Auroville, the City the Earth Needs

We are the Thunder
USA / 5 min / Dir: Dewayne Austin / Experimental / 2006 / Australian Premiere
Inspired by an Apache prisoner of war cemetery with music by Geronimo's medicine song and the Buffalo and Ghost Dances of the Sioux.

Guilty by Nature
UK / 9 min / Dir: Joseph Barnett / Experimental / 2006 / Australian Premiere
A dark and gritty tale exploring ideas of individuality and persecution as seen through the life cycle of one wild and vigorous shrub, against the backdrop of a militant plant nursery.
Best Environmental Film Nominee.

Consume This! A Stockumentary
Australia / 10 min / Dir: Sam Field / Short / 2006 / Byron Premiere
Something consumed nothing; then somehow, life began to consume everything. This film brings us on a visual journey through the writer’s mind as he struggles to untangle the intricate dilemmas of consumerism. Does it do him or anybody any good? Find out as you ‘Consume This!’
Best Environmental Film Nominee.

The Flower
Canada / 2 min / Dir: Dale Hayward / Animation / 2007 / Australian Premiere
On its birthday, the world’s most optimistic flower gets presents.

LIFE IN TRANSITION
USA / 4 min / Dir: John R Dilworth / Animation / 2005 / Byron Premiere
A visual and symbolic journey depicting the continual transformations of life.

The Nature Of Rebirth
Finland / 15 min / Dir: Johanna Lampi / Short / 2007 / Australian Premiere
Puszcza Bialowieska is an ancient primeval forest straddling the border between Belarus and Poland. Over 500 year old trees are treasures rarely seen anywhere in the world. In addition to over 12 000 species living in Bialowieza, almost extinct European bison still wanders free in the forests. In the documentary one can follow themes as the cycle of living and dying and the relationship between human and nature through four people living in the forest. Zbigniew takes care of the bison in the breeding centre, Jerzy is a passionate insect collector, Joanna has found an asylum in the forest away from the hectic city-life, and Janusz walks in the forest while pondering about the mystery of living and dying and the effect human has on nature. The Nature Of Rebirth is all about life and all about death at the same time. Death is needed for life and human is part of the cycle.
Polish with subtitles.

Fridays at the Farm
UK / USA / 19 min / Dir: Richard Hoffmann / Experimental / 2006 / Australian Premiere
Feeling disconnected from their food, a filmmaker and his family decide to join a community supported organic farm in suburban Philadelphia. Using a digital still camera, the filmmaker takes nearly 20,000 pictures of vegetables and herbs, insect life, and human activity on the farm. When the farm loses its intern due to budget cuts, he moves from passive observer to active participant in the planting and harvesting of vegetables and discovers the joy of working with the earth. Along the way, he notes his three-year old son’s increased interest in the growing process and marvels about the baby girl gestating inside his wife’s body. The farm emerges as more than a place to get fresh food- it is a haven where members meet and share in the pitfalls and bounty of life. Technically, the entire film is animated using still photos. Humans appear static, while plants are in constant motion. The reversed roles create a unique staccato feel to the piece, and the lush time-lapse and macro photography befits the sweet tone. The filmmaker’ hushed voice-over offers no call to action or scientific evidence. The film is merely an intimate visual and aural diary of his personal experience as a member of a community farm.
Best Environmental Film Nominee.

Auroville, the City the Earth Needs
France / 57 min / Dir: Guillaume Estivie / Documentary / 2007 / Australian Premiere
UK / 9In 1968, a utopian town was developed in the South of India, attracting inhabitants from many countries of the world. Founded by a Frenchwoman, Mira Alfassa, known as "the Mother", companion of the yogi Sri Aurobindo. Auroville is an ambitious experience, a kind of laboratory from where perhaps will come the ideal town of the future. Auroville is a space of dreams where the goal is "to realise human unity". Housing a population of 1800 from 40 different nationalities managing such an enterprise is not easy. The community must face up to crises, notably the one provoked by the implantation of new generations with different motivations to those who have preceded them. This surprising documentary absorbs us at the heart of a utopia that we would love to see it materialized, in spite of difficulties.