HOPE ROAD

Australia's foremost documentary portraitist, Tom Zubrycki, follows refugee Zacharia Machiek from Sydney to Sudan as he dedicates his life to building a school in the village he left behind.

Zacharia Machiek was one of Sudan's 'lost boys', the generation of child soldiers forced to fight in one of the 20th century's most savage civil wars. Finally making it to Australia in 2003, Machiek is inspired by the founding of South Sudan to do something for the village he once called home – a 40-day, 850km fundraising walk across NSW to raise money for a much-needed school. But life, as always, has a way of disrupting our best intentions, and Machiek will need to decide where his true priorities lie.

Award-winning documentary maker Tom Zubrycki (The Hungry Tide, MIFF 2011) was there for every step of Machiek's journey and the result is the inspiring, eye-opening Hope Road. An intimate portrait of suffering overcome and the enduring scars borne of trauma, Hope Road is a captivating and necessary contribution to our refugee debate from one of Australian cinema's most humane storytellers.

Director Tom Zubrycki will be at both sessions to introduce the film and take part in a post-screening Q&A.