Multicultural Film Festival 2025

Bitten by a rattle snake, Martin dies just as he crosses the border. A hummingbird helps him emerge from the darkness of death to embark on a journey through the land where he was born and reunite with his loved ones before winter arrives. Chuparrosa is an experimental meditation on liminal spaces, borders, family and love.

Directed and written by: Felipe de Jesús Godoy Castillo
Produced by: Luis Flores
Key cast: Justo Rodríguez and Adriana Rovira
State: Michoacán
Country: Mexico

A true story about a man and his bird, Companion is a gentle exploration of friendship that transcends human boundaries. Told with poetic and cinematic overtones, the man and his bird are observed traveling through time and space.

Directed, written and produced by: Alireza Memariani
Key cast: Ali Zahedi and Ghanbar (pigeon)
State: Tehran
Country: Islamic Republic of Iran

A film about the transformative journey of a Colombian dancer at Victoria’s Pride Street Party. Wendy Nedd embarks on a transformative journey, where movement takes on multiple meanings. As she navigates the challenges of immigration, both physical and emotional, she finds strength through dance.

Directed and written by: Javier Cataño-Gonzalez
Produced by: Jorge Luis Cruzado
Key cast: Wendy Nedd
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

A documentary that chronicles the migration of 8,000 Turkish migrants to Victoria between 1968 – 1974, following their journey of settlement and the positive contributions to local communities.

Directed, written and produced by: Kuranda Seyfi Seyit
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

A tween’s childhood comes to a premature end when her non-English speaking mother is sacked from her job, forever changing the dynamic of their parent-child relationship. Housekeepers is told from the perspective of the daughter and her struggles. Faced with challenging choices and interrogations of the matriarch, the protagonist explores the effects of immigration in their family history.

Directed and written by: Kaede Miyamura
Produced by: Anna Warwick and Evangeline Parks
Key cast: Shion Chenhall and Chie Maruyama
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

The film explores the meaning of being Aboriginal, as the First Peoples of this nation. A collaboration from Ngadjuri country, the mid north and southern Flinders Ranges in South Australia, the film incorporates 10 years of archival material from multiple cameras and drones to provide majestic imagery of the sacred region.

Directed and produced by: Quenten Agius and Kim Mavromatis
Written by: Quenten Agius
Key cast: Quenten Agius
State: South Australia
Country: Australia

A Jewish Soviet prisoner, who yearns to see his children one final time, suddenly wakes up in Modern Melbourne, Australia. The film is a meditation on the immigration and diasporic experience, examining alienation, confusion and homesickness from the perspective of those who are displaced. The film explores how traditional communities grapple with assimilation and misunderstanding, forcing them to decide which aspects of their identity they can afford to change and what they must preserve.

Directed and written by: Tamir Anshtein
Produced by: Tamir Anshtein and Zack Licenblat
Key cast: Albert Goikhman, Max Nappo, Alexandra Jones and Alex Solomonovich
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

Outpicker is an environmental documentary that focusses on queer immigrant, Jing, who finds a sense of belonging in Australia through litter picking. The film explores Jing’s actions in waste minimalisation, and her involvement in community organising through her interactions with multicultural queer women in Victoria.

Directed and written by: Le Luo
Produced by: Feifei Liao
Key cast: Jing Yang
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

Still is set in a post-COVID world, where subsets of generations are presented with a new digital anxiety. The film follows an immigrant who lives in isolation and embarks on a street photography competition. The subject of the story is driven by contradictory ideas of passion and success, exacerbated by the digital noise that surrounds him. The film is a reflection on stillness, overstimulation, connection and passion.

Directed and written by: Cornelius Marco
Produced by: Adrian Dias
Key cast: Peter Jiang and Rebekah Lin
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

A moving film that follows Arash, a recent refugee in Australia, exploring the psychological toll of displacement. Arash is haunted by the fear of losing his visa and the impossibility of returning to Iran. His nightmares and anxiety blur the line between dreams and reality threatening to consume him in existential malaise. A poignant reflection on the refugee experience, the film captures the silent battles fought by those who have left everything behind and remain caught between two worlds.

Directed, written and produced by: Reza Taherabadi
Key cast: Mahyar Osanlouy
State: New South Wales
Country: Australia

Gabriel, a recent immigrant, grapples with employment and whether to show his nationality on his resume. He sets out to find a job but is daunted by language and social barriers. An unpleasant encounter prompts him to reflect on his family and the cultural and societal values they instilled in him.

Directed and written by: Kevin Duran Du
Produced by: Moly Sizer
Key cast: Adam Emanuel Zammit, Daniel Masini and Connor Macdonald
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

A reflective and experimental documentary, Mechnical Resonance explores the relentlessness of dancer training and the effects on the body. Following a dancer who remembers the stringent training as a child, she discovers dance is imprinted on her body, bringing back memories from her childhood.

Directed, written and produced by: Juejun Chen
Key cast: Juejun Chen
State: Kassel
Country: Germany

A documentary that follows the journey of refugees fleeing war torn countries in search of safety and a new life in Australia. The film chronicles the experiences of local immigrants in Greater Shepparton as they take their first steps upon arrival to years of integrating in the community. Through intimate interviews and storytelling, we hear of their hope, resilience and strength and the transformative power of education and community in creating a path to freedom.

Directed by: Hussam Saraf and Darryl McConnell
Written by: Hussam Saraf
Produced by: Darryl McConnell
Key cast: Kayla Doncon, students and staff from Greater Shepparton Secondary College
State: Victoria
Country: Australia

An asylum seeker, who is waiting for a protection visa, witnesses the loss of his loved ones. This hard-hitting film is visceral in its impact, dealing with difficult issues of migration, bureaucracy and the dehumanisation of the migrant through the administrative process.

Directed by: Ali Vaziri
Written and produced by: Ali Vaziri and Paulo Mousicci
Key cast: Baha Jamali, Marjan Lotfali, Shayan Askari, Ali Elhamimanesh, Delaram Admadi and Ali Vaziri
State: New South Wales
Country: Australia

You are my Tomorrow is a deeply personal reflection. It follows the story of Esra, a young ambitious art student, who is forced to care for her mentally unstable mother. The weight of responsibility, and deeply ingrained cultural values, ensnares Esra in an oppressive pattern of endless caregiving and duty. An intimate and challenging portrait of intergenerational trauma in immigrant families.

Directed and written by: Lara Köse
Produced by: William Duan and Molly O’Connor
Key cast: Melissa Kahraman and Ayşe Altunkılıç
State: Victoria
Country: Australia