This year’s Melbourne Documentary Film Festival is set to return to cinemas, promising a blockbuster experience for documentary enthusiasts. Running online from July 1st to 31st, 2024, and at Cinema Nova from July 17th to 31st, 2024, the festival will showcase an impressive lineup of over 60 Australian short-form and feature-length documentaries.

Celebrating its dedication to factual filmmaking, MDFF has curated an exceptional program that highlights the diversity and richness of Australian stories.

In addition to Australian films, MDFF will also present a selection of the world’s best documentaries, drawn from major festivals across the globe. Covering a wide range of topics, the films promise to engage, inform, and inspire audiences. From compelling personal narratives to explorations of social issues, the festival’s lineup is a testament to the power of documentary filmmaking.

MDFF has become a must-attend event for cinephiles, offering a platform for Australian filmmakers to shine. With its combination of online and in-cinema screenings, this year’s festival ensures accessibility for a broader audience, making it easier than ever to enjoy these remarkable films.

Don’t miss the chance to experience the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, a celebration of storytelling that captures the heart and soul of Melbourne and beyond. Full details here. 

See below for your complete list of Australian films screening at this year’s Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. 

Ability

Directed by Faezeh Alavi
People on a Melbourne street share their beliefs about how to prevent wars. Humorous and heartfelt, their responses show the diversity of opinion on this topic.

Act of Heroism

Directed by Jary Nemo
Act of Heroism explores the history of emergency rescues in South Eastern Australia by Aboriginal people of non-Aboriginal people. In the 19th and early 20th century in the colony of Victoria in South Eastern Australia, Aboriginal Australians saved lives. They knew how to manage fire and flood in the bush and where to find food in times of scarcity. Despite the devastating impacts of European invasion, Aboriginal people consistently offered help and rescue to colonists.

As the Leash Comes Loose

Directed by Jackson Hayat
Veterinary euthanasia specialist Emma Whiston endeavours to alleviate the suffering of others, whilst navigating her own struggles with mental health.

Atypical Learning 

Directed by Masina Taule’alo
There are students at University that are Neurodivergent, have trouble understanding specific social structures and experience things that others find unique. Director Masina Taule’alo, on the Autism spectrum, different from other students, goes to interview these Neurodivergent students and document their experience and perspectives.

Blak Douglas VS the Commonwealth

Directed by Angelica Cristina Dio
Before winning the Archibald Prize in 2022, Dhungatti artist Blak Douglas documented the creation of his emotionally charged portrait of his Indigenous grandmother for the National Gallery of Australia’s Indigenous Art Triennial. He reveals his artistic process, confronts intergenerational trauma, and explores his identity, creating iconic works that address historical injustices.

The Cat Conundrum

Directed by Emer Rafferty
We claim to love them, but humanity’s fascination with cats has had disastrous consequences. What is best for these elusive creatures, and how do we solve the Cat Conundrum?

Canwn Let’s Sing

Directed by Cohen j Medison
A short film about the Melbourne Welsh Male Choir and the benefits that choral singing can have on men’s physical, emotional and spiritual well being.

Claptrap

Directed by Darcy Newton
A single camera ob-doc about the longest tour in Australian history. A videographer observes a rock band during a continent spanning regional bus tour. The dichotomy of the forever touring musician is slowly deconstructed, then reassembled through frontmen and lifelong friends, Alex and Fergus.

Cornerstone of Melbourne

Directed by Zeta Hamilton-Durkin
Violetta discovers a timeless building while searching for her father, meeting creatives who question the future of their studios due to an unravelling threat. A documentary about the labyrinthine Nicholas Building, a cherished artistic beacon in Melbourne.

Cyborg: A Documentary

Directed by Carey Born
Colour-blind artist Neil Harbisson is the world’s first formally-recognised cyborg. He has an antenna implanted in his head that allows him to hear colour. Now Neil is on a mission to convince the world to follow him and adopt his credo: Design Yourself.

Darkness Shall Not Stand

Directed by Luke Hotchkin-van neuren
This narrative chronicles Chimini’s poignant journey from her rural upbringing in Nepal, marked by the untimely loss of her loving parents, to her harrowing experiences in Kathmandu. Forced to endure exploitation and abuse at the hands of her extended family, she seeks opportunity in the city, only to find herself trapped in a cycle of labour exploitation. Seeking freedom, a colleague promises her a job if she followed her to India. Betrayed, Chimini is ultimately ensnared in a brothel experiencing the worst of humankind.

