2023 marks the 8th year of the home grown Ghan International Film Festival Australia (GIFFA) started in Adelaide in 2016 by migrant Afghan film maker Fahim Hashimy. This thriving event now runs for 6 days and screens across Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney from Sat 28th October at Mercury Cinema Adelaide. As always, proceeds from GIFFA support education and nutrition programs for street children in Kabul, a group of children collected from street of Kabul by GIFFA team members.
In addition to short films of high artistic merit by unknown film makers, highlights from previous GIFFAs have included special screenings of films such as Letter to the President by Roya Sadat, Hava, Maryam, Ayesha by Sharaa Karimi, and the Oscar award nominated film Boz Kashi Boys. This year, GIFFA will expand to include original films from the wider region and hopes to stage films after the collapse of Afghanistan.
What was originally a rare opportunity for emerging Afghan film makers to show their work to international audiences has now become almost a lifeline for creativity and activism under the current state of oppression, hardship and turmoil in Afghanistan. Come along to show your support and be inspired by the astounding capacity, determination and visual beauty embodied in the GIFFA selections 2023.
GIFFA will feature high-quality short films (up to 40-minutes duration), documentary plus one feature film. The films will be auteur and ambitious cinema, with a high artistic value, tackling both independent and original themes.
The primary aim of GIFFA is to support the underprivileged or homeless young children who are caught up in war-torn countries by provide education, food, and shelter for the street children and to alleviate the suffering of their destitute parents.
These children are especially prone to physical and sexual abuse. We believe that our communities, people here and the general public will participate in the festival and can contribute to make a real difference in the lives of these children.
GIFFA also aims to bring together people from mainstream and culturally and linguistically diverse [CALD] backgrounds to explore The Festival which runs over two evenings in October in Adelaide. These extraordinary films challenge stereotypically negative views of Afghans, who continue to make high-quality films even as they struggle to survive.
GIFFA also reflects the long-standing relationship between Australians and the Afghans who first arrived here in the 1860s (the Afghan Cameleers) and enriched the local culture with their music, dance and cuisine. We invite you to join us to celebrate this very special film event and sample our Afghan saffron tea.
Address: Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett St, Adelaide 5000. in the vibrant West End of the CBD.
Melbourne: announce soon
Sydney: announce soon
GIFFA Art Work: The First Ghan International Film Festival artwork (A Traditional Afghan Turban) was design to remember the Afghan Cameleers in Australia who were well known with their Turban and Quran in the outback of Australia, once called The Ghan Town.
GIFFA Art Work 2016
GIFFA 2017 Marco Polo Art Work: The majestic Marco Polo subspecies of argali (Ovis ammon polii) is undoubtedly one of the most charismatic wild animals in the Afghan Pamirs and surrounding countries of Central Asia. Marco Polo sheep are worthy of understanding in their own right, but even more so because of their role as a flagship species for the entire ecosystem. Despite being the largest of the mountain sheep in the world, Marco Polo sheep are among the most difficult of all wild animals to study, due to…read more
GIFFA 2018 Art Work:
GIFFA 2021 Art Work:
GIFFA 2023 Art Work:
