History

It was December 2006 when we held our very first meeting with a bunch of friends around my kitchen table, covered with butcher’s paper and textas, brainstorming what Australia’s first human rights arts and film festival might look like. Our aim was simple - to make human rights relevant, accessible and engaging to all through art and film.

We wanted to cut through the politics. We wanted to challenge the assumption that you had to identify with a particular political party, come from a particular social or economic class, or be of a particular religion or ethnicity or race to believe in human rights. We wanted to open up the discussion beyond the lawyers and the academics. We wanted to show people that human rights are about being human – they are the basic minimum standards for how we as a society should treat one another as human beings, so that we can live a life of dignity. And there’s no better medium to communicate our humanity than through art, film and storytelling. 

Since then, that is exactly what we have done. And sometimes watching these films show us that we humans are capable of doing terrible things to each other – whether in the name of power, politics, religion or race. 

So how do we prevent history from continually repeating?
The answer has to be that we resist fear and hate. And that we overwhelm it with empathy and compassion and respect and protection of human rights. The stories that we screen at HRAFF show us that this is possible. HRAFF shows us that instead of building walls, we can build bridges. Instead of looking inward and sowing discord, we can share our common humanity. Instead of feeling powerless at the injustice of the world, we can empower ourselves with knowledge and the tools to fight injustice. That is the power of art and film. It cuts through the politics, challenges our prejudices and brings us together. It is the reason why governments all around the world try to silence artists and filmmakers from sharing stories of political dissidents, the oppressed and human rights advocates. Art and film have the power to move us, to challenge us, to make us laugh, make us cry, to inspire us and to give us hope that change is possible.

Since that day of brainstorming around the kitchen table, we have screened over 600 films from all over the world – stories that transcend our different cultural, ethnic and social backgrounds and our different political, religious and philosophical beliefs and allow us to connect and understand one another. We have hosted more than 500 local and international speakers, featured music, poetry, theatre, and art created by around 300 Australian and international creatives, welcomed more than 1,000 volunteers and 100,000 audience members to HRAFF in Australia. 

We are proud to play a small but meaningful part of a bigger and much needed restorative narrative, with so much more to be done. 

Evelyn Tadros
Co-founder of HRAFF