Debut

Directed by Peta Hitchens
They’re the new recruits. Three apprentices embarking on their first year as jockeys in one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Each month they’ll train together at jockey school residential. While they’re not training with the group, they’re out at training tracks around Victoria, Australia. Mucking out boxes, saddling up, and riding trackwork. Debut takes us on a ride as they prepare for their first race.

Diving Into The Darkness

Directed by Nays Baghai
An awe-inspiring odyssey about cave diving icon Jill Heinerth, and her journey of exploration, resilience and self-discovery into the planet’s deepest depths.

Dreamweavers – Gidja Walker

Directed by Heather Forbes McKeon and Yanni Dellaportas
Gidja Walker is a Mornington Peninsula based ecologist and ethnobotanist who has worked for years protecting its Earthscapes. Gidja overcame discrimination in a male dominated profession. She is a mentor to young women entering the world of nature-based learning and an advocate for traditional owner custodianship. Over many decades, Gidja has contributed professionally and informally as a consultant and advisor to many government bodies and community-based organisations. In 2006 she was a recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Banksia award for the “Back from the Brink” endangered orchid species recovery project.

The Drive

Directed by Samuel Harvey
Follow four young Aussies on a challenging journey to Uluṟu in cars costing under $1500, all to promote mental health and suicide prevention. They explore tools to control their lives, confront insecurities, and encourage vulnerability, hoping to make a positive impact.

The Drivers

Directed by Fraser Cameron
We’re often told not to talk to strangers. Don’t open up too much or ask about anything serious. People don’t have time.The Drivers invites you to jump in the back of a ride-share car, and learn something new about its driver – by asking something new. Something intimate, personal and real. Set in Melbourne, this short explores what’s shared when you replace small talk with big questions. Love, loss, childhood – life is a wild ride, for all of us.

Elsa and Ervin

Directed by Mark Hellinger
Having narrowly escaped the Nazis in Czechoslovakia, a young boy, Ervin, finds himself alone in an orphanage in 1940s Hungary. When his older sister hears he is in danger she risks her life to save him.

The End is the Beginning is the End

Directed by Yilin Xie
In Buddhism, Heterosexual and Homosexual attractions are both seen as originating from ignorance and attachment to physical desires. From the pressure of the society, riddled with tags and prejudices, to the pain of not being understood by family, Horis navigates diverse forms of oppression. The End is the Beginning is the End is a portrait of Horis Chen. Here, she sees homosexuality through the lens of Buddhism, introducing a Eastern approach that all beings are equal regardless of gender or sexual orientation, to understand homosexuality in a new way.

The Ending Goes Forever: The Screamfeeder Story

Directed by Fraser Cameron and Jacob Schiotz
A feature-length documentary about a band that emerged from the cultural explosion that changed Brisbane forever, and who continue to forge their way through Australian culture. This is the story of Screamfeeder.

Enemy Alien

Directed by Gabriel Murphy
Enemy Alien is a poetic retelling of the experiences of Joseph Murakami, a fourteen-year-old boy from Darwin, who is summarily rounded up and interned by his government on the basis of his ethnicity. Enemy Alien explores his memory and the loss this traumatic event imprinted upon him.

Femme

Directed by delsi
A short film exploring what it means to be a queer femme person in modern Australia. What are some of the unique challenges femme people face? What are some of the beautiful parts? This short, colourful doco offers a look into life as a femme person through the perspectives of 13 queer people. Produced and Directed by delsi – a queer femme party creator and owner of the LGBTQIA+ community organisation, Unicorns.

A Fight For Safety 

Directed by Callum Pritchard
Each with different life stories and experiences; an injecting facility volunteer, harm reduction worker and drug reform advocate each weigh in on the contentious drive to offer community services that support the safe consumption of illicit substances. A Fight for Safety is an educational and exploratory film about the conversation on controversial services designed to support the safe use and consumption of illicit substances. 

A Fly on Her Wall

Directed by Abbie Ella Cadden
A Fly on Her Wall is an observational documentary following the day-to-day life of an elderly woman who lives by herself in the U.K. The documentary reveals aspects of a life no one truly knows or understands unless they have lived it themselves.

