Program

Je'vida is a story of the importance of discovering and accepting your roots, and the effect this has on our relationships, life, and the choices we make.

VicScreen Sponsored Event - Masterclass with world-renowned and award-winning Director Ivan Sen

An animation shorts program from Turtle Island curated by award winning Métis Media Artist Terril Calder from Fort Frances, Ontario, and currently living in Toronto.

Spanning more than a decade, the film follows Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham as their nation reoccupies and protects their ancestral lands from several of the largest fossil fuel companies on earth.

When a lay preacher arrives at a British settlement in 1830's Aotearoa, his violent past is drawn into question and his faith put to the test as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Māori tribes.

Maka, a Tongan superfan, will do whatever it takes to get tickets to the Tonga v France Rugby World Cup game - even if that means promising to deliver a brass band for the pre-match entertainment.

A selection of Sápmi shorts curated by Anne Lajla Utsi, CEO of the International Sami Film Institute.

Aiskótáhkapiyaaya - Bring Them Home chronicles a decades-long initiative by members of the Blackfoot Confederacy to bring wild buffalo (Blackfeet: iinnii) back to the Blackfeet Reservation. 

An artist returns to her childhood home, reconnecting with her Sámi heritage and finding love with a reindeer herder, in this strikingly beautiful debut feature.

A selection of Indigiqueer shorts from Canada curated by Jason Ryle, the International Programmer at TIFF for Australia, New Zealand, and Global Indigenous Cinema.

Kyindoo Wilam Bubup (Learning Place for Children): A selection of animations and short films from across the world curated by our Artistic Director Tony Briggs.

Adopted by a wrestler kangaroo family, Teo's life changes when visions lead him to his roots. He embarks on an epic journey to save his homeland from destruction.

A panel moderated by Jason Ryle with Tony Briggs, Whetū Fala and David Pledger.

A story of love, bravery and unshakeable determination.

Love and ghosts meet in this deeply authentic mystical fairy tale set against the breathtaking scenery of the Sakha Republic.

A multi award-winning historical drama follows a young woman who is unintentionally drawn into a protest against a dam that may flood Indigenous Sámi land.

In 1954 New Zealand Nellie, Daisy and Lou attend an institution for delinquent girls on an isolated island. The trio rail against the system, finding strength in their friendship.

A selection of Australian shorts curated by our Artistic Director Tony Briggs.

Taki Rua Theatre – Breaking Barriers tells the story of our unofficial Maori national theatre and the 30 year struggle to create a truly bicultural force in live theatre and society.

Sam, a fearless young girl raised outside of her Maori culture, is determined to fulfil her mission of connecting with her Maunga in the hope he can heal her from the cancer she battles.

Once Were Warriors stars Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis reunite for an action-packed epic about Aotearoa's first land war, when vastly outnumbered Māori fought against colonial soldiers.

Telling Our Story is a multi-platform, transmedia project produced by Terre Innue that gives a voice to Quebec's First Peoples.

Acclaimed journalist Tanya Talaga brings her evocative storytelling from the page to the screen with her search for a long-lost matriarch named Annie, solving an 80-year-old family mystery.

Cargo boats and travelers taking journeys on the Amazon river that can last weeks.

Author Isabel Wilkerson writes her seminal book "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" while coping with personal tragedy. Live performance by award winning Māori singer Stan Walker.

Through his dreams, José received a gift given by the gods. Now that he is at a mature age in life, José would like to rest, but he is not allowed.

Presented in Partnership with the International Sámi Film Institute, this first-of-its-kind film project features original 360-degree films created by leading Sámi filmmakers from across Sápmi.

A selection of shorts for teenagers curated by our Artistic Director Tony Briggs from across the globe.

Presented in Partnership with the International Sámi Film Institute, this first-of-its-kind film project features original 360-degree films created by leading Sámi filmmakers from across Sápmi.

Travis Hurley, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago.

A selection of shorts curated by Heperi Mita and Awanui Simich-Pene from Aotearoa.

The last New Zealand War happened in 1979. It lasted three minutes.

A selection of Indigenous short films from across the Globe curated by our Artistic Director Tony Briggs.

In a highly controlled smart city in the year 2084 two climate migrants try to connect by writing old-fashioned letters to each other.

Join our Australian and International screen leaders in a discussion that explores the idea of Story Sovereignty.

In the 1940s, during the dead of night, a nine-year-old Indigenous Australian orphan arrives at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun.

17-year-old Josh (Julian Dennison) is forced off the fence he has actively sat on his entire life, to find his voice – and to stand up for himself, his family and his future.

The documentary "Máhccan - Homecoming" is set in the Museum world in a turning point, where the national museums have to deal with their colonialistic history.

Telling Our Story is a multi-platform, transmedia project produced by Terre Innue that gives a voice to Quebec's First Peoples.

Activist Layla Staats shows the faces and personal stories behind the struggle of First Nations reserves to receive a basic human right: drinkable water.

Richly visualised and deeply uplifting, Singing Back the Buffalo is an epic reimagining of North America through the lens of buffalo consciousness and a potent dream of what is within our grasp.

Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter has led a lifelong fight for the rights of her people.

An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.

Tautuktavuk explores issues of domestic violence and substance abuse from the perspective of two Inuit women.

Controversial and uncompromising, Australian Aboriginal political activist Robbie Thorpe stands as part of a long line of Indigenous resistance to invasion.

‘Mom’ is a dialogue between a mother and a son in order to discover what is behind the veneration and violence surrounding the mother figure.

Ziggy, a Mohawk woman, gets hired as an influencer for Nature's Oath company. Her cousin calls her back to their reservation, embroiling her in a fight to preserve their people's heritage amid corporate interests.

In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake, sassy Samoan mother Mareta mentors her newly formed children’s choice to The Big Sing final.

Ten-year-old Percy Boy Collins and his eclectic crew of friends outsmart a gang of bullies to triumph at their school's athletics carnival, emerging as heroes of their own epic adventure.