YOU can almost smell the burnt and ash-ridden wasteland in Andrew Kaineder's documentary Mourning Country* (2020).
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The camera then pans to Uncle Noel Butler standing in the middle of all the destruction caused by the terrible Currowan bushfire.
We watch and listen as he whistles.
Uncle Noel whistles in the hope that a surviving bird would whistle back.
"Everything that was on our property was gone - that should never have happened. I just hope it never happens again," Uncle Noel said about the firestorm as the documentary continues.
Such pictures, Uncle Noel's words and Mr Kaineder's direction combined to have Mourning Country selected as one of the 14 finalists in the Far South Film Festival.
"After the loss of his home and Aboriginal culture centre, Budawang elder Noel Butler mourns not for the structures that once stood, but for the flora and fauna we share this land with," was how Mourning Country was described.
The festival will be held in-person this year on Saturday, August 19 in Merimbula, at The Picture Showman Cinema.
Tickets for the Far South Film Festival will be on sale later in July.
Finalists will be in contention for the major prize of $1000 for Best Film, and a range of other prize categories, including Best Director, Best Youth Film, Best Performance, Best Use of a Regional Setting and People's Choice Award.
For audiences, this is a unique opportunity to see independently produced films from regional filmmakers, whose voices and stories present a different point of view.
Attendees can look forward to a variety of films during the festival's screenings with drama, comedy, fantasy, experimental, documentary, and sci-fi genres represented.
Screening sessions will be followed by question and answer sessions with filmmakers and an awards ceremony.
Tickets will be available to purchase via the Far South Film Festival website. More information about the Film Festival and the individual films are also on the website farsouthfilmfestival.com/
* The film was made on the country of the Dhurga language group known as Yuin. The filmmakers acknowledge and respect the people, the culture and the values of this land that has been nurtured by our ancestors for thousands of years so that we can learn and continue to support this practice and walk together...