The Freedom Film Festival (FFF) 2017 will return from Sept 2 to Sept 9 this year to highlight stories that matter, including issues affecting marginalised communities in the country.

The directors of the short films "Selfie with the Prime Minister" and "Journey to Raya Padi" hope to break stereotypes about such communities, in line with one of the festival’s themes.

"Selfie With the Prime Minister", by film directors Nor Arlene Tan (right) and Grace Cho Heewon (left), tells the story of a Rohingya refugee in Malaysia who does his best to help his people here.

The film's protagonist, Ziaur Rahman, like many people in Malaysia, is savvy on social media and a Facebook junkie.

He tries to enlist the help of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, through his penchant for taking selfies.

Apart from breaking the stereotypical view of the Rohingya being people at the margins of society and engaged in exploitative work away from public view, Tan and Cho hope Malaysians will become more socially aware of their plight.

"Our protagonist breaks down a lot of the stereotypes that we have on refugees... He speaks decent English, he can speak Malay, and he is very empowered.

"In reality, what this group of refugees want is just their freedom. They just want to get as many people on board to be aware that this is a real humanitarian crisis (they) are facing right now," said Tan in an interview with Malaysiakini.

Tan added that Malaysians need to start thinking about how we can better manage social issues.

"We want people to start to think (about) what is next for Malaysia, what can we make better in terms of how we handle the social issues around us and try to empower people to not put everything on the plate of politicians, but on the plate of our own responsibility," she said.

Chipping in, Cho noted that the government and in particular the prime minister, had professed support for the Rohingya community but needed to follow through with more action.

"How can the prime minister actively say he supports the community but not help them by providing education and helping them be recognised in Malaysia?" she said.

Tan also pointed out that despite the discrimination Ziaur faced, he still wanted to stay in Malaysia.

"When we asked him about this, he said, ‘We can't decide your domestic policies for you, but we want to make (Malaysians) aware of our situation as much as possible to help ourselves’.

"This is the grey area we wanted to focus on," explained Tan.

Another film to be featured at the FFF is "Journey To Raya Padi" by film director Nik Jassmin Hew, which follows an Orang Asli's journey home for a harvest ceremony in Gua Musang, after being absent for five years.

Jassmin originally intended to document the blockades put by the Orang Asli in Gua Musang last year. Unfortunately, she was unable to do so.

Sometime in March, however, she had the opportunity to visit the area when her friend, Ewok Pera, the Orang Asli protagonist in the story, asked her to tag along.

Before the four day "adventure", as Jassmin puts it, she thought she knew everything there was to know about Malaysia.

"But how wrong was I. After the journey, I was like, I don't even know Malaysia anymore.

"The real Malaysia includes them.We look at the Orang Asli as a whole but they are different. Each and every individual group is different…. They are not just people who live in the mountains or jungles; they are very much a part of us," said Jassmin.

Jassmin hopes that her film will help Malaysians to stop viewing the Orang Asli community in isolation.

"We influence them (the Orang Asli) as much as they influence us, but we forget them, and I don't want this.

"I hope (that it) will make people rethink about Orang Asli and think about them in our daily lives as they are very much a part of us," she said.

The films will be screened at the PJ Live Arts centre in Petaling Jaya, in conjunction with the FFF.

Apart from the two films mentioned above, at least 10 other local films will also be featured at the festival.

Audiences will also be treated to a host of award-winning international films including stories about grassroots activists in Barcelona (“Ada for Mayor”) and New Delhi (“An Insignificant Man”) as they tirelessly campaign for social justice.

The walk-in price for each film is RM12, while passes purchased online are sold at RM10.

An all-access pass worth RM280 is currently being sold at an early bird special of RM100. Students and senior citizens get a 50 percent discount.

The full list of films to be screened is available here.