Human Rights Arts & Film Festival
28 April - 7 May
Bodies
Searching or still, always expressive
How bodies are affected, moved, traded, given, designed, attacked. How bodies heal, grow, express, claim, take up space, are depicted and how they feel, how they play. Exploring the breadth, joy and power we can find in these extraordinary vehicles that we inhabit. How do our identities connect us to our bodies?
Environment
All that surrounds us, natural, built, and human
A deepening of our connection to the vulnerability, depth, wildness, humility and surrender that this planet inspires. Our physical worlds and how we create and engage with them in connection to ourselves. Land (Rights) (Back) (Scape).
Ancestors
The stories that make and remake us
The stories and generations that echo through us, informing who we are. What does it mean to pay attention to the moment we’re in now and behave as good ancestors for all those who will come after? What do we choose to offer beyond ourselves and how do these offerings make us who we are?
Distance
Product of space and time through a virtual eye
The sense of journey, the vast and shifting scale between things, the gaps exposed of who has closer proximity to what is possible and who is left with a longer path to walk. Looking into the experience of being separated, and also what strength and ability occurs when we come together. How much our definitions of space and time have been altered by the technologies that we have access to and use to communicate, thrive and connect.
Themes
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Bodies -
Environment -
Ancestors -
Distance
The driving motif of the 2022 HRAFF annual festival is interconnectedness. Highlighting the interwoven nature of our world—between people, ideas, non-human organisms, artworks, and environments—through storytelling.
Making space for nuance, depth, and complexity in how we relate to our identities, our physical selves, other people, and the non-human world, HRAFF 2022 is about following the threads that weave our stories together.
Thursday 28 April | Opening Night
Dear Future Children
7:00PM | ACMI
Intro by Director Franz Böhm + Opening Night Drinks after the film
“A film about the next generation, made by the next generation” - Dear Future Children
Friday 29 April
Well Rounded
7:00PM | ACMI
Post-film Panel Discussion
"Just like Pride was a riot, body positivity is a riot" - Ivory
Writing With Fire
7:00PM | Sun Theatre
Centrepiece at Westside, featuring a Post-film Panel Discussion
“This rousing documentary follows the reporters of India’s only all-women news outlet as they pivot to digital journalism while battling personal and political challenges.” - Variety
Saturday 30 April
Burning
4:00PM | ACMI
Q&A with Director Eva Orner + Post-film Panel Discussion
“This is a tremendously well-made film with a burning vitality: without question one of the most important Australian documentaries of the 21st century so far.” - The Guardian
Flee
7:15PM | ACMI
“A powerful memoir of personal struggle and self discovery … Flee expands the definition of documentary.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Sunday 1 May
Off Country
3:00PM | ACMI
“Off Country tackles tough questions around identity, belonging, coming of age away from home and how best to ‘close the gap’ without creating a new one.”- MIFF
Interconnected Shorts
4:00PM | Clayton Theatrette
Locally Curated Arts Event
Six shorts that reflect our interconnected themes of Bodies : Ancestors : Environment : Distance.
Cousins
5:30PM | ACMI
Pre-film kapa haka performance by TuiaTHT
“This sprawling drama breathes cinematic life into the 1992 novel by Patricia Grace about the diverging paths of three Maori cousins in New Zealand.” - The New York Times
Monday 2 May
SalamaTea School of Cooking & Culture
5:30PM | SalamaTea
Interactive storytelling and cooking class - limited spots available!
Join us to hear Nayran’s story and learn to cook a Syrian feast.
Night Raiders
7:00PM | ACMI
“The dystopian sci-fi drama is approached from a fresh perspective in Night Raiders, a deeply-felt parable about the eradication of indigenous North Americans.” - Screendaily
Tuesday 3 May
Queen of Glory
7:00PM | ACMI
Pre-film Performance by Western Edge
“A witty, compassionate ode to immigrant daughters and the Bronx.” - The Hollywood Reporter
The Man Who Sold His Skin
7:00PM | Sun Theatre
Pre-film Performance by Western Edge
“The art world and society’s attitudes towards refugees are equally skewered in this powerful Oscar nominee.”- The Guardian
Wednesday 4 May
SalamaTea School of Cooking & Culture
5:30PM | SalamaTea
Interactive storytelling and cooking class - limited spots available!
Join us to hear Niro’s story and learn to cook a Tamil feast.
Homegrown Shorts
7:00PM | ACMI
Post-film panel with the filmmakers
Six exquisite shorts made locally; including three films by established filmmakers and three films created by HRAFF’s emerging filmmakers, supported by our Directors’ Circle.
Thursday 5 May
Incarceration Nation
6:30PM | The Edge
FREE EVENT
“Incarceration Nation is a powerful and honest look at ourselves as Australians. It highlights the complete failure of our current justice system and gives us an insight into who we strive to be. It’s time for change!” - Cathy Freeman
Unseen Skies
7:00PM | ACMI
In conversation with Yaara Bou Melhem
“‘Unseen Skies’ is a look into the mind of a groundbreaking artist, who sees hidden infrastructure that can have a profound effect on the lives of average citizens”- David Linde, Participant
Friday 6 May
River
7:00PM | ACMI
Artist Performance by Allara
“A visually majestic, significantly airborne journey over a wide variety of rivers around the world.”- Deadline
Feminist Shorts
7:00PM | Kindred Bandroom
Live music and visuals by nomadicstatic
Six shorts showcasing different feminist voices, stories and experiences.
Saturday 7 May | Closing Night
HRAFF Westside
2:00PM | Footscray Arts
Exhibition, discussion, live music and dance performance
Centred around A Bell Rings Across The Valley at the photography exhibition PHOTO2022, this event brings live music, dance and food into conversation with the artists to explore themes of identity, heritage and change.
Fanny: The Right to Rock
7:00PM | ACMI
Closing Night Rock Concert by Jag
“Trailblazers in the heyday of “cock rock” are given their belated due in Bobbi Jo Hart’s engaging documentary.”- Variety
Throughout the Festival
Northside
Thursday 28 April - Saturday 7 May
Three Art Exhibitions at Counihan Gallery
HRAFF is partnering with the Counihan Gallery again in 2022 to showcase three exhibitions: Yeki Bood, Yeki Nabood, The Sky After Rain, and William Kelly: Toward the Big Picture.
Online Screenings
Thursday 21 April | Special Event
When the Camera Stopped Rolling
6:00PM | ACMI
Featuring a Q&A with Director Jane Castle
“Absolutely engrossing - a story about artists, motherhood, finding yourself, the film industry.” - Through Womens Eyes International Film Festival