Participatory Video For A Sustainable Future

To coincide with the Sustainable Living Festival, EngageMedia will be presenting a program of vibrant video stories from hearts of communities in Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific. The video program with the Sustainable Living Festival, and will focus on the struggles and inspiration to be found in the search for a more equitable and sustainable world.

Participatory media will leap off the Internet and into public space for this special series of video about social justice and environmental issues in our region. EngageMedia show how a new model for online/offline distribution is emerging – where video-sharing doesn’t just mean watching videos of cats falling into the pool or Michael Jackson impersonators on YouTube.

Video uploaded by citizen journalists and independent videomakers who are producing thought-provoking, creative, critical and engaging media can now be downloaded and re-distributed through film festivals, community television and screenings. Participatory media initiatives on the web are at the forefront of this social and technological phenomenon, those whose “online communities” are based in real networks and real communication – not just the marketing genius of large corporations.

EngageMedia aims to help people speak in their own voice and to break down barriers and create new forms of sharing stories across borders and cultures. In this program we show a variety of video by videomakers from around our region. The Sustainable Living Festival showcases a huge range of exhibitors, talks, workshops, art, films and performances celebrating and inspiring sustainable communities.

The video program will be a rotating program of four different sessions, running between the 16^th and 29^th of February, every weekday at both 1pm and 5pm on the big screen at Federation Square in Melbourne - a unique public space at the heart of the city of Melbourne – both physically and culturally.

Dates: February 16 - 29, 2008

Time: Please see Federation Square Screen Guide for details on screening.

Duration: 30 mins

Opening: February 7, 2008, 7:30-8:30pm

Location: Big Screen and Atrium Screen, Federation Square – corner Swanston and Flinders Streets, Melbourne

FREE EVENT

Program One:

Food Not Bombs

Directed by Simon Moule & Sal Castro

Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, serving free vegan and vegetarian food to others. Food Not Bombs ideology claims that myriad corporate and government priorities are skewed to cause hunger amidst abundance.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Bottled Water

Directed by Dominic Allen

Some facts about bottled water and why its a con job.

Ulang Sampah

Produced by The Center of Urban Community Empowerment

Can't get rid of plastic waste? Reuse it!

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

The Okapa Connection

Directed by Pip Starr

The Okapa Connections follows the journey of a shipment of coffee, as it makes its way from bush to brew. Starting life as a ripe red cherry, the coffee must pass through many hands and travel many miles by some unusual means so it can find its way to being a cup of hot coffee. The Okapa Connection reveals how fair trade and organic production methods are beginning to transform the lives of the coffee farmers in the remote and beautiful mountains of PNG.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Program Two:

Climate of Hope

Directed by Scott Ludlam and Jose Garcia

Climate of Hope is a 30 minute documentary created to demystify climate change and nuclear energy. While the threat of climate change is now widely accepted in the community, the potential for nuclear power stations in Australia has raised questions about the best strategy for our country to move to a low-carbon economy.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Program Three:

The Castle on the Sand

Directed by Robbie McEwan

Produced by Aleks Radovic

Graham has built the most fantastic castle on the beach but the tides's rising... and he's not going to give up without a fight. A short-fiction-comedy tackling climate change and a rather uncanny response to a warming planet.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Banung

Directed by Bensin

An animation of the fossil fuel cycle.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Cartaret Islands

Directed by Pip Starr

The people of the Carteret Islands are about to make history. They will not be the first people to lose their homes because of global warming. Rising seas, expanding deserts and changing weather have already displaced many, possibly millions of people. But the people of the Carterets may be unique, as they begin to abandon their atoll, one of the first peoples in the world to do so.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Climate Change Options

Kurt Diegert / Jose Ramos

Now that the general public accepts climate change and wants to help (thanks, Al Gore) more information is needed. There are real solutions and there's "greenwashing" and wishful thinking.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Program Four:

Tasforests

Directed by Jacob Primo

A visual journey into Tasmania’s threatened forests

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Gordon Splits

Wilderness photographer Peter Dombrovskis visits the Gordon Splits in Tasmania's Southwest during the time of the Franklin dam controversy in the early 1980s.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Ride Against Uranium

Produced by Friends of the Earth Australia

The Rides against Uranium in the late 1970s and early 1980s were important events in the campaign against uranium mining and in long distance cycle touring in Australia. The third Ride against Uranium in May 1977 featured multiple routes, each independently organised and converging on Yass for the final ride to Canberra. This video documents that ride.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Program Five:

Ripples 2

Directed by Dominic Allen

Produced by Joel Betts

Ian Skiller is a stone fruit farmer living on the Murray in Tooleybuc NSW. A few years ago a couple of refugees arrived at his front door with nothing but a pot.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

iTravel

Directed by Madelaine Allen

i travel' is a short video that visualises the travelling we all do in our minds, imagining communities we long to be a part of. And for some, it is all they have.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

The Yiriman Project

Directed by Dominic Allen

A short doco explaining the work of Yiriman, a Youth Project in the Kimberley seeking to build stories in young people. Yiriman and the Back to Country trips were conceived and developed by elders concerned for their young people, particularly in regard for the capacity for self harm and substance abuse, and saw the need for a place where youth could separate themselves from negative influences, and reconnect with their culture in a remote and culturally significant place.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons

Kia Tupato

Directed by Michelle McGregor

Produced by Anita Langthaller

Kia Tupato (Be Careful) features the late Sir John Turei as he presents Maori views on Genetic Modification with reference to the land and the teaching of his Grandparents. Sir John was considered a bridge between the cultures of Maori and non-Maori in New Zealand, and received many honours from the Government including a Knighthood. Kia Tupato presents the teachings of Sir John and his people and includes footage from the protest movement against Genetic Modification in New Zealand.

This film is licensed under Creative Commons