Australia now has its first competitive award dedicated exclusively to nature and environmental documentary filmmaking. The Bangalow Film Festival is proud to introduce a new initiative in 2026, the Green Frame Nature Documentary Award, celebrating cinema that connects us to the natural world.
Across the festival’s program, five outstanding Australian and international feature documentaries will screen in competition, each offering a powerful and deeply human perspective on nature, environment and our place within it.
Competing for both a Jury Prize and an Audience Award, these films form a vital new strand of the festival, placing the Northern Rivers at the centre of a conversation that has never been more urgent.
The films are: A Life Illuminated – a cinematic portrait of pioneering marine biologist Dr Edie Widder and her lifelong mission to discover and document new forms of bioluminescent life in the deepest oceans. Through her work, the film reveals a hidden world of light beneath the surface and the importance of protecting it. Screens on Saturday, 13 June at 3pm.
Supernature – filmed exclusively on Super 8, this global journey spans 25 countries, observing everyday moments between people and the natural world. It’s a quiet reminder of our shared connection to nature, and to each other. Screens on Sunday, 14 June at 5pm.
Trade Secret which will also host a Q&A – a gripping exposé of the polar bear fur trade, revealing how conservation, politics and commercial interests collide in ways the public was never meant to see. The film follows the systems behind the trade, raising urgent questions about transparency, ethics and responsibility. Screens on Friday, 19 June at 5.30pm.
Our Wolves – In A Landscape Of Fear And Love – an award-winning documentary set against the dramatic landscapes of Northern Italy, tracing the ecological and human tensions that emerge following the reintroduction of wolves. Screens on Saturday, 20 June at 3pm.
Whispers in the Woods – Vincent Munier returns to the Vosges forests of his youth, this time with his son, retracing the lessons once taught by his own father. Following three generations, the film captures a quiet process of watching, listening and learning, set against the rhythms of the natural world. Screens on Sunday, 21 June at 1.30pm.
You can see all five films competing for the Green Frame Nature Documentary Award for $99 with a special festival pass available at https://tix.bangalowfilmfestival.com.au/Passes/Green-Frame-Nature-Documentary-Pass.
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