Located off the coast of Indonesia, the Australian territory of Christmas Island is inhabited by migratory crabs travelling in their millions from the jungle towards the ocean, in a movement that has been provoked by the full moon for hundreds of thousands of years. Poh Lin is a trauma therapist who lives with her family in this place of hostile and wild landscapes—one of the last places on the planet to be discovered. Every day, she talks with the asylum seekers held indefinitely in a high-security detention centre, attempting, relentlessly, to support them in a situation that is as unbearable as its outcome is uncertain. Comparing the natural migration with the chaotic and tragic migration of humans, subject to the constant metamorphoses of the decision-making structures, Gabrielle Brady undoubtedly succeeds in evoking a challenge that is much greater than that of the microcosm she is reporting on. With its fictional appearance, Island of the Hungry Ghosts is a film whose eloquence is most particularly based on its skilful construction and on shots composed with great delicacy. (visions du reel, Emilie Bujès)
Festivals/Awards
2020 LOLA@Berlinale — Shortlisted for DEUTSCHER FILMPREIS DOKUMENTARFILM [German FilmAward]
2018 Prix Buyens-Chagoll – Visions du Réel Nyon (World Premiere) Best International Documentary – Tribeca Best Documentary – Valletta Film Festival Best Documentary – Crested Butte Film Festival, Colorado DOK Leipzig Best Documentary feature – Adelaide Film Festival Michael Latham (CoP) & Leo Dogan (Sound) nominated for the Australian film Awards Aaron Cupples (music) nominated for British Film Awards Smart Award – Festival des Libertés, Brussels Grand Jury Prize – Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Human Rights Award – IDFA Best Documentary – ATOM Awards & Competitions in Australien
2019 One World IHR Documentary FF, Czech Republic 34 DOK.fest Munich
Cast and Crew
Director Gabrielle Brady
Producer Alexander Wadouh (Chromosom Film GmbH), Samm Haillay (Third Films), Gizem Acarla (Various Film), Alex Kelly, Julia Niethammer