Event

Island of the Hungry Ghosts

Wed Mar 13: 7.30pm
Wed Mar 20: 7.30pm

Gabrielle Brady
Germany, UK & Australia
2018
1h 38m

About
** Co-presented with Northwest Immigrant Rights Project! Best Documentary Feature Tribeca Film Festival 2018 **

On a small island in the Indian Ocean, one of the planets largest land migrations takes place. Forty million crabs make their way through dense jungle to the rugged coast and, finally, to sea. But Christmas Islands sublime beauty hides another, darker presence: The Australian government runs a high-security detention facility deep within the islands jungles, where asylum-seekers wait indefinitely to hear whether they can continue on to Australia. Meanwhile, local islanders carry out hungry ghost rituals for the spirits of those who died on the island without receiving a proper burial.

Gabrielle Bradys hypnotic documentary focuses on Poh Lina trauma therapist who works with inmates of the detention center. Following Lin as she explores the island and speaks to her clients, Brady brings together the islands violent past, Lins therapy sessions, and the relentless drive of the migrating crabs in a sharply beautiful, haunting meditation on how a place can reflect its own past and present.

Description courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival