We are honoured to announce that Peter Singer, one of the world’s most influential philosophers and author of Animal Liberation (1975), will officially open ALFF at Cinema Nova.
Singer’s groundbreaking work redefined how the world thinks about animals, sparking the modern animal movement and inspiring generations of activists, scholars, and ordinary people to seriously consider the suffering of sentient beings and take action.
Singer will offer his reflections on the state of animal liberation, 50 years after he first published his book.
Peter Singer’s special address will then be followed by a feature documentary: The Dying Trade (2025), and a short film, Planted (2025).
Friday launch with
peter Singer
5 Dec 2025
6.30pm – 8.30pm
Cinema Nova, Carlton
Planted (2025) is a short animation directed by Francesco Bori (CAN / UK). This touching short animation, exclusively for the first time in history, exposes for the screen the fascinating story of the Donald Watson who started the vegan movement.
Planted (2025)
Short Animation
Dir. Francesco Bori (CAN/UK)
13 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
25 Cats from Qatar (2025) asks searching questions about the role of public and private players in animal welfare, all within a ticking-clock narrative about the nuts and bolts of a rescue mission. From the filmmakers behind the award winning CAT DADDIES, the documentary is both an urgent wake-up call and a heartwarming portrayal of strangers overcoming international barriers to reach a common goal.
25 Cats From Qatar (2025)
Feature Documentary
Dir. Mye Hoang (USA)
95 mins
SATURDAY #1: 1:00pm—3:00pm
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
A young boy with a passion for natural science was observing migratory birds in a wetland when he noticed a flightless, endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. He quickly sprang into action and rescued the sandpiper from the sharp claws of his kitten, saving it from harm. With gentle care and attention, the boy helped the sandpiper regain its strength and eventually took it back to the wetland, where he was thrilled to see it take flight once again.
Not a Rookie Sandpipper (2025)
Short Animation
Dirs. Jens Møller (DNK), Lei Zhang (CHN)
15 mins
SATURDAY #1: 1:00pm—3:00pm
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
This award-winning investigative documentary explores the ongoing fight to remove four dams on the Snake River. At stake are Salmon and Steelhead runs, once among the greatest runs in the world, and the salmon-eating Southern Resident Orcas facing imminent extinction.
The Snake and The Whale (2025)
Feature Documentary
Dir. John Carlos Frey (USA)
90 mins
SATURDAY #2: 3:00pm-5:00pm
This documentary contains scenes of whale and fish deaths.
Viewer discretion is advised.
Living Lessons in the Museum of Order is a short experimental film that examines the carceral logics of the Orca Encounter at SeaWorld San Diego and the “Doing Time” tour of the former Alcatraz prison in the San Francisco Bay.
Living Lessons in the Museum of Order (2023)
Short Experimental
Dir. Malic Amalya (USA)
20 mins
SATURDAY #2: 3:00pm-5:00pm
This film contains scenes of dolphin and orca captivity. Viewer discretion is advised.
Kindness Town follows a group of puppets who discover they are decorated with real feathers and decide to replace them with cruelty-free materials. This musical short film explores themes of compassion, ethical decision-making, and the impact of our choices on the world around us.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
Short Film
Kindness Town (2025)
Dir. Jess McKay (USA)
14 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
"I Feel Like A Piece of Meat" narrates the feelings and thoughts of a woman, who is a rape survivor, by taking into account the culture of eating and consuming of animals’ bodies from a feminist vegan point of view. It explains the commodification and consuming of cow and woman bodies by patriarchy in an experimental way.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
Short Experimental
I Feel Like a Piece of Meat (2024)
Dir. Yalın Çağdaş Eşsiz (TUR)
5 mins
This short contains brief scenes of dead animals, meat, and references to sexual assault.
A comedic 2D animated short film that tells the absurdly tragic stories of hamsters from the after-life. The film aims to entertain and educate. Prepare to laugh, cry, and gasp in shock as this mixed-media, documentary-style film takes a look into how and why this colorful cast of pet hamsters died.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
How We Hamsters Die (2025)
Dirs. Phoebe Burdick (USA), Mio Gribskov (USA)
6 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
When a freak accident grievously injures her housemate, a guilt-ridden pacifist must protect them both from a mysterious and threatening creature that roams their apartment after dark.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
Short Film
Vermin (2025)
Dir. Jonah Howell (AUS)
12 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
7-year-old Molly is eager to lend a hand on her family's farm, but when she witnesses the death of an animal at the hands of her father, he insists his actions were merciful. Matured by the event, Molly attempts to apply her newfound sense of morality.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
Short Film
Runt (2025)
Dir. Isabella Holgate (AUS)
7 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
A childhood discovery inspires a woman to push the boundaries of our compassion in this true story. The esteemed Earthlings creator, Shaun Monson, weaves together archived news clips, never seen before arrest footage, and current interviews to tell this tale that crosses countries and decades. Cameo appearances by Joaquin Phoenix and other famous animal advocates.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
Short Documentary
The Heart Whisperer (2025)
Dir. Shaun Monson (USA)
16 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
Dan Peterson—a Vietnam veteran and retired construction business owner—took up cattle ranching as a retirement project, not fully prepared for the emotional weight it would carry. A powerful encounter with the matriarch of his herd changed everything. This a story of rescue, responsibility, and the quiet power of choosing kindness over tradition.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
Short Documentary
A Promise of Paradise (2025)
Dir. Thomas Machowicz (USA)
16 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
After experiencing the confronting realities of cow farming as a child, Anthony Walsgott abandoned his life as a lawyer to purchase a pristine 120-acre block on Queensland’s Mary River—a place which is now home to Australia’s largest cow sanctuary.
ALFF SHORTS
SAT 5:00pm-7:00pm
Short Documentary
Foundation (2025)
Dir. Jack Hinz
7 mins
Learn more about ALFF's classification system:
https://alff.org.au/classifications
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Japanese director Akane Yamada travelled to the war zone to document an often-overlooked story — the fate of animals and the people who refuse to abandon them. Known for her work in disaster zones since Fukushima, Yamada witnessed animal welfare groups mobilising at the Polish border to help refugees and their pets, and followed Ukrainians who continued to adopt shelter animals amid the chaos. In Borodianka, near Kyiv, she uncovered the tragic deaths of shelter dogs left behind during occupation. Her three-year investigation led her deep into Ukraine’s frontline regions, from flooded Kherson after the Kakhovka Dam’s destruction to a children’s hospital in Kyiv struck by a missile.
Through the stories of people who refuse to abandon animals even amid the devastation of war, this documentary portrays the resilience and dignity of those who refuse to surrender to violence.
Dogs and War in Ukraine (2025)
Feature Documentary
Dir. Akane Yamada (JPN)
109 mins
SATURDAY #4: 7:00PM–9:00PM
This documentary contains scenes of dead dogs.
Viewer discretion is advised.
When a mysterious infection transforms a small town into a horde of flesh-craving zombies, a college student becomes Amherst's unlikely last hope. With time running out and his mother missing, Harley and his loyal German shepherd, Indy, team up with a group of friends and embark on a desperate quest for a cure. Their only lead: a defunded scientist with a fragile prototype antidote. Facing impossible choices in a town consumed by madness, Harley must confront his deepest fears to save everything he holds dear.
A44 (2025)
