Sun, 09 July
|Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre
First Nations Film Festival 2023
Details
09 July 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:40 pm
Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre , 96 Graham St, Wonthaggi VIC 3995, Australia
About
First Nations Film Festival 2023
Get ready to experiance the incredible power of First Nations storytelling at The First Nations Film Festival 2023!
We're celebrating NADIOC Week, where we give a special shout-out to First Nations artists and filmmakers. They're using their talents to inspire change and make a big difference in their communities. It;s reallly import to honour their voices and the impact they're making.
The films are chosen based on the themes of NAIDOC Week with award-winning movies and documantiries. You're in fo a treat.
1.30pm- Limbo [MA15+] 1h54m
Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case from the victim’s fractured family, the surviving witnesses and the reclusive brother of the chief suspect. A poignant, intimate journey into the complexities of loss and the impact of the justice system on Aboriginal families in Australia.
Directed by Ivan Sen and starring Simon Baker, Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen and Nicholas Hope. Produced with the support of Screen Queensland, South Australian Film Corporation and the ABC. The film had its world premiere in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival where it competed for Golden Bear.
4pm- The Last Daughter [PG] 1h37m
Brenda’s first memories were of growing up in a loving white foster family, before she was suddenly taken away and returned to her Aboriginal family. Decades later, she feels disconnected from both halves of her life. But the traumas of her past do not lie quietly buried. So, she goes searching for the foster family with whom she had lost all contact.
Along the way she uncovers long-buried secrets, government lies, and the possibility for deeper connections to family and culture. The Last Daughter is a documentary about Brenda’s journey to unearth the truth about her past, and to reconcile the two sides of her family.
Directed and starring Brenda Matthews in collaboration with Nathaniel Schmidt. 2023 Winner of the Jury Prize for the Best Australian Film at the Gold Coast Film Festival, 2022 Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Adelaide Film Festival and a finalist at the Sydney Film Festival.
“We can’t change the past, nor do I want others to feel guilty for what has happened.
I share this story out of love and forgiveness, which my Mother and Father have taught me from both sides.”
– Brenda Matthews
6pm- Watandar, My Countryman [PG] 1h18m
When former Afghan Refugee Muzafar Ali, discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a search to define his own new Afghan-Australian identity. Then the Taliban take over Afghanistan and his old country comes calling.
The Afghan Cameleer Descendants, featured in Watandar, My Countryman are Indigenous, Colonial and Immigrants at the same time. When Muzafar decided to photograph them it presented a rare opportunity to re-examine Australia’s colonial history.
Written, directed and produced by Jolyon Hoff, starring Muzafar Ali. The film was a finalist in the 2022 Australian Awards in the Feature Documentary of the Year category and an official selection of the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival.
Watandar, My Countryman touches on Australia and the world’s biggest geopolitical stories including; the relationship between colonial, ancient and immigrant Australians, our treatment of refugees, the division between the world’s dominate religions, the success and or lack of success of the international forces in Afghanistan, and the power of individuals to create change.
-Jolyon Hoff (Writer/Director/Producer)