We Are Not Powerless
2025

We Are Not Powerless

AFF Film Club

Following its World Premiere at AFF2025, We Are Not Powerless will screen at the Odeon Star Semaphore on Tuesday, 25 November at 6:30pm.
Join us for a special AFF Film Club screening of Jolyon Hoff and Muzafar Ali's latest film.

We Are Not Powerless
When a small group of refugees defy authorities and start a school, they inspire a refugee-led education revolution which changes the lives of thousands. Ten years later, we uncover the global impact of this brave act.


Donation information for the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre (CRLC) will be made available the night of the screening. There will be a Q&A with the filmmakers and Mat Kesting, AFF CEO and Creative Director.

Director

Jolyon Hoff
Muzafar Ali

Runtime

90 Minutes

Country

Australia

Classification

Unclassified 15+

In December 2012, Muzafar Ali and his wife Nagina escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan. They found themselves living in Indonesia when Australia ‘stopped the boats’. With a small group of refugees, they received a $200 donation and founded a two-room school.

Since then, the schools in Indonesia have grown and there are now over 1300 refugee students and 130 refugee teachers. The students are obtaining school leaving certificates and entering universities around the world. Alumni from the schools have spoken at the United Nations and become doctors, teachers and lawyers, and they are returning to support the schools in Indonesia, where many went to school for the first time in their lives.

This powerful, emotional and decades-long narrative, anchored by Muzafar and Nagina’s love story, takes the audience inside the life of a refugee in a way that has never been captured before. We Are Not Powerless tells the story of what happens when people refuse to give up on each other.

Trailer

Play Trailer

Film Credits

Director

Jolyon Hoff & Muzafar Ali

Year

2025

Country

Australia

Language

English & Hazaragi

Subtitles

English

Type

Documentary & Feature

Program Strand

Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund & World Documentary

Producer

Jolyon HoffMuzafar Ali & Hamish Gibbs Ludbrook

Writer

Jolyon Hoff & Muzafar Ali

Cinematographer

Bonnie ElliottMaxx CorkindaleKhadim Dai & Andrew Commis

Editor

Peter O’Donoghue

Music

Sadie Harrison

Film Source

Light Sound Art Film

Genre

DocumentaryFeel-Good & Human Rights

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