Australia's most eloquent bird

"Humans are, at once, among and apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, and few have dedicated their careers to this relationship like Sir David Attenborough. As the disembodied voice of the BBC’s Planet Earth and Blue Planet series, he not only chaperoned inspirational nature voyages for hosts of fellow humans, he also helped us relate to the animal world by telling stories—stories of survival, of strength in numbers, of a mother’s love, and so on. It’s through ascribing these human characteristics to animals (or is it the other way around?) that we relate to these works. So powerful is the pattern-seeking instinct within us, the desire to connect with our brethren fauna, that in some cases, the lines get blurred. To clear up one such instance, director Mark B Pearce and cinematographer Nick Hayward set their eyes and ears on Australia’s most eloquent bird." So begins the review in the Texas Screen Scene from editor Gabriel Ponniah.

Click below to read The Message of the Lyrebird full review on page 16.

Lyrebird film receives dual awards

The Message of the Lyrebird has been handed two notable achievements from film festivals in the United States and India.

The feature-length nature documentary received an Award of Merit at the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival in Delaware, United States in January 2022.

The international recognition at NWBFF has instituted a system where films do not compete against each other, but instead are recognised for their own individual merits. Judges score entries on a performance scale and winning entries are awarded not only for Best of Festival & Best of Show, but also for Award of Excellence, Award of Merit, and a Kudos Endeavor Award.

Lyrebird has also been awarded the Winner for the category of Film on Nature/Environment/Wildlife at the Royal Society of Television and Motion Picture awards (Kolkata, India) 2021 December season. The film is now qualified to compete for the prestigious RSTMPA at the annual live screening gala, which will be held in Kolkata towards the middle of 2022.

The RSTMPA is a unit of Kolkata United Cine Community (KUCC); an international non-profit organization founded by the award-winning writers, directors, producers, artists and scholars from all over the world. The sole purpose of founding RSTMP is to promote the research and development about film, television and motion pictures in general, and study their impact on society. The society aims collect and preserve the greatest cinematic works across the globe which reflect the moving image history and heritage of the world.

Click here for the full results of the 2021 December season.

The message of the lyrebird (Lakes Post)

No other bird on the planet can do what the lyrebird can do.  
For thousands of years, the famed mimic has fooled, tricked and misdirected forest workers, bushwalkers and campers with the seemingly impossible skill of mimicking the sounds of anything it hears.  
From chainsaws to car alarms, other birds and even human voices, their unique and uncanny gift has been a source of fascination for many, especially for a team of filmmakers from Balangara Films. 
In a one-off screening at Lakes Entrance Movie Theatre, Balangara Films will present The Message of the Lyrebird, a journey to discover the complexity of this still misunderstood bird through the lense of a wide cast of characters. How does this mysterious creature reflect the way we live? And what can it teach us?

IMAGE: A male Superb Lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae, on the mound displaying all 16 feathers. (Photo: Nick Hayward)

To read the full story, grab your copy of the Lakes Post from your local newsagent or subscribe online.

Project Lyrebird PROFILE: Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman

Artist and director of the D’harawal Dreaming story, Yandel’ora, Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman during the production process.

As a multi-disciplinary artist who works with writing, theatre, film, animation, painting, sculpture, spatial design and installation, Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman explains why she makes art and the process of creating the 6-minute D'harawal Dreaming story, Yandel'ora which features in The Message of The Lyrebird.

Why do you make art?
”It's different for every medium I use, painting, film, theatre, sculpture. I love to work with stories, my own and other peoples. I tend to focus on stories that have a social justice message, or difficult stories that the other people can identify with. Humour and magic are my favourite ingredients. My practice also has a personal side, I create work that I don't share with anyone which is a really cathartic process for me, not unlike therapy.”

What was the creative process for Yandel'ora?
”Working with this amazing Dreaming story was a great privilege. I'd spent a lot of time with lyrebirds where I was staying in the Kangaroo Valley so I had a good sense of their splendid character, song, movement and habits.

After Mark invited me to work on the animation, the process began by meeting Aunty Fran at the place where the story originates on Dharawal Country, Mount Annan. It was really important to get a sense of the place, Aunty Fran's connection to it and also her history, which is so rich. I was super lucky to have that opportunity as I'd escaped a second lockdown in Melbourne two months beforehand. Then I began breaking down the transcribed Yandel'ora story into scenes, storyboarding and painting the backgrounds and characters.

At the time I began painting, I’d actually been on the run from coronavirus lockdowns in NSW and Victoria, and was staying with friends in the Adelaide Hills before I drove to Western Australia, which is where I completed the final scenes of the animation.

I used Photoshop and After Effects to assemble the cut out paintings and create moving scenes, which were really about giving a sense of atmosphere through subtle movement of detailed paintings, rather than creating highly complex action.

