the film’s director and youth climate activist, Slater Jewell-Kemker, and Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg and much, much more.

Proudly sponsored by Global Affairs Canada / Canada Down Under.

Following her smash hit I Am Eleven, Australian filmmaker Genevieve Bailey was driven to find what’s missing from the conversation about men today.

With the superficial stereotypes and worst examples of men in the media today not matching up with the men she has known in her own life, Bailey presents an intensely intimate look in to vulnerability and compassion through her relationships with five very different men. We journey from Bondi Beach to the outback, laughing and crying with a war photographer traversing the globe to a country farmer and outreach worker, a musical nomad and a dog loving artist.

Taking in their hopes, anxieties, joy and darkness – HAPPY SAD MAN gives unforgettable voice to the complex emotional landscapes of modern masculinity and mental health. Uplifting, funny and tender, this portrait shines a memorable light on a complex and urgent topic that’s been little talked about for far too long.

Continue the conversation about Men’s Mental Health after the screening – details to follow.

Nadia Murad is a remarkable young woman from the Yazidi community in Northern Iraq. She grew up wanting to be a hairdresser, but that dream was shattered when ISIS swept into their town in 2014 and changed her life forever. “On her Shoulders” shows us the remarkable journey Nadia has made since those dark days when she lost nearly everything. Through her tenacity and conviction, she is now an eloquent human rights advocate for her people, and this year was the joint winner of the Nobel peace prize. But as powerful and redemptive as that story is, the film poses a deeper and more complex question. Are we in the West only able to focus our compassion when we are confronted by the ordeal of a young woman like Nadia?

THIS FILM CONTAINS STORY CONTENT WHICH SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING.

Our special guest after the screening will be Melbourne based Wendy Lobwein, who has spent a career helping people to testify against war crimes, in particular women survivors of sexual violence. For 15 years she worked at the Yugoslav War crimes tribunal at the Hague, and then with the UN across the Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia.
Wendy advises and consults with emerging judicial entities and NGO’s in countries all over the world, and will be speaking with Alex Kelly, producer of the award-winning ‘Island of the Hungry Ghosts’.

Proudly supported by the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre

Each summer, thousands of visitors from all walks of life flock to a small town in southern France and immerse themselves in a week-long dance festival. Living communally and dancing through the night, lovers, family members and strangers are all there to seek out connection and unity.
This beautifully shot film shows us scenes of extraordinary intimacy between the dance partners as they move from the all-encompassing joy of a Greek Zorba to the closeness of a waltzing embrace. Mesmerizing, and a testament to the need we all have to come together with others and form part of something larger than ourselves.
Following the screening of this wonderful film a dance instructor and live musicians will take to the stage and we will have our own Grand Bal!

Proudly sponsored by Nu-Trans Pty Ltd

See this IMPORTANT FILM on the BIG SCREEN.
Told exclusively through the use of archive footage, this is the shameful story of football superstar Adam Goodes. The film is a searing account of racism in modern Australia, and powerfully portrays how Goodes became a lightning rod for heated media commentary that divided the nation. What stands out more than anything else however, is the calm and tolerant nature of Adam himself. Never stooping to the level of his critics or the racist fans that endlessly booed him, his dignity is inspiring.

Followed by a panel discussion hosted by Leila Gurruwiwi – more details to follow.

“Makala” is the simple story of a Congolese man who makes charcoal, slowly wheels it 30 kilometres to the closest market, and then tries to sell it. Period. Winner of the Critics week Jury Prize at Cannes in 2017, the immense power of this truly cinematic film comes from its very distilled manner. It is the timeless tale of a man providing for his family, and by immersing us in the incredible physical commitment he makes to do that by pushing his bicycle loaded with hundreds of kilos of charcoal through thirty kilometres of dust and heat, each small detail and obstacle on his journey is emotionally heightened. A truly cinematic experience.

Followed by live video Q&A with Cannes Film Festival award-winning director, Emmanuel Gras.

“Delete, ignore…delete, ignore” Click. Someone out there is censoring your social media feed. Do their decisions distort your understanding of the world as much as clever hoaxes and “fake news”? The Cleaners hired by Silicon Valley leaders like Facebook and Google are young content moderators who are paid to sift through and remove what they deem to be inappropriate content on the internet. But all is not what it seems. Told in the sinister style of a neon, cyberpunk thriller, “The Cleaners” charts social media’s evolution from a shared vision of a global village to a dangerous web of fake news, extremism and radicalization. Essential viewing.

THIS FILM CONTAINS SCENES AND CONCEPTS WHICH SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING.

Followed by discussion with Dr Dean Cocking – moral philosopher and author of Evil Online