The Human Rights Arts & Film Festival (HRAFF) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2015 Jury Awards.
The Impact Award for Best Feature Film went to the powerful feature I Will Not Be Silenced by Australian director Judy Rymer, which received a standing ovation at the Melbourne opening night screening and continues to sell out sessions on the interstate tour.
The doc focusses on Australian Charlotte Campbell-Stephen, who was gang-raped in East Kenya, and her seven-year fight for fight for justice and to bring the perpetrators to account.
‘'I can see I Will Not Be Silenced used to great effect as a human rights tool to change laws and potentially reduce the rape and humiliation of women not only in Africa but in other parts of the world. A strong story of justice, and how the law can sometimes be used to pervert justice. I think it is a very powerful film and for me deserves the prize," said Dr Mitzi Goldman, HRAFF 2015 Judge and CEO of Documentary Australia Foundation.
The HRAFF 2015 Audience Award went to Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem, a searing courtroom drama examining rabbinical law within orthodox Israel as Viviane Amsalem endures the arduous process of seeking her husband’s permission to divorce. Gett was closely followed by two runners up: I Will Not Be Silenced and Just Eat It.
The HRAFF Shorts Programs keeps going from strength to strength with Iran/USA film Aban + Khorshid claiming the International Short Film Award and the powerful Australian short I Am Emmanuel by Genevieve Clay-Smith, about a Sudanese immigrant adapting to life in Australia, taking away the Australian Short Film Award. I Am Emmanuel also won the Australian Directors Guild award for Best Direction in a Student Film.
Richard Sowada (HRAFF Judge and Head of Film Programs at ACMI) said of Aban + Khorshid: ‘It had a very lovely structure that oscillated between enormous tenderness and unnerving brutality – with a searing documentary conclusion. The many layers and textures really set it apart."
The Australian Shorts Audience Award went to Then I Came By Boat, directed by Marleena Forward which told the story of Tri and his family who escaped by boat from Vietnam to Australia.
The panel of jurors for the HRAFF 2015 awards included CEO of Footscray Community Arts Centre Jade Lillie, Triple J radio presenter Alex Dyson, Creative Director of Underground Cinema Tamasein Holyman, Director of the Czech and Slovak Film Festival Cerise Howard, Head of Film Programs at ACMI Richard Sowada, director of documentary That Sugar Film Damon Gameau, and CEO of Documentary Australia Foundation Dr Mitzi Goldman.
The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival is touring around Australia throughout May and June and will return to Melbourne in May 2016. Full program details can be viewed at hraff.org.au/program.