Finding a fast enough wifi connection to send the completed scenes to Mark proved challenging as I was out in a remote community in the Kimberley by the time it was all finished, but luckily it all came together at the very last minute! So after multiple border crossings and a car breakdown on the Nullabor, it was a great relief to finally send the completed story back home across the continent with the help of satellites.

For me one of the most exciting parts of the process is hearing the soundtrack accompany the final animation, bringing the atmosphere to life with Aunty Fran's voiceover, gorgeous music and sound effects.”

Yandel’ora will also be released as a stand-alone film for Indigenous/educational purposes later during the year.

Kimberley Film Wins Ocean Conservation Award

Congratulations Mark Jones & Happy World Oceans Day!

Looking After Our Environment: the Kimberley film about James Price Point, has tied for 1st Place in the Sylvia Earle Ocean Conservation Award in the MY HERO International Film Festival.

Barbara MacGillivray from One World One Ocean Campaign selected the film as one of two winners!

Here is a quote from Barbara about Mark and the film:

Mark Jones, in "Looking After Our Environment," makes an impassioned appeal for continuing protection of the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. Effective environmental work, done by his group, Save the Kimberley, along with multiple other concerned local groups effectively led to stopping one of the biggest fossil-fuel companies from decimating the area in 2013 and that same level of environmental passion continues to maintain the region today in a country beset by environmental challenges, both natural and man-made.
~Barbara MacGillivray

MY HERO is featuring the film on their website here:
myhero.com/sylvia-earle-ocean-conservation-award

Massive gratitude to Mark Jones and love and thanks to his family for all the commitment of environmental work over many years. A well-deserved accolade, now etched into the history of this 20 year old festival, for a man with high integrity, passion, and great knowledge of the The Kimberley region in Western Australia.

Big shout-out also to The Wilderness Society, Wildiaries  Save The Kimberley and all the crew for their time, talents and creativity. Most of all, thank you to all protectors who helped save James Price Point from a destructive, industrial gas hub. These types of victories are real and should inspire us all to never give up on protecting the places we love.

You can watch the 6min film here as well as the other 5 finalists

Kimberley film selected for LA's 4th Indigenous short Film Festival

Looking After Our Country has been selected for Through My Eyes Film Festival, LA's 4th annual Indigenous short film festival.

The multi award winning short advocacy film, starring Albert Wiggan was produced in 2012 by Balangara Films for The Wilderness Society. The short, which showcases First Nations culture and heritage in the north west of Australia was initially used for one of the most incredible defences of the environment in the country’s history.

Australia’s largest oil and gas company, Woodside, along with corporate giants Shell, BP, MIMI Browse and PetroChina, proposed to build an industrial gas hub 50km north of Broome, Western Australia, at Walmadany (James Price Point).

In February 2013, environment groups came together from all over the country when 20,000 rallied in the city of Melbourne and then another 20,000 in Fremantle a week later for a ‘Kimberley Concert’. The film was part of a powerful resistance featuring some of Australia’s most respected musicians and activists, including John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, Bob Brown and Scott Ludlam.

The people mobilised, and on April 12, 2013 the gas cartel pulled out of the James Price Point project.

The battle was won, but the war is not yet over to protect the Kimberley; one of the world’s last great wilderness areas. Today, the Kimberley community is banding together once again with threats remaining to this region of gas fracking and large scale irrigated agriculture.

Director of Looking After Our Country, Mark Pearce said:

“The Kimberley is truly like nowhere else on this Earth. It’s impossible to set foot on that country without its ancient energies going right through you. It’s one of the last great cultural landscapes left on the planet and we have a responsibility to ensure this stunning region is protected for future generations. That’s the core of what this story is about; it’s a message of true wisdom told by First Nations leader, Albert Wiggan, who passes down the knowledge of survival and self-actualisation to see what kind of future he can make for his children. This is a meaningful festival, brimming with extraordinary stories. The cast and crew are honoured to be part of a cutting-edge and courageous event to awaken beings all over the planet. It's time to listen to our First Nation leaders and the birdsong that has bestowed our beautiful lands.”

Image of Albert Wiggan and son, Zirren on the shores of the Kimberley, Western Australia.

Through My Eyes 2020 is an international and Indigenous short film festival that seeks to showcase the stories of Indigenous peoples from all over the world. It embraces stories from the land we come from and the places that our ancestors once called home.

The festival is hosted by TRIBE Project and will be held in Los Angeles, March 20-22. Program Manager, Iris Gonzalez was thrilled to welcome Albert Wiggan’s passionate story to this year’s festival.

