Swanpool festival comes from desire to see good environmental films in the north-east

A desire to see good environmental films shown in the north-east led to the creation of the Swanpool Environmental Film Festival.

The fourth of the annual festivals will be held at Swanpool next month, Saturday, June 25.

People from Swanpool Landcare and Benalla Sustainable Future Group and the Gecko CLaN all wanted to avoid travelling to Melbourne to see good environmental films and so combined their resources to establish the festival.

The spokesman, Ian Herbert, said a working group was drawn from the three groups and the idea soon became reality.

Ian said that as is the case in all country areas, most people “wear many hats” and the Swanpool Cinema, at which some of the group’s members volunteer, was an obvious choice for the venue.

Asked about the festival’s goals, he said, “Yes, it has met its goals with good regional support each year.  We do have good sponsors, all the work is done by volunteers and we only attempt to cover costs and Swanpool Cinema underwrites the event.

Ian said he doesn’t have a record of how many people have attended over the three years the festival has been running, but the cinema is always near full - around the 200 mark. 

“Many of course are repeat attendees,” and he said, “I should ask at the next one, who is attending their fourth.”

Ian is happy with this year’s program, which he said, “Has come together well with three different topics.”

Session one, he said focusses on sustainable agriculture and permaculture;  session two considers limits to growth and climate change, and the third session is on nature and biodiversity.

Professor Kate Auty will welcome people and introduce the movie “Polyfaces” and then interview the co-director, Isabella Doherty and the cinematographer, Andreas Overdahl.

Session two will see the screening of the movie “Anthropocene” and an address by the author of “Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet”, Dr Kerryn Higgs from the University of Tasmania; and then session three will feature the movie “Tarkine in Motion”, which tells the  story of 70 artists spending 72 hours in the threatened Tasmania Wilderness, and an address by the Head of the School of Life Sciences at LaTrobe University, Professor Michael Clarke.

The program, which starts at one o’clock  in the afternoon and continues until 9:30pm, including afternoon tea and dinner provided by the Swanpool Catering Team, costs $20 and bookings, which are essential can be made by phoning 0498 007 988.

More details can be found by visiting Swanpool Cinema.