Is there a particular video, film, campaign or filmmaker that had a major influence on your career?
I’ve been captivated by impact producing and the opportunities it creates toward positive social change. In this space, the film is only one element but acts as a catalyst with potential to enrich education, policy and behaviour. It’s from this really rich and exciting place that I try to work from.
What motivated you to make your impact video?
I wanted to tell a story which centred First Nations voices and wisdom, and messages of respect, community, and hope. The film is looking to a future where both our environmental and cultural heritage are protected and celebrated.
Please tell us what camera(s) you shot with primarily – and any other special equipment that you used and why you used it.
Sony FX6, and DJI Mavic Air 2
Please tell us about any special styles or techniques that you used during the production of your impact video to help tell your story.
Australia is such a huge and magnificent place so we wanted to give a sense of scale through the wide landscapes and drone shots. We also wanted to foster an intimate connection between the audience and James, our lead, so we presented secondary interviews as voiceovers to ensure the emphasis and connection remained with James… grounding the audience in his experience and knowledge.
There is a journey we built with the fire footage too. We wanted a way for the audience to explore their knowledge or fire, and relationship to it.. to see it as something much more complex than perhaps they had before. There are good and bad fires.. that’s what we wanted to explore.
How did your story evolve from day one, to the very last day in post? Is your story what you thought it would be?
The idea for Burnt Country has been years in the making actually. I am a scientist, and throughout my studies found such a confusing lack of indigenous representation and knowledge. Indigenous Australians are the oldest living culture in the world, they’ve been caring for country for well over 60,000 years. As Hugh says in the film “Its one of the cultures that humanity needs to learn from if we’re going to stabilise this planet”.
I always knew how the story would FEEL, and the values it would carry… but the film you see today was only made possible with the guidance and contributions from the South East Nations to tell this story and the expertise and creativity of my incredible team in post.
Please describe the most rewarding experience you had while making this impact video.
Working with the South East Nations to tell this story has been one of the greatest honours and an experience I won’t soon forget
I was in the extremely privileged position of making this film under the guidance of the South East Nations. Their contributions brought a depth and nuance which could not have been reached otherwise, and has allowed us to centre the voices and wisdom of our First Nations.
I acknowledge and pay my deepest respect and gratitude to the Melukerdee and Nuenonne tribes of the South East Nations, and the custodians, the Palawa and Lowanna who welcomed me onto their country and generously shared their wisdom, knowledge and culture throughout this film.
What advice can you give to other impact filmmakers?
There is no blueprint for how to do impact filmmaking well.. which is both terrifying and exciting. What we commit to as impact filmmakers though is an awareness of our, and our films, impact. You will rarely know the answer to the questions this bring up throughout the process, but if you make sure “impact” is the guidepost you return to then I think you will find the path forward.
What’s your favorite part about the filmmaking process and why?
Collaboration.. hands down. I love seeing an idea grow and evolve through the eyes of others. As a Director, I feel like so much of my job is to bring good people and materials together and to create an environment in which we can create and contribute freely.
What’s the one item you always take with you when working out in the field and why?
A rubber band! A lot of my work is solo and can be in quite dangerous situations or extreme conditions and these items have always supported me.
After a 3km hike in the desert, with 40kg of equipment, my hands are going to be shaking but rather than miss the shot, that rubber band has helped me achieve smooth pans and tilts. It’s also helped me mounting small cameras or audio, or even once.. to convert my spare shirt into a shade cloth haha.
Please provide a brief description of the work or organization featured in your video:
Cultural burning is also known as ‘cool burning’ which indicates its most distinct difference from other types of fire management. The fire trickles through the environment like water, with low heat, height, and intensity. It will never reach the canopy of a tree, gives animals time to escape, and opportunity for pyrophytic seeds (fire-activated) to germinate.
Each ecosystem has its own time to burn which is influenced by the soil, plants, and landscape.. then the availability of food and medicine, breeding seasons of plants and animals all need to be considered too.
It requires a depth of understanding, knowledge, and connection to the land which runs centuries deep in Indigenous cultures and community.
What have you learned about the value and impact of the project?
I think everything I have learned about the value and impact of this film has come from within the South East Nations.
To hear that they are proud of the film, and how it has contributed (in any way) to furthering their work, bringing people together, and creating opportunities or discussions have been the highest points of this entire process for me.
Please share a personal story about your experience making this impact video.
My favourite story to tell is the behind-the-scenes of the shoot with James. Although she has no experience in film, I was SO lucky to have my Mum support me on location. The shoot with James was particularly challenging, but she poured just as much (if not more) energy into it as I did.
I wanted to do some of the interview handheld so James could show and describe to us the area we had just burned. This meant moving through uneven bushland, with active and remnant fire burning.
I had to hold the camera because it wasn’t long enough to balance on my shoulder and we didn’t have a mount… so Mum was conducting the interview (her first ever), while keeping her hand in my back pocket to direct me safely through the landscape hahaha. She was incredible, and doing that shoot with her was such a special part of the process for me.
What do you want audiences to take away from this video?
My hope was that the film would celebrate Indigenous knowledge and wisdom, emphasise its value and invite people to connect to country, and come together as a community.
The film is looking to a future where both our environmental and cultural heritage are protected and celebrated. … all I hope is that some of that is what reaches our audience. This film has my entire heart in it.
Please list key points that should be covered in a post-screening discussion:
– Aboriginal people are the oldest living culture
– Aboriginal people have solutions and expertise
– First Nations knowledge systems and culture are profound and expansive
– First Nations are one of the cultures we need to learn from in facing global climate and environmental crises
– Australia needs to protect and celebrate our environmental and cultural heritage
What opportunities are available for those interested in getting further involved?
I would only urge people to read and discuss broadly. Connect with Indigenous communities, knowledge and culture. There is a fantastic book out there called Fire Country by Victor Steffensen, and so many wonderful films coming out of Australia. The Australian Wars (2022), The First Inventors (2023) and We Are Still Here (2022) are just a few I would call essential viewing.
Please provide any additional resources (websites, links to additional videos, forms, articles, etc.) relevant to the context of the issue discussed in your video:
https://www.watarrkafoundation.org.au/blog/aboriginal-fire-management-what-is-cool-burning
https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/asia-pacific/australia/stories-in-australia/bringing-indigenous-fire-back-to-northern-australia/
https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/indigenous-cultural-burning-has-protected-australias-landscape-for-millenniarotected-australias-landscape-for-millennia
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