Australian High Commission, Sri Lanka & Maldives & EFFA present:
World Environment Day
Stay-at-Home Short Film Festival
A free digital festival for Sri Lanka & Maldives.
World Environment Day Stay-at-Home Short Film Festival.
Fri 11 - Sun 13 June 2021
All ages. No charge. Available in Sri Lanka & Maldives only.
Presented in partnership by the Australian High Commission, Sri Lanka and Maldives, and the Environmental Film Festival Australia.
What’s happening.
World Environment Day is an opportunity to celebrate our diverse relationship with the natural world: its beauty, its power, and its fragility.
For Australians, Sri Lankans and Maldivians, the landscapes, creatures and character of our environments play a huge role in our lives, but at the moment – as we stay indoors to keep our communities safe - it’s harder than usual for us to see this. So instead, through this showcase of short films from Australia and our friends in New Zealand, we bring the natural world to you. From the open expanses of the beautiful Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory to bushfire-threatened communities in New South Wales, we invite you to come on a journey with us…
Enjoy this free short film festival, presented by the Australian High Commission, Sri Lanka & Maldives, and EFFA.
Featuring
Firekeepers of Kakadu | Della Golding, Australia, 2018
Ignis | Ashleigh McArthur, Australia & US, 2019
No Distance Between Us | Vera Hong, Australia, 2018
Petrichor | Shirin Shakhesi, Australia, 2019
Stories From The Smoke | Daniel Merson, Australia, 2020
Swimming Yesterday | Damian Kane, Australia, 2020
The River is Me | David Freid, New Zealand, 2019
Urbanlity | Evan McInnes, Australia, 2019
The Films.
Firekeepers of Kakadu.
A film 65,000 years in the making. Following the oldest surviving culture on earth, the Bininj people of the Aboriginals lands of Kakadu, who hold the ancient knowledge to creating biodiversity in an ever warming world.
Ignis.
Following Northern California's devastating wildfires, an artist repurposes the remains of his community's homes.
No Distance Between Us.
Filmed in a unique window of time, before the fossil trackway was concealed and covered in tonnes of sand for conservation, this film explores the ancient and continued connection to Country experienced by Australia's First Nations people and their struggle for recognition of Indigenous knowledge.
Petrichor.
A vibrant sensory experience, Melbourne-based artist Shirin Shakhesi draws you through a vivid, jewel-toned ecosystem which is home to several insect and animal species threatened by population decline.
Stories From The Smoke.
This poetic short follows a grandfather as he prepares for bushfire season and deals with the impact of smoke. Artistic, humourous and heartbreaking, Stories From The Smoke gives a gut wrenching insight into the lives of those living the reality of bushfires. Inspired by a First Dog on the Moon cartoon.
Swimming Yesterday.
Brewarrina, NSW is proudly home to the oldest man-made structure in the world: the near half-kilometre complex of fish traps, known as Ngunnhu. This beautiful film explores the cultural and spiritual importance of Ngunnhu and the heartbreaking displacement of a community due to the river’s dwindling water levels.
The River is Me.
For many years, this river’s ownership was under dispute. Now, it owns itself. In what’s believed to be a world-first, the Whanganui River has been granted legal personhood, with the same rights and responsibilities as you and me. But determining where a river ends and the rest of nature begins is up for some debate.
Urbanality.
In a society driven by growth and development, we don't often take time to appreciate this wild, wonderful world we occupy. Getting stuck in the daily grind is all too easy, but sometimes all that’s needed to open our eyes is a helping hand. In this whimsical animation, the city folk are about to get a wake-up call from nature. But, will they stop and listen?
