CASTLEMAINE DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

Real stories. Real issues. Real characters. Real conversations.

Realise the Possible

FULL CDF PROGRAM

FRIDAY NIGHT LOCALS

SATURDAY PROGRAM

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD

10.30AM SAT 2ND JULY

The True Story of Gertrude Bell and Iraq. Spy, explorer, political powerhouse - Gertrude Bell was as controversial as the history she made. With Tilda Swinton as the voice of Gertrude Bell.

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

WRITING WITH FIRE 

1.30PM SAT 2ND JULY

A rousing documentary about tenacious grassroots reporting and galvanising resistance. 

Armed with smartphones and tenacity, a fearless group of trailblazing journalists from India's only women-led news outlet risk it all, including their own safety, to confront social injustice while fighting for marginalized voices in the world's largest democracy.

VICTORIAN PREMIERE

TELEVISION EVENT

4.30pm SAT 2nd JULY

With irreverent humour and sobering apocalyptic vision Television Event views the dramatic climax of the Cold War through the lens of a commercial television network, as it narrowly succeeds in producing the most watched, most controversial made-for-TV movie, THE DAY AFTER (1983)

THE RUMBA KINGS

FOLLOWED BY RUMBA PARTY

7.30PM SAT 2ND JULY

Congo’s real treasure does not lie underground. A powerful musical experience showing us why Congo is one of the motherlands of music.

SATURDAY NIGHT RUMBA

SUNDAY PROGRAM

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

REBELLION

10:30AM Sun 3rd July

The compelling story of a group of ordinary people who form the Extinction Rebellion and stop playing by the rules, embrace civil disobedience and sound the alarm to climate breakdown. 

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

I AM SAMUEL

2:00PM SUN 3RD JULY

An intimate and tender portrait of a Kenyan man torn between balancing duty to his family and their traditions – and wanting to live his truth – of openness about his sexuality along with his dreams for his future with Alex, the man he loves. 

NAIDOC WEEK

THE LAKE OF SCARS

4.30PM SUN 3RD JULY

An ancient site, a ticking clock and the unlikely allies calling for change. In a corner of regional Victoria is Lake Boort, a place of astounding natural beauty and rare archaeological and environmental significance – and it’s being degraded on an annual basis. As the clock ticks, an unlikely partnership could see it saved for future generations.

Closing Film

RIVER

7:30 PM SUN 3RD JULY

A breathtaking musical odyssey that explores the intrinsic relationship between humans and rivers.

From mountain high to river deep, director Jennifer Peedom follows her 2017 hit Mountain with a stunning new cine-sonic journey along the world’s waterways – the arteries of our planet.

Narrated by Willem Dafoe.

CONVERSATIONS PROGRAM

OUR FESTIVAL PARTNERS

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