Local filmmaker Darius Devas is bringing Floodland – winner of the Sustainable Futures Award at the Sydney Film Festival – to Mullumbimby, for one night only.
For Devas, the appeal lies in the film transcending its subject matter. ‘I screen films because impact matters,’ says Devas. ‘But I’m a filmmaker first, and what moves me is when documentary becomes art. That’s what creates real change, not just information.’
On paper, Floodland tells a familiar story. It’s set in Lismore. It’s about the catastrophic 2022 floods, the most expensive climate disaster in Australia’s history. But this is no disaster chronicle. Director Jordan Giusti looks beyond the mythology of grit and endurance to ask something far more unsettling: what happens when resilience isn’t enough?
It’s the characters that struck Devas most. Shot in an intimate cinéma vérité style over several years, the film draws audiences into a new love story unfolding against uncertainty, a First Nations healer building something extraordinary from the wreckage, and activists and politicians clashing over the soul of a town. ‘These portraits are drawn with such care and closeness,’ says Devas. ‘You don’t watch these people. You sit beside them.’
The cinematography has also drawn praise from critics for capturing a landscape rarely seen on screen with such nuance and depth.
For Devas, that intimacy and craft is exactly what elevates Floodland beyond a typical climate documentary. ‘This is the kind of documentary that doesn’t just inform you, it changes you.’
Audiences will get a rare opportunity to go behind the film, as well as in front of it. Devas will host a live satellite Q&A with director Jordan Giusti following the screening, digging into the years-long process of making the film and the story behind its striking visuals and incredible characters.
Drill Hall Theatre 7pm on 25 June.
Tickets from https://events.humanitix.com/floodland
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