MELBOURNE PROGRAM 2018

OzHarvest CEO Ronni Kahn has enough passion and drive to move mountains – but can she reduce the exorbitant pile of food Australians waste each year? Food Fighter follows Ronni’s crusade as she partners with the United Nations, rubs shoulders with royalty and Jamie Oliver’s juggernaut, rifles through dumpster bins, and holds government to account.

Featuring animated comics by a team of 21 females, Amplify Her follows the lives of electronic dance music artists Blondrton, Applecat and Lux Moderna as they overcome isolation, illness and gender bias. This poetic film asks the questions ‘what is unique about the feminine expression, and how can humanity benefit when it flourishes?’

The Last Animals is a visceral adventure story about an extraordinary group of people who go to incredible lengths to save the planet’s most beloved endangered species. This gripping documentary follows the conservationists, scientists, and activists battling poachers and transnational trafficking syndicates to protect elephants and rhinos from extinction.

Academy Award Winner, Jeff Bridges presents a tour de force of original thinking on who we are and the environmental challenges we face. Jeff, alongside prominent scientists and authors, weaves evolution, emergence, entropy, dark ecology, and what some are calling the end of nature, into a story that helps us understand our place in the world.

Follow Ed, the quirky Spanish documentarian as he learns about our use of animal products from international experts including Peter Singer, Melanie Joy, Mark Bekoff, Seteven Wise, and Patrik Baboumain. Empathy explores the ethics of our relationship with animals without the need for the graphic and disturbing footage that is typical in similar films.

From the makers of ‘Fierce Green Fire’, ‘Evolution of Organic’ brings us the epic story of the birth of organic agriculture, told by those who built the movement. The film follows the motley crew of back-to-the-landers, spiritual seekers, and farmer’s sons and daughters, who rejected chemical farming and set out to invent revolutionary organic alternatives.

Presented by Real World VR, with the support of Film Victoria and Kaiju Beer. Real World VR, is Melbourne’s flagship VR/AR/MR event and presents a series of high quality virtual, augmented and mixed reality events on a bi-monthly basis. Featuring talks, panel discussions, and VR demos, this month’s event explores the potential of these cutting-edge technologies to create positive change in the world.

A fly-on-the-wall look inside the halls of power that follows the world’s leading politicians and activists who have dedicated their lives to saving humanity from the threat of climate change. Guardians of the Earth gives audiences an inside look into how the 20,000 diplomats negotiated the Paris Climate Agreement, and what it means for the future of humanity.

Unfractured follows biologist Sandra Steingraber as she reinvents herself as an outspoken anti-fracking activist and throws herself into an environmental war that many believe is unwinnable. Branded a “toxic avenger” by Rolling Stone, Sandra quickly emerges as one of the leaders of New York’s biggest grassroots movement in decades.

An exploration of the revolutionary power of well-thought out architecture to improve the lives of some of the world’s most impoverished citizens. Shot in Lima, Bogata, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago, this film follows Abe Drechslier and Brian Gaudo on their adventure to uncover the secrets to good design and human flourishing.

Featuring renowned climate and economic expert Jeremy Rifkin, this film from Vice Impact lays out a roadmap for how the convergence of the digital communications internet, renewable energy internet, mobility internet and internet of things might coalesce to create a world of positive impact and abundance.

A roadmap for a clean energy future, The Race is On follows British filmmakers James Dike and Paul Mapel as they explore the social, environmental, economic and psychological changes that are needed to create a sustainable, renewable energy economy by 2040.

A powerful story about a Kenyan farmer named Kisilu, his family’s dramatic and ongoing battle with climate change, and his life-changing journey as an inspirational environmental activist on the global stage. A powerful and inspiring film about the impacts of climate change and the need for solutions.

Featuring interviews with professionals from the UN, USDA, NRDC, TV host and chef Andrew Zimmern, and Shark Tank star Pat Crowley, The Gateway Bug is a documentary about how to feed humanity in an uncertain age. The film follows the journey of edible insect start-ups, and explores their potential to fix our broken food system.

In the 21st century we are all connected. Population growth, mass urbanization, deforestation, climate change and increased travel have dramatically increased the risk that familiar diseases will emerge, spread and mutate. Unseen Enemy takes us to the frontlines of epidemics across the world and asks the question, ‘how will we fight the next outbreak’?