Gabriel Lynch: Where I’m Going Next

Directed by Brayden Pope
Gabriel Lynch is an Australian singer-songwriter who has been in the industry since 2006. During the harsh 2021 Melbourne COVID lockdowns, Braydon Pope sat down with Gabriel to reflect on his career including how he started, how difficult it has become to be an independent artist in Australia and his eventual move to South-East Asia where he found an audience and culture that welcomed original artists more than the current Australian music scene.

The Great White Whale

Directed by Michael Dillion
Deep in the wild Southern Ocean, half way between Australia and Africa, a snowy volcano nine thousand feet high rears up from the sea like a Great White Whale. Five times it tried to kill the first team that tried to climb it. But back they sailed, through the worst seas in the world, to try again, this time with the legendary Bill Tilman as skipper. This is the gripping tale of both expeditions, told by those that were there, one of whom sings the story too, as befits the epic saga that it was.

Hats Off 

Directed by Marcus Hollands
A documentary short about a man’s journey through hats and hat culture in Melbourne as he endeavours to find his one true hat.

Heart Beat

Directed by Tamara Brane-Gregory
After playing for 15 years NO ZU completes their final tour, transcending genre into an experience of dance and self expression as old memories resurface on stage.

Hidden Hunger

Directed by Orit Novak
Hidden Hunger journeys across Kenya and Tanzania, exploring urban and rural communities, to shed light on the invisible crisis of malnutrition. Hidden Hunger emphasises the voices of women; mothers, millers, farmers and activists as they work hard to implement impactful solutions whilst facing a challenging reality. Through their narratives, Hidden Hunger illustrates how Sanku’s fortified maize initiatives empower communities to combat disease, enhance livelihoods, and pave the way for a brighter future for generations to come.

How to Dress Like Me

Directed by Juanita Ebbs, Aaron Alvarez
Since 1979, Rose Chong Costumiers at 218 Gertrude Street has transformed customers with vibrant, maximalist attire for hire. An iconic Melbourne staple in the Inner-North’s queer scene, it celebrates the body, queer identity, and play. How to Dress Like Me explores these themes in a 5-minute documentary.

In Glossary of an Empty Orchestra (鏡花水月)

Directed by Mika Ogai
The boundaries between reality, memories and dreams are temporarily dissolved in order to parallel the filmmaker’s internal sense of liminality as a ‘hāfu’ (half-Japanese, half-Australian). Drawing on Japanese folklore, memories of the past, and contemporary anxieties, the narrator journeys across her father’s hometown of Sōma, Fukushima, in search of a language that can temporarily capture such liminal entities, including herself. 

Internet Friends

Directed by Natasha Brock
Natasha Brock and her friends reflect on finding connection and belonging through an online community as teenagers.

Into The Unknown

Directed by Dom Farrell
A 14-year-old Australian boy and his adventurous father travel to an unexplored region of the Peruvian Amazon in search of a river’s headwaters. Sponsored by the Australian Geographical Society, they face hostilities and personal growth in one of Earth’s few remaining unexplored areas.

Isla’s Way

Directed by Marion Pilowsky
Cowboy. Rebel. Survivor. Grandmother. Meet formidable Isla Roberts, an 87-year-old horse carriage champion with a unique perspective on life. In this humorous and poignant documentary, Isla shares her experiences of rural Australia, raising a family in hardship, and coming out later in life.

Jiwa Seni 

Directed by Ruairi Walsh, Rachel Kemp, Clancy Tate, Amy Wright and Benjamin Mazarella
In the west of Malaysia, on the Island of Borneo, the vibrant city of Kuching is home to a diverse yet insular music scene. From traditional sapé music to jazz, pop-punk and heavy metal, talented musicians work across a plethora of genres using traditional instruments and contemporary techniques to bring a thriving musical identity to the region. Talking to musicians, producers, festival organisers and curators, Kuching’s close-knit creative community comes together to discuss the Jiwa Seni, the artistic soul, of the city.

The Kids Play

Directed by Elizabeth Chow
Based in the inner north of Melbourne on the lands of the Wurundjeri people, this film captures a moment in time when a community came together under the “Cult of Anne” and the smell of an oily rag to make room for kids to be together and reflect their experiences of being a teenager in 2022 off the back of two years of intermittent covid lockdowns. The results were more than the sum of their parts.

King Carl the Cool

Directed by Amelia Ducker and Jo Leishman
King Carl the Cool is the pursuit of a distinct dream, where Royalty and Rock n Roll collide. Max is a young neurodiverse man from Melbourne who, over the last five years, has written to and received over 150 letters from Royal families across the world. The Royal who has particularly captured his attention has been King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. 

The Magick Trousers: fuckshitup

Directed by Abe Dunovitis
In the mid 90’s a group of renegade artists, musicians, performers and poets get together to create The Magick Trousers, alienating audiences and becoming the most vilified and hated band in Australia.

Magnificent Beings

Directed by Rob Tiffin
On an afternoon walk, Rob wanders into a secret world.

My First Time

Made for queer people and their allies, My First Time takes an unfiltered and heartfelt look at unforgettable first universal queer experiences from members from Australia’s LGBTQ+ community. Through their stories, we gain an insight into how pivotal their ‘first times’ were, while turning them into an unforgettable journey. It’s a series that will warm your heart, make you laugh out loud, and at times reach for the tissue box.

My Name is Jack

Directed by Christian Buxton
Jack had a successful career as an Anaesthetist but behind closed doors he struggled with his own drug addiction. This is his story.

Our Wellbeing, Our Way

Directed by Luisa Mitchell and Radheya Jegatheva
Indigenous Australian’s holistic and interconnected ways of experiencing wellbeing is brutally disrupted by British colonisation, leading to intergenerational trauma and systemic disadvantage.

Palestine Under Siege 

Directed by John Reynolds and Jill Hickson
Shot in Palestine on West Bank and in Jerusalem in June and July, this recently completed documentary features Australians who spent time talking to Palestinians and Jews in Lebanon and Palestine on the themes of the 1948 Nakba, settler colonialism and the apartheid nature of the Israeli state.

Peoples Tree

Directed by Febe De Geest
Laws prohibiting tree cutting in India have become stricter recently and actively enforced due to the lobbying of climate activists. As such, tree trimmers increasingly lose their jobs, contributing to the precarity they face. This ethnographic film shows the story of two tree trimmers belonging to a tribal community and living in an informal settlement in India.

Planet Wind – The Global Story of Offshore Wind

Directed by Dominic Allen
Filmed in thirteen countries and featuring over twenty offshore wind experts, Planet Wind delves into humanity’s relationship with the wind throughout history and cultures. This global journey reveals the real story behind the development of offshore wind as an energy source, how this ever-present planetary force is being harnessed, and its transformative potential for our future. Beyond just power, it offers the world and its nations a path to energy independence, revitalises regions hit hard by industrial decline, and presents a crucial solution to reduce harmful emissions. Offshore Wind Energy is not presented as mastery over nature, but as a step towards a deeper connection with it. Planet Wind offers a visionary perspective on a sustainable and regenerative world.

Project Q: War, Peace and Quantum Mechanic

Directed by James Der Derian
Project Q explores how quantum could mitigate climate change, create new materials and optimise the flow of people, goods and money – and warns how it could also break encrypted messages, take surveillance data-mining and face-recognition to Orwellian levels of omniscience, change the nature of warfare on land, air and sea, and produce an artificial intelligence that is superior to humans, and learns to know it.

The Promise

Prepare to be captivated by The Promise, a cinematic force that pushes the boundaries of storytelling. Adapted from the pages of the best-selling book Broken Open, this documentary promises to immerse audiences in a gripping narrative that transcends mere entertainment. At its core, The Promise delves into the depths of hope and human resilience, offering an intimate exploration of the challenges faced by those affected by suicide. Through the courageous journey of Craig Hamilton and the poignant stories of survivors and loving families, the film offers a raw and unfiltered look at the impact of suicide on individuals and communities alike.

Reading Landscape with David Holmgren

Directed by Dave Meagher
Walk with David Holmgren (co-originator of the permaculture movement) across Djaara Country, as he shares his insights and discusses his unique approach to reading landscape, a wealth of knowledge and wisdom developed over forty years. David’s approach contributes to re-embedding reading landscape into our cultures as a known and fundamental human capacity, providing an opportunity for humans everywhere to deepen their connection to place.

Revisions

Directed by Matthew Deavin
When the first British colonialists disembarked in Australia in 1788, they looked hopefully at what for them was terra nullius: an empty, barren land that belonged to nobody. Australian Aboriginal society, the longest continuous culture in world history, operated so differently to their own that the settlers found it hard to comprehend what they were seeing. Revisions confronts Australia’s colonial narrative with its Aboriginal history, which began more than 60,000 years ago.

She; Who Lives

Directed by Ayesha Farooq
She; who Lives is a short participatory documentary exploring the hopes and fears of migrant mothers. Set in a day, the filmmaker is out on a journey on the local train to encounter other migrant mothers like herself. As they interacted, the memories of their formative moments began to unwind. The interactions grew into meaningful conversations sharing the layers of excitement, fear, courage, and the sense of responsibility that are attached to motherhood and migration. Struggling with the inner conflict of migration, the question is whether she, the filmmaker, ever feels proud of herself.

Stand Up for Mental Health

Directed by Cheyne Mitchell
In 2020, Firefighter Cheyne Mitchell and Wave Of Wellness’s CEO Joel Pilgrim paddled 84,957 strokes in three days. Why? Not just for raising money for the people who use WOW’s surf therapy programs but also for the people around Australia struggling with mental health battles. The campaign has been named “Stand Up for Mental Health” and that’s what they did. Standing up for 33 hours and 39 minutes on a paddle board.

System Errors

System Errors delves into the diverse experiences of online sex workers. Seeking to humanise those who are frequently dehumanised by societal norms.

To Be Silent

Directed by Tace Stevens
Noongar and Spinifex Aboriginal woman Tace Stevens explores the impact of code-switching on her identity, before revealing what led her to embrace the power of standing firm in who she is, no matter where she is.

To Thank the Room

Directed by Belinda Lloyd
Maggie Fooke set up the ten-room Brooklyn Arts Hotel in downtown Fitzroy as a guest accommodation for artists and lovers of the arts of all kinds – including conversation, activism and philosophy to stay, when visiting Melbourne. To Thank the Room documents the courageous and compelling Maggie Fooke, along with her soft-voiced housekeeper Helen MacKay and Maggie’s feisty also-arts-focussed daughter Aphrodite through the final days of this beloved and ‘quirky’ institution.

Transparency

The journey of a young man’s transition from coming out to the present day, medically and socially transitioned. A documentary-styled narrative surrounding the struggles of being trans and the sheer happiness of coming out and living by your true self.

understorey 

Directed by Claire Riverland and Lily Newcombe
Capturing the passion of Sarawak’s driven conservation community, understory explores the adversity and hope in this field. The short documentary encapsulates the constant uphill battle to preserve the magnificent rainforests of Malaysia and its array of creatures, big and small, which inhabit them.

Wangany Mala 

Directed by Will McCallum
Hundreds of years before European colonies were established on the Australian continent, First Nations were part of a trading network that extended to China’s Qing Dynasty. Indonesian ‘Makassan’ fishing fleets harvested trepang (sea cucumber) for six months of every year with the local Nations of northern Australia. By 1907 the trade was ended by colonial authorities.

Watch Me Fly 

Directed by Lily Drummond
Facing discrimination that derailed her dream of becoming a veterinarian, Anu Francis turned to sport to rebuild her self-worth and find community. Now a leading figure in para-triathlon, she’s set to compete in the 2024 Paris Paralympics. Watch Me Fly follows her journey, challenging societal views on disability and advocating for broader opportunities.

Where We Left Off

Directed by Isabella Mena Browne
Inspired by his grandfather, Clinton joins the military. His younger brother Vincent soon follows. Two Anglo-Filipino brothers share their personal experience of navigating the highs and lows of the Australian military culture. Now retired from service they share their story, dating back to their country childhood, during service and their retirement. Through their strong bond with one another and connection to family values, both brothers reflect upon their relationship sustaining them through their military careers and ongoing lives.

Why Humans Dive

Directed by Harry Cassio
A captivating underwater exploration unfolds through the perspective of scuba divers, immersing viewers in the irresistible call that draws adventurers into the big blue. Discover the disciplines they master, the mesmerising and comical sea creatures they encounter, and the exclusive gateway that welcomes them into an entirely different world.

yiayia mou (my grandmother)

Directed by Koraly Dimitriadis
Australian-born poet Koraly Dimitriadis recounts her Cypriot grandmother’s story. Set in the ancient Paphos Theatre that has not seen a performance in over a thousand years, this epic poem echoes the heartache of the migrant experience across three generations of women.

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