Eternal Spring – Film Review | Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2022

In March 2002, a state TV station in China was hijacked by members of the outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal was to counter the government narrative about their practice. In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong, a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in …

The Rumba Kings – Film Review | Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

We colonized all of Africa with our music. Things were bad in the Belgian Congo in the early part of the century. Colonialization and apartheid level conditions between the invading Europeans and the rightful inhabitants of the country were enslaved, beaten, forced to work for the white man mining the natural resources while they lived …

Holy Frit – Film Review | Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2021

Relatively unknown artist Tim Carey puts his skills to the test when he and the team at The Judson Studios partake in creating the worlds largest stained glass window. Faced with the reality that they have no idea how to achieve such a feat, they enlist in the help of the one man who does …

Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story – Film Review | Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

“All of my friends and colleagues who have contracted HIV are dying. How can I help?” High school friends, Ric Weiland, Bill Gates, and Paul Allen took their collective love of computers and technology and went on to work together at Microsoft. By day, Ric was a programmer and developer who took pride in what …

By Rook or Left Hook: The Story of Chessboxing – Film Review | MDFF 2021

The Ultimate Alpha Male Sport It’s the perfect combination of brains, brawn and strategy. Two opponents step into the ring and they begin an 11 round match alternating between 3 minutes of playing chess and 3 minutes of boxing. You can win either by KO, TKO, or checkmate (or you run out of time). Invented …

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Review – ‘Can Art Stop a Bullet’

William Kelly, artist and peace activist, has been called the ‘moral conscience’ of Australian Art. For him there’s no line between life and art. Can Art Stop a Bullet is a documentary about the man himself and centered around an art piece he’s making for the State Library of Victoria. The film explores the connections between …

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Review – ‘Paradise Without People’

TIME magazine produced their first feature documentary with ‘Paradise Without People’, in which we follow two Syrian women, at the height of Europe’s refugee crisis, with the same dream: to raise their children away from war. Directed by Emmy-nominated journalist Francesca Trianni, the film takes unexpected turns while we get a glimpse at the lives …

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Review – ‘Hamtramck, USA’

Through the exploration of daily life and democracy, ‘Hamtramck, USA’ examines the benefits and tensions of multiculturalism. Kicking the film off with a typical all American theme song, we take a trip down memory lane while a series of video clips and photographs of the small Michigan-city, grace the screen. Formerly inhabited by almost solely …

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Review – ‘Batman and Me’

Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ released June 1989, grossed a whopping $411 million at the worldwide box office, while its associated merchandise generated over a billion USD. After a childhood memory leads to a Google search for Batman slime, Australian filmmaker Michael Wayne (not related to Bruce Wayne aka The Dark Knight himself, FYI) visits a Batman-merchandise …

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Review – ‘Descent’

Kiki Bosch is a professional ice freediver from the Netherlands; she dives into the coldest waters on the planet on one breath without a wetsuit, from the iceberg fjords of Greenland to the frozen lakes of Finland. Sounds cool, but Nays Baghai’s documentary starts of with a trigger warning – viewer discretion is advised. After …