May I Be Happy showcases the benefits of mindfulness as a way out of violence and suffering. Through poetic cinematography and stories ranging from school yards to prisons, May I Be Happy reveals the enormous potential for mindfulness to positively impact young and old alike.

The latest film from Jeff Orlowski, director of Chasing Ice, follows a team of divers, photographers and scientists on their epic quest to capture the perfect shot to illustrate the devastating impacts that climate change is having on the world’s oceans and coral reefs. Chasing Coral is a profound call to action to reflect and change the human behaviour which has led to this tragedy.

Narrated by Bob Brown and featuring the CEO of Sea Shepherd, Operation Jeedara paints a portrait of a movement locked into one of the greatest environmental battles of all time – the fight to protect the Great Australian Bight from the devastating impacts of oil pollution. A battle that rages on.

Featuring animated comics by a team of 21 females, Amplify Her follows the lives of electronic dance music artists Blondrton, Applecat and Lux Moderna as they overcome isolation, illness and gender bias. This poetic film asks the questions ‘what is unique about the feminine expression, and how can humanity benefit when it flourishes?’

OzHarvest CEO Ronni Kahn has enough passion and drive to move mountains – but can she reduce the exorbitant pile of food Australians waste each year? Food Fighter follows Ronni’s crusade as she partners with the United Nations, rubs shoulders with royalty and Jamie Oliver’s juggernaut, rifles through dumpster bins, and holds government to account.

Join Transitions Film Festival for a diverse selection of inspiring local and international shorts exploring the state of our world and the future we want. Films in this year’s shorts program engage with topics such as: women’s empowerment through skateboarding, how renewable energy can revolutionise cities, gender equality, the power of activism and more.

Join Academy Xi at Loop Project Pace and Bar for a night of networking, film (‘The Blockchain and US’) and expert panel discussions, as they explore the future of blockchain technology, how it can be used as a force for good, and what needs to change so that it can reach its full potential.

Big Dream follows the intimate stories of seven young women who are breaking barriers and overcoming personal challenges to follow their passion in science, math, computing and engineering. From small town Iowa to the bustling streets of the Middle East, Big Dream immerses viewers in a world designed by and for the inspiring next generation of girls.

Bending the Arc tells the story of Partners in Health, and how two Harvard medicine students and an activist devoted their lives to treating and trying to eradicate tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in Haiti, Peru and Rwanda. Bending the Arc is a hopeful story of ambition and goodwill, and demonstrates how a small movement can grow to change thousands of lives for the better.

Featuring world’s leading philosophers and academics, including: Sam Harris, Nick Bostrom, Richard Dawkins, Hugo De Garis and Ben Goertzel, SuperSapiens is a mind-boggling exploration of ‘consciousness hacking’ and what our collective future may look like when man merges with machine. An inspiring vision, a dire warning, and an inevitability that we cannot ignore.

If you’ve ever signed up to a mailing list, liked a post on facebook, or shared a link, then you’ve handed your data over to the ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Math Men’ of the internet. But just how much of your data are you giving up, and what you can do to protect your privacy? In this brave new world of advertising where issues of profiling, tracking, and privacy abound, You’re Soaking In It asks, ‘is this the world we want?

What will we do for work and meaning when the robots take over? Free Lunch Society explores the history, and possible future, of ‘Universal Basic Income’ and gives us a glimpse into the possible economy of tomorrow. A vital film in an era of increasing artificial intelligence and automation.

AlphaGo chronicles a journey from the back streets of Bordeaux, past the coding terminals of Google DeepMind, to Seoul, where a legendary Go master faces an AI challenger. As the drama unfolds, questions emerge: What can artificial intelligence reveal about a 3000-year-old game? What will it teach us about humanity, and what hope to humans have against the immanent rise of this runaway technology?

In 2009, artist Chris Jordan travelled to Midway Island and bore witness to tens of thousands of dead albatrosses lying on the ground, their stomachs filled with plastic. After 8 years of filming the life cycles of these beautiful birds, Albatross was created – a visual odyssey examining how human materiality has impacted the natural world.