AFF presents: The Last Elephant on Earth

The Last Elephant on Earth

When fifteen-year-old Elle brings up the elephant in the room – a fiery meteor heading for Earth – her father denies the coming danger, preferring to follow the deranged advice of a child psychiatrist.

The Last Elephant on Earth is a 12min short film, selected for the Adelaide Film Festival in 2022. This Tallstoreez/ Change Media production is currently in post production, funded through the South Australian Film Corporation and the Adelaide Film Festival, through the SAFC/ AFF Short Film Fund Initiative, with in kind support from Panavision.

WINNER Best Short Script at the 2021 Australian Writers Guild The 54th AWGIES Awards for writer Piri Eddy - congratulations!

The Last Elephant on Earth has premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival 2022, please stay tuned for updates.

The Last Elephant on Earth has been selected for the prestigious Sitges International Film Festival 2023 in Spain to screen as part of their Family Official Selection. Congratulations to all involved!

Synopsis:

When an earth-destroying meteor appears in the sky, 15-year-old amateur biologist Elle and her best friend Jen wait for the adults to finally act. But when Elle confronts her recently widowed father, Richard, he refuses to acknowledge her fears, or the meteor hurtling towards earth. Instead, he sends Elle to see Dr Humboldt, a sinister child psychiatrist who convinces Richard that Elle is actually a critically endangered Sumatran elephant. Convinced he’s doing right by his daughter, Richard locks Elle in a cage in the backyard. As the meteor rushes towards Earth, Elle desperately tries to convince her father to see the truth, but he refuses to listen, even as rose bushes spontaneously combust and dead birds fall from the sky. With the end seemingly days, or even hours, away, Elle simply wants to see Jen one last time. But will Richard finally see reason, or will Elle spend her last days on Earth in a cage? An absurd coming-of-age tale, The Last Elephant on Earth explores friendship, loss, and the lies we tell ourselves in order to avoid the truth.

Image 1: Writer/Producer: Piri Eddy, photo by Johanis Lyons-Reid
Image 2: Director: Johanis Lyons-Reid, photo by Piri Eddy
Image 3: Director of Photography: Mike Tessari, photo by Hugh Freytag

Key creatives:

Writer/ Producer: Piri Eddy

Director: Johanis Lyons-Reid

Executive Producers: Jennifer Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell

DOP: Michael Tessari

The Last Elephant on Earth. Lighting Storm. photo by Piri Eddy

Project Description:

The Last Elephant on Earth (TLE) is a unique and timely short that playfully skewers the climate of absurdity threatening our existence. Combining the visual and tonal surrealism of Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind with the dark childhood fantasy of Spike Jonze’ Where the Wild Things Are, TLE recalls the dreamlike stories of Kafka to present a bizarre abstraction of suburban Australiana. In disarming farce, it probes the paralysing anxieties and challenges of modernity with humour and emotional sincerity, focusing its story on the children who stand to lose the most from a condition of wilful blindness.

Change Media highlights 2002 - 2021

Change Media highlights from 20 years of community arts and cultural development practice across Australia since 2002: Collaborative art vs everyday supremacy thinking… Enjoy!

Thanks to all our supporters and participants - what a ride...

Intro and theme music courtesy of Nexus Arts - artist: Tagore (feat. The Three Seas), by voiceROM, from the album Nexus Album: https://voicerom.bandcamp.com/album/nexus-album

For all other credits for music and artists involved, please visit the individual project pages.

©2021 Change Media. All rights reserved. Not for public use.

Dusty Feet Mob - This Story's True

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and videos links contains images and voices of people who have died.

From the sand hills of Port Augusta to the bustling streets of Adelaide, Dusty Feet Mob’s young Aboriginal performers dance their way into the hearts and minds of their enraptured audiences, using the power of song and dance to tell stories of the Stolen Generation and help heal the pain of the past. As they prepare to perform their signature song, Archie Roach’s iconic ‘Took the Children Away,’ the dancers and their dedicated supporters offer creative, intergenerational and deeply emotional insights into the story of the Stolen Generation, determined to carry on Uncle Archie’s legacy – the past will not be forgotten.

Dusty Feet Mob – This Story’s True was created by Aboriginal community members in Port Augusta, in collaboration with award-winning production company Change Media, through an initiative of the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), Country Arts SA and the City of Port Augusta.

For Archie Roach, it’s the children carrying on the legacy of healing that makes him especially proud and grateful. Archie said: “In our First People’s culture we have story, song and dance. The story of the Stolen Generations is the story we hear and take in with our minds and the song enters our spirit. But dance helps us to move and weave that story and song through our body.  Dusty Feet Mob help us heal holistically; through our mind -  the story; through our spirit - the song and through our body – the dance.”

Dusty Feet Mob – This Story’s True is one of two documentaries, alongside The Mulka Man, created through the Port Augusta