The 7th Melbourne Doco fest kicks off online July 1st, and in-cinema screenings starting July 21st. Featuring an array of home grown and international stories covering a wide variety of topics and issues, here some of my picks of what to check out at the festival this July!
TINNING STREET
In-cinema http://mdff.org.au/films/tinning-street
The lived experience of asylum seekers and refugees during Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdowns, shared in their own words, and the efforts of a small team of social workers seeking to unburden an already vulnerable community now left behind.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
In-cinema http://mdff.org.au/films/connecting-the-dots
Tracking the 7-year journey from chance encounter to the creation of the first film ever to star a DeafBlind actor. The story behind the story of the Oscar-nominated short film “Feeling Through.
ETERNAL SPRING
In-cinema http://mdff.org.au/films/eternal-spring
Facing denunciations of their banned faith in the Chinese state media, an engineer named Liang and a hulking grain worker called “Big Truck” execute a bold and perilous plan to hack into state television. In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening a violent repression.
A-HA: THE MOVIE
In-cinema http://mdff.org.au/films/aha-the-movie
Follows the band on tour, telling the full story of how three young men followed their impossible dream of becoming Norwegian pop stars. When Take On Me reached number 1 on Billboard in the US in 1985 the dream came true. Or did it?
THE INVASION OF NORMANDY: OMAHA BEACH – VR EXPERIENCE
Online http://mdff.org.au/films/invasion-of-normandy-omaha-beach-vr
Follow the stories of Hal Baumgarten, Richard Fazzio and Don McCarthy. The young and inexperienced soldiers and sailors were part of the Allied Invasion Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944. They were headed for Omaha Beach, the scene of the Allies hardest-won beachhead in Normandy. The landings on the French beaches were the first step of the Allied Forces defeating Hitler’s armies.
THE TUNNEL: THE OTHER SIDE OF DARKNESS
Online http://mdff.org.au/films/the-tunnel-the-other-side-of-darkness
In 2011, a small group of Australian filmmakers set out to fund and produce Australia’s very first crowdfunded feature film by pre-selling each of the film’s 135,000 frames from their website.
They also planned to release it for free, day-and-date, around the world and all avenues – including for free on BitTorrent.
The traditional film world told them it would never work. An audience of over 25 million people later, THE TUNNEL remains one of the most seen (and most notorious!) Australian films in history.
A FIRE INSIDE
Online http://mdff.org.au/films/a-fire-inside
As the world looked on in horror at Australia’s apocalyptic bushfires, the selfless acts of everyday people defined the spirit of a nation, but took an astounding toll of their own.
MY FIGHT
In-cinema http://mdff.org.au/films/my-fight
“My Fight ” is a documentary about the journey and battle of Mitchell Bath, a young Australian who became addicted to one of the most dangerous drugs in the world today.
THE MEMORIES THAT MAKE US
In-cinema http://mdff.org.au/films/the-memories-that-make-us
Memories That Make Us is a poetic, ethnographic documentary that draws on the individual and collective memories of ordinary Italian migrants who made Victoria, Australia their home after the end of the second world war.
Head to mdff.org.au to find out more info!
