An anti CSG doco being made by local filmmakers has been selected in this year’s third round of Documentary Australia Foundation (DAF) films to be granted Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) Status, a leg-up in the production and distribution process, in the fight against unconventional mining.
Multi-award winning local duo of Echo photojournalist Eve Jeffery and filmmaker David Lowe – wearing their Cloudcatcher Media hats – have been working on their film Sacrifice Zone since early this year. Filming began at the behest of the farmers from New South Wales’ North West as a response to the Santos Narrabri Project EIS, (a venture which will see 850 gas wells dropped into the Pilliga forest) and the doco grew beyond a short film once the scope of the material gathered was realised.
Filmed in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, and from Moree to Willow Tree and Warren, the Cloudcatcher crew interviewed over 50 experts, residents and farmers covering every aspect of Santos’s proposal, which threatens to spread to vast areas of NSW if the EIS is approved.
The expanded film project has racked up some hefty costs and as the Cloudcatchers and farmers want to deliver the film gratis, the DAF support will increase their chances of making that happen.
‘The DAF selection is great for us and great for the film’, says co-director/producer Eve Jeffery. ‘We plan to screen this film for free as much as we possibly can, then we will release the film free online to the public once the initial dozen or so public screenings are over.
‘Once the film has been launched, we then plan to create over 20 extended versions of the films’ chapters and more, on all aspects of the fight against CSG mining. It will sort of be a mini online resource for anyone wanting to find good arguments against this type of unconventional mining.
‘Again, if we get enough funding, these chapters will be released online on Vimeo and Youtube for anyone who wants this information – it’s important to us that anyone who would like to see this material have access to it.
‘This is why the DAF selection is so awesome, it means those who can, pay for those who can’t. All funds raised go to the filmmakers and free screenings.’
DAF is the nation’s only independent non-profit organisation that creates social impact through documentary film. Founded in 2008, DAF make it possible for philanthropists to tax-effectively collaborate with filmmakers to tell stories that change lives.
‘As DAF-approved filmmakers, we can offer tax-deductible donations to donors’, says Ms Jeffery. ‘So people who are interested in supporting this important fight can offset their generosity at the end of the financial year. This helps them, and us and the planet. It’s win-win-win!
Anyone interested in supporting the film can make a donation by visiting the Sacrifice Zone page on the Documentary Australia Foundation website.
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