Tag Archives: Australia

The Politics of Climate Change

The World Health Organisation puts the number of deaths from climate change at 250,000 by 2050.

We travel the world to see how the devastation wrought by droughts, wildfires, floods and catastrophic rains – all the direct results of climate change – are a political problem, and require political solutions. From the outback of Australia, to the Pakistani Himalayas and Brazilian Amazon, this series takes us to the front line of the approaching disaster.

Along the way, we meet people and activists trying to find ways to tackle the biggest issue of the 21st century.

A combination of bad policies and political apathy is speeding up climate change. Have we reached the tipping point? Can it be reversed?

 

Episode 1 – Australia´s Coal Conundrum

Against the backdrop of dwindling water resources, ravaging bushfires and high unemployment, a controversial new mine set to be built in Central Queensland is being met with controversy and passionate resistance. Further mining activities promise to exacerbate the region’s already dwindling water resources while raising Australia’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. The perceived silver lining in the building of the controversial Carmichael Mine is the promise of job creation. But, at what cost?

 

Episode 2 – Brazil´s Amazonian Battle

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon increased 30% since Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro came to power. More than 120,000 square kilometers of the Amazon forest have been destroyed: an area a fifth the size of Wales in the last 10 years. It’s displaced around 400 indigenous groups but has also decimated a vast store of carbon that is vital for tackling climate change. The jungles produce 20% of the world’s oxygen. We go on an investigative journey to reveal the gold rush pushing communities over the edge. Along the way, we meet the Mundurukku aboriginal tribes and activists fighting to stop the destruction of Amazon jungles. We also meet activists seeking solutions for a sustainable lifestyle.

 

Episode 3 – Pakistan´s Himalayan Meltdown

The word Himalaya means House of Snow, and is the second largest icecap outside the polar regions. But it is melting at the fastest rate in human history. One-third of the Himalayan glaciers are projected to disappear by the end of this century due to climate change, threatening the supply of water to nearly 2 billion people across South Asia. We discover how water became a major flash point between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, due to the Siachen glacier conflict, and go undercover to observe the proliferation of water thieves in Karachi. We also examine the impact of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s billion tree tsunami, Pakistan’s bold bid to mitigate worsening climate change.

Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin

The U.S. release date of NOMAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BRUCE CHATWIN has been postponed by the U.S. distributor Music Box Films in response to COVID-19. For more information or questions related to the U.S. release of the film, visit https://www.musicboxfilms.com/film/nomad-in-the-footsteps-of-bruce-chatwin/

When legendary writer and adventurer Bruce Chatwin was dying of AIDS, he summoned his friend and collaborator Werner Herzog, asking to see his recent film about tribesman of the Sahara. In exchange, as a parting gift, Chatwin gave Herzog the rucksack he’d carried on his travels around the world.

Thirty years later, carrying the rucksack, Herzog sets out on his own journey, inspired by their shared passion for the nomadic life. Along the way, Herzog uncovers stories of lost tribes, wanderers and dreamers.

He travels to South America, where Chatwin wrote In Patagonia, the book that turned him into a literary sensation, with its enigmatic tales of dinosaurs, myths and journeys to the ends of the world.

In Australia, where Herzog and Chatwin first met, Herzog explores the sacred power of the Aboriginal traditions which inspired Chatwin’s most famous book, The Songlines. And in the UK, in the beautiful landscape of the Welsh borders, he discovers the one place Chatwin called home.

Told in Herzog’s inimitable style, full of memorable characters and encounters, the film explores the creative and personal vision he shared with Chatwin: a passion for the power of storytelling and desire to find insights into human experience among communities at the extremes.

A portrait of one of the 20th century’s most charismatic writers, the film also offers a revealing personal insight into the imagination and obsessions of one of the world’s most visionary directors.

Selected at Tribeca Film Festival and Sheffield Doc Fest 

———

“Duplicating many of Chatwin’s most notable journeys, Herzog evokes the late English wanderer’s restless soul and curious fascination with profound issues that have long captivated the director… this sincere homage should entice adventurous viewers … conveys a sense of profound beauty and primordial mystery.”

Variety

 

“An encomium to a lost friend…  Herzog imbues the film with rich narration, unforgettable characters and National Geographic-worthy landscape shots all his own.”

Rolling Stone

 

“A poignant testament to two friends’ shared curiosity about the world… admirers of either artist will find it very worthwhile, as will viewers who need the occasional reminder that the world still contains wild places to explore.”

Hollywood Reporter

 

“A lovely, elegiac documentary about two men who shared a real brotherhood.”

Film International

 

“Fans of Herzog’s and Chatwin’s and either/or would love this documentary… in some ways, it’s larger than life, just as both the director and its subject.”

Film Threat

 

“Does not just want to craft a film worthy of the late writer’s legacy, but also seeks to let viewers inside Herzog. Appearing on screen often and narrating the picture, as much of what is learned has to do with Herzog as it does with Chatwin.

In that manner, it’s a fascinating project for devotees of the filmmaker to pour themselves into. Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin is undoubtedly Herzog’s most personal non-fiction work to date. He imbues the entire project with a sense of profound duty.”

AwardsCircuit.com

 

“The relationship between the prolific filmmaker Werner Herzog and writer / adventurer, Bruce Chatwin was a meeting of the minds. These two multi-talented, uniquely creative geniuses shared an insatiable curiosity and sense of adventure. Visionary in the practice of their art and nomadic in their lives, they shared much in common.

It is a poetic elegiac journey for Herzog, who shares his own reflections and enriches a glorious tribute. One feels privileged to be along on this trip.”

Musée Magazine

Timelines

Three girls die before their 21st birthdays. Kayleigh, 19, a victim in a fatal car accident; Amber, 16, bullied into taking her own life; and Jenna, 20, lost a fight with a rare disease. Soon after, their stories go viral and the world is given access to their lives and deaths.

Kayleigh wrote a bucket list that was shared the world over after her death, inspiring thousands of strangers to live her dreams. Amber seemed to have it all, her suicide sent shockwaves through her small town, questions are asked and a portrait of online bullying and torment emerge. Jenna is diagnosed with a disease so rare that doctors didn’t know how to treat it, turning to social media to find support and raise awareness, her campaign ‘Get Me to 21’ makes her a star, and saves lives but sadly not her own.

Timelines is a documentary about three young girls who lived and died on the internet, a story about grief in the digital age and how personas are shaped online. And for the families the question remains, how do you say goodbye, when death goes viral?

Timelines from Sideways Film on Vimeo.

Code of Silence

Code of Silence follows the parallel journeys of a fervently Orthodox Jewish father and his now-secular son, after the son Manny breaks the code of silence in Melbourne’s Orthodox community and goes public with his story of being sexually abused as a school student.

Manny Waks claims he was abused by an Orthodox Jewish security guard, who also taught boys karate, at the Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne. Now Manny is demanding his abuser be brought to justice, and the rabbis and Chabad leaders who tried to cover it up, are brought to account.

His father Zephaniah joins forces with his son, but soon finds he has been virtually excommunicated for breaking an ancient Jewish law forbidding Jews from informing secular authorities about other Jews.

We see how father and son split this tightly-knit, powerful Jewish community as we open the door into their insular world of study and duty, charity and faith, power and piety.

Will Manny get justice in court? Will the rabbis be held to account? And, what price will the father and son pay for blowing the whistle?

 

Code of Silence from Sideways Film on Vimeo.

Breaking the Silence

Breaking the Silence follows the journey of Manny Waks who was, until recently, the only survivor of child sexual abuse within Melbourne’s Orthodox Jewish community to speak publicly.

This is the dramatic follow up to the Walkley Award winning Code of Silence. 

Breaking the Silence begins with Manny Waks as he gives evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, during which two ultra-Orthodox Jewish institutions are accused of covering-up and protecting perpetrators in the 1980s and 90s. 

Over two explosive weeks inside Melbourne’s County Court, viewers will witness, for the first time, those rabbis and officials accused of the cover-ups take the stand and be grilled. For the first time, it is also revealed that Manny was not the only member of the family who was abused; Manny’s father Zephaniah Waks reveals two other sons were abused by a Yeshivah Centre teacher, David Kramer in the 1990’s. He had tried to have the abuse handled by community leaders but was subject to an ancient code of silence that forbids Jews from speaking about the allegations involving other Jews, to the police.

The result was that Zephaniah and his wife were virtually excommunicated and feeling isolated, they decided to relocate to Israel. Now his other son Yanky agrees to speak on camera for the first time.

After the hearings, Manny travels to the United States to confront one of the two men who he claims abused him. The film’s climax follows Manny to Los Angeles, where he meets a convicted pedophile who was given a suspended sentence for abusing AVB in Sydney in the 1980s. It’s a powerful moment between victim and abuser that delivers an unexpected conclusion.

Will Manny’s confrontation with the man he claims abused him give him peace of mind? And will his meeting with the convicted pedophile give him a crucial sense of resolution?

Breaking the Silence from Sideways Film on Vimeo.

Call Me Dad

Can violent men change? Call Me Dad is a film that takes its audience to the most delicate and painful place inside a parent’s heart. A place where good intentions and hope are pitted against entrenched and tormenting cycles of violence.

For some of these fathers, their fists are their weapons. For others, words and manipulation are most potent, used as part of a sustained pattern of intimidation, threats, and abuse intended to isolate, diminish and control the people they love. Now these men are seeking change. They have come together to talk, share information, challenge and support each other to be better men, partners and fathers to their children.

The group’s founder and facilitator David Nugent believes that women and children have the right to live their lives free from violence, and that men can change if they have the will and opportunity to do so. He challenges men to take ownership of their abusive and violent behaviours, and shows them that they can make different choices, and in doing so, can stop the cycle of violence.

David draws these men deep into conversation about the underbelly of patriarchal forms of masculinity, and the ways in which sexism can harm and diminish women, and constrict and isolate men.

Together the participants in David’s program are reaching for the courage and knowledge they need to be good partners, and good fathers. These men have taken the brave and difficult decision to confront their behaviours and histories head-on. These Dads are fighting to change the story for the next generation. Can these men re-establish ‘family’?