We present a list of 5 long documentaries and 12 short documentaries worth watching at the 1st Melbourne Documentary Film Festival (Australia) that will take place from July 9th – 11th.

Long Documentaries

A Billion Lives by Aaron Biebert – US | 2016 – 92 min.

The United Nations’ World Health Organization expects a billion people will die prematurely from smoking this century. The products their doctors recommend are rarely effective and many are trapped. A new vapor technology was invented to give smokers a successful way to quit. But it was quickly demonized, and even banned in many countries.

A perfect storm is brewing between smokers trying to quit, government regulators, and health charities funded by the powerful pharmaceutical industry. Director Aaron Biebert travelled across four continents interviewing doctors, scientists, and others working to save a billion lives. What he found was profound government failure, widespread corruption in the public health community and powerful subversion by big business.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Sunday 10th July – 21:00 pm

Beep by Karen Collins – Canada | 51 min.

From Sound Chips to the Symphony! No longer just the “ugly stepchild” of the games industry, Beep traces the history of game sound from the Victorian penny arcades through pinball and to today’s massive industry of soundtracks and live music. With clips from over 80 interviews with game composers, sound designers, voice actors and audio directors from around the world, Beep is the definitive documentary on game sound.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Sunday 10th July- 18:00 pm

Death by Design by Sue Williams – US | 63 min.

Consumers love — and live on — their smartphones, tablets, and laptops. A cascade of new devices pours endlessly into the market, promising to be smaller, faster, and more powerful than ever before. The numbers are staggering: by 2020, five billion people will own a mobile phone.
But this global revolution has a hidden dark side. DEATH BY DESIGN explores how even the tiniest devices have deadly environmental and health costs. From skyrocketing electronics manufacturing in Chinese cities, to high tech innovation and Superfund sites in Silicon Valley, the film investigates environmental degradation, health crises, and the fast-approaching tipping point between consumerism and sustainability.

DEATH BY DESIGN tells the stories of factory workers laboring in unsafe conditions in China, American families suffering the tragic consequences of the industry’s dangerous practices, activists leading the charge to raise awareness and hold brands accountable, and entrepreneurs and scholars who are developing more sustainable products and practices to help safeguard our planet and our future.

Schedule
Sunday 10th July – 15:00 pm

Mad Tiger by Michael Haertlein and Jonathan Yi – Japan | 82 min.

Yellow and Red have been best friends, band mates, and business partners touring the United States in a performance-art punk band called Peelander-Z for the last fifteen years. When Red decides to quit, their relationship is tested by life beyond the band.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Monday 11th July – 17:30 pm

Sustainable by Matt Wechsler – US | 95 min.

America is facing a food crisis driven by profitability and a lack of consumer education. While the window to transforming our heartland continues to shrink, passionate individuals have emerged who provide hope that the health of our nation might still remain within our grasp. Sustainable is a documentary film that weaves together expert analysis of America’s food system with a powerful narrative of one extraordinary farmer who is determined to create a sustainable future for his community. In a region dominated by commodity crops, Marty Travis has managed to maintain a farming model that is both economically viable and environmentally safe. Through his example and various expert interviews, the film will explore options for reversing the issues facing America’s heartland.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Sunday 10th July – 12:00 pm

Short Documentaries

Batak by Mochamad Andri Zainul – Indonesia | 40 min.

This film was an attempt to trace the origin of the Batak culture and civilization that will take you closer to encounter the Batak, where the cultural values becoming their identity.

Schedule
Monday 11th June – 22:00 pm

Brooms by Mark Hellinger – Australia | 5 min.

A group of misfits bond playing Quidditch, the fictional game created by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter books. The team is pushed hard by their coach in the quest for victory.

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 12:00 pm (First Short Session)

Dan Bau Lullaby by Jakeb Anhvu – Australia | 9 min.

Nguyen Thanh Tung is a respected dan bau (monochord) player from Hanoi, Vietnam. Both he and his sister were born with disabilities resulting from their father’s exposure to a toxin known as Agent Orange.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 12:00 pm (First Short Session)

Dream of Freedom (Freedom Stories – Mohsen) by Steve Thomas – Australia | 22 min.

Locked up in immigration detention in Australia for 4 years after fleeing Iran, Mohsen Zand voiced his desperation by writing poetry. Now an Australian citizen, he asks documentary maker Steve Thomas to help turn his first poem into a video clip called Dream of Freedom.

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 12:00 pm (First Short Session)

LaValla by Dayna Yates – Australia | 7 min.

LaValla is a documentary centred on Srey, a student who attends LaValla Primary School in Cambodia, the only government recognised school for children with a disability. This documentary explores Srey’s life at the school, and what it means to her to be able to study at a school where disabilities have no limits.

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 12:00 pm (First Short Session)

Lucha Azteca by Caio D´Andrea – Mexico | 17 min.

Emperador Azteca is a luchador that found his calling in Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) ever since he was kid. Now Azteca finally has an opportunity to debut in one of the most important Arenas.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Monday 11th June – 12:00 pm

Oito zero oito by Alexandre Mello – Brazil | 5 min.

After losing his father and his brother in a car accident, Elon Constantino realized that life required him to decide his own way. As a teenager, Elon tries to follow his first passion, football, getting to play in a great team of Brazil.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Monday 11th June – 12:00 pm

Road to the Grand Final by Mark Hellinger – Australia | 5 min.

An intellectually disabled Australian Rules football team gets a shot at glory in the Grand Final.

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 12:00 pm (First Short Session)

The Great Forest by Marli Lopez-Hope – Australia | 13 min.

An ancient Australian forest invites us into her rapidly changing world, where rare life is discovered and inevitable death unfolds.

Trailer (Will open in a new window)

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 14:30 pm

The Outliers by Carmen Holden – Australia | 11 min.

The Old Ballan Cemetery is not your usual cemetery. The people buried here have fallen through the cracks of society. They have left this world with no family or friends to put them to rest, leaving it up to strangers to give them the goodbye everyone deserves. ‘The Outliers’ reveals a pocket of the funeral industry that many have not often thought about – what happens to those that pass with no family or friends to bury them?

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 12:00 pm (First Short Session)

Transgendered of Thousands by Mochamad Andri Zainul – Indonesia | 3 min.

A short bittersweet story about Mutia and Fitri, two among many transvestites who live in Banjarmasin, a city located in Borneo island Indonesia. The story tells how Mutia and Fitri as transgender can be well accepted by family and community.

Schedule
Sunday 10th June – 19:30 pm

Vacant by Elle Marsh – Australia | 4 min.

A car park so great it should have its own postcode. This film explores the beauty & emptiness of Australia’s largest car park.

Schedule
Saturday 9th June – 14:30 pm

You can check the festival schedule here:

For more information about the festival please visit the official website: Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

AFF would like to remember readers that the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival is part of our partnership program (See all partners). We want to thank them for their support and wish you guys have a great edition.