"We had a wide array of diverse and beautifully crafted films and Looking After Our Country was no exception. It has been a privilege for us to review these films. We want to acknowledge and express deep gratitude to the cast and crew for sharing your artistic contribution with us. Moreover, we are beyond excited to share your story with our diverse audiences at this year's festival."

Looking After Our Country will be screened during the festival's Australia/New Zealand segment on March 21st.

More info here...

https://www.tribeproject7.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tribeproject7/

Credits:
Featuring: Albert Wiggan, Vanessa Cox, Corbyn Wiggan, Zirren Wiggan
Writer, Director, Producer, Editor: Mark Pearce
Executive Producers: Glen Klatovsky, Maritza Schafer
Production Manager: Jessie Mawson
Cinematographers: Nick Hayward, Michael Fletcher, Christian Fletcher
Colourist: Miles Bennett
Post Sound: Michael Slater
Composers: Ian Livingston, Aaron Wheeler, Ben Wheeler, Emily Taylor, Albert Wiggan
Special thanks to: Beagle Bay Community

We would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land during the production of this film.

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Transitions Film Festival hosts Melbourne premiere of 'Pilliga Rising'

"Pilliga Rising is the mesmerising, heartbreaking, exhilarating tale of a community unified in defence of land and livelihood. See it - and see it soon.” –Elizabeth Farrelly PhD, Columnist, Sydney Morning Herald

The international award winning environmental film, Pilliga Rising, will screen for the first time in Melbourne at the 2020 Transitions Film Festival.

The 40 minute film highlights the human impacts of coal seam gas, with a focus on the activities of oil and gas giant Santos in northwest New South Wales.

WATCH THE TRAILER

Pilliga Rising follows a salt-of-the-earth farmer, a German potter, a young Indigenous multimedia artist, and an experienced citizen scientist who, along with their communities, are rising against Santos.

The Narrabri Gas Project proposes to drill 850 wells over 95,000 hectares of iconic Australian forest and is the first of seven gas fields planned for the arid farming region that surrounds the forest. According to a major survey in the region, 96 percent of people over 3.2 million hectares are opposed to the coal seam gas development.

Among the biggest concerns relating to Santos' proposal is the impact of drilling on the Great Artesian Basin, part of which lies beneath the planned CSG project.

Commissioned by The Wilderness Society and produced by Mark Pearce’s award-winning production company, Balangara Films, Pilliga Rising celebrates the backbone of outback Australia. The film director, who has produced more than 20 social impact films, shows the audience a profound struggle of community resistance and unity against the industrial gas-field development, which Santos is still pushing for approval.   

"This is a film about the true values of Australia, which reminds me of humanity's best qualities,” Mr. Pearce said. “If there’s one thing viewers will take away from this story, it’s the understanding that when you’re in the trenches dealing with the coal seam gas cartel, even if you win life will never be the same.” 

In the film, Paris Norton connects young Gamilaroi artists with local Elders; using modern technologies, she helps the generations communicate and continue the First Australian narrative. 

“The Pilliga has protected us since the beginning of time,” Ms. Norton says in her opening statement at the beginning of the film. “We need to realise there is a disconnect between us and that kind of growth and investment [coal seam gas], because it doesn’t take care of us long-term; both in the environment we want to live safely and spiritually.”

As a German backpacker, Maria Rickert settled in the Pilliga region over thirty years ago with a dream to create an ‘off-grid’ family business and establish European art and culture in the Australian bush. Today, ‘Pilliga Pottery’ is shared with volunteers and community members and is the spiritual home for every person that lives there. 

But if the water shortages in the nearby township of Coonabararan continue and the gas project is permitted, the Rickert family will lose all they have accomplished. 

“Coal seam gas is like a cloud hanging over every person involved,” Mrs. Rickert exclaims. “The only people who are in favour of it are the ones who will benefit in one way or another.”

Farming and food security also play a dramatic part in the documentary. Farmer, and father-of-five children, Adam Macrae is up against the Australian Pipeline Authority (APA) Group who want to connect the gas at the Moomba pipeline by building an open-trench pipeline through his farm; a sustainable venture which produces chickpeas. 

“In 2016, we grew ten and a half million serves of chickpeas,” Mr. Macrae said. “And we grew enough barley to play a direct role in the production of five and a half-million serves of beef – and I was doing that on one day a week. If we can do that on our little patch, what’s the region doing in that macro-economic space?”

Star of the film – a local retiree, Tony Pickard has been fighting against the gas companies since 2006. His story highlights the citizen science work he’s done over the years to expose the toxic spills during the exploration process.

“I’m not against mining but it must be done in respect to three key things,” Mr. Pickard said. “It must be done with respect to the environment. It must be done with respect to the rules, laws and regulations of the country or the state and area where you are working. And it must be done with respect to the people in the area where you’re going to operate.”

Additionally, the film showcases magnificent Australian wildlife and stunning scenery of the Pilliga forest, beautifully photographed by cinematographers, Miles Bennett and Lee Herbet. 

In the Pilliga region, the squirrel glider is now rare, mainly due to historic logging of hollow bearing trees, where they live and recent bushfires. The proposed gas-field development intends to remove 2,000 hectares of bushland, further reducing homes for this shy and susceptible marsupial, the squirrel glider. Photo credit: Miles Bennett

Pilliga Rising will screen at Brunswick Mechanics Institute - 270 Sydney Rd, Brunswick on 26th February as part of the Transitions Film Festival Impact Shorts Program.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS

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‘Pilliga Rising’ Wins Award in Impact DOCS Award Competition

“A personal, emotive and well-shot film about the potential despoliation of important environmental parts of NSW by a coal seam gas company. The film highlights the damaging aspects to the water table from fracking, as well as the individual stories of people and the land. A major addition to documentaries on key issues impacting Australia’s future”. –Peter Krausz, Former Chair AUSTRALIAN FILM CRITICS ASSOC.

Balangara Films has won a prestigious Award of Excellence from The Impact DOCS Awards Competition. 

CALIFORNIA, United States. The award was given for Balangara’s coal seam gas film, Pilliga Rising, commissioned by The Wilderness Society to bring major attention to the industrialisation of the Pilliga forest in northwest New South Wales, Australia. Pilliga Rising features courageous community leaders rising up against the coal seam gas industry, who plan to build 850 gas wells near the southern recharge area of the Great Artesian Basin, which lies beneath the largest inland forest in eastern Australia.

Director, Mark Pearce worked with a diverse cast, including Gamilaraay First Nations community, outback farmers, citizen scientists and a German potter family, over a 12 month period to complete the film.

“It’s a remarkable effort by everyone involved in the film. To win an award like this is a real honour, and to be recognised alongside some of the most powerful social issue documentaries of 2020 is a terrific feeling. Importantly, this story is having a positive impact on the world. Credit must go to former Pilliga campaign manager, Naomi Hodgson and The Wilderness Society team who fully trusted the many choices made through production as well as the organic and sometimes spontaneous process of documentary filmmaking. 

The true heroes however are the people of the Pilliga. Their courage and persistence to rise up against the giant gas companies has been sustained for more than a decade and they’re the real reason this magnificent land is still protected. This award is dedicated to those people who voted against coal seam gas in their communities, which was 96% of the population living in the Pilliga region.”

The beauty of Australia’s forests, farmlands and wildlife has been captured for the screen by cinematographers Miles Bennett and and Lee Herbet.

A family of Emu’s Dromaius novaehollandiae (Australia’s largest living bird by height, reaching up to 1.9 metres tall) together on farmlands surrounding the Pilliga forest in northwest, New South Wales. Image: Miles Bennett

The award marks the 33rd international film recognition for Balangara in its 10 year history of producing social impact media.

Impact DOCS recognizes film, television, and new media professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity, and those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change. Documentaries were received from 30 countries, including veteran award winning filmmakers and fresh new talent.  Entries were judged by highly qualified and award winning professionals in the film and television industry.

In winning an Impact DOCS award, Balangara Films joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of this internationally respected award including the Oscar winning director Louie Psihoyos for his 2016 Best of Show – Racing Extinction, Oscar winner Yael Melamede for (Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies, and Emmy Award winner Gerald Rafshoon for Endless Corridors narrated by Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, and many more.

Rick Prickett, who chairs Impact DOCS, had this to say about the latest winners,“The judges and I were simply blown away by the variety and immensely important documentaries we screened. Impact DOCS is not an easy award to win. Entries are received from around the world from powerhouse companies to remarkable new talent. Impact DOCS helps set the standard for craft and creativity as well as power catalysts for global change. The goal of Impact DOCS is to help winners achieve the recognition they deserve for their dedication and work.”

Impact DOCS Awards is the newest member of the Global Film Awards (GFA) family of competitions who have been hosting competitions for 14 years. As one of the original trend-setting digital online competitions, GFA set the standard for this exciting new breed of film competitions. GFA’s Accolade Competition was named by MovieMagazine “…as one of the top 25 festivals worth the entry fee”. It is truly international in scope offering filmmakers from large powerhouses like Disney, The Weinstein Company, Discovery and Ridley Scott all the way to first time filmmakers and students, the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from an impartial judging panel comprised by highly qualified and award winning professionals in the industry.  Often the first stop on the festival circuit, GFA award winners have gone on to win Oscars like the short doc “The Lady in Number Six” and “Mr Hublot” as well as countless Emmys, Tellys and more.

Information about the Impact DOCS Awards and a list of past and recent winners can be found at www.ImpactDocsAwards.com