Castlemaine’s inspirational School Strike 4 Climate youth activists feature as part of a new film, Wild Things, set to make its Victorian premiere at Castlemaine’s own Theatre Royal on Thursday January 28.
The premiere is a Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival pop-up event and will take place from 7.30pm, followed by a Q&A with writer/director Sally Ingleton and special guests including local student activists Harriet O’Shea Carre, Milou Albrecht and Callum Bridgfoot.
Wild Things spends a year on the frontline with environmental activists hell-bent on saving their futures from the ravages of climate change.
Armed only with mobiles phones, this growing army of eco-warriors is mobilising against forces more powerful than themselves and saying, enough. From chaining themselves to coal trains, sitting high in the canopy of threatened rainforest or locking onto bulldozers, their non-violent tactics are designed to generate mass action with one finger tap. Against a backdrop of drought, fire and floods; we witness how today’s environmentalists are making a difference. Surprisingly, the methods of old still have currency when a groundswell of school kids – inspired by the actions of 16-year-old Swedish student Greta Thunberg – say ‘change is coming’ and call a national strike demanding action against global warming.
Writer/director Sally Ingleton told the Express the film was completed in August 2020 and so far had screened at the Adelaide Film Festival and at Cinefest Oz and the Revelation Film Fest in WA. The film has also screened in Hobart.
The director said she hoped viewers would appreciate the committed activists that chose to go to the frontline to take action to protect our climate and our wild places.
“These activists are ordinary people doing their bit to make a difference. I hope the takeaway is that viewers will be inspired to make a difference. We need to act now if we are to save the future for our kids and grandkids,” Ingleton said.
To secure your ticket for the premiere visit www.theatreroyalcastlemaine.oztix.com.au
The film is also set to feature in the Environmental Film Festival Australia’s Summer of Change online program, which kicks of this Thursday evening and runs through until February 4. The second of four seasons being held across 2020-2021 celebrates all the visionaries, innovators and disrupters currently fighting to protect and preserve the integrity of our environment.
Castlemaine youth climate activist Harriet O’Shea Carre will speak alongside director Sally Ingleton at Thursday’s EEFA opening night event.
With a program full of hope, EFFA present to you the stories of the individual heroes and communities who are using the power of Action, Progress and Resistance to cultivate change, showcasing what lessons can be learned from these activists and how the post-COVID world could be a catalyst for bringing about positive environmental impact. All events are available to be streamed live and on demand throughout the festival at effa.org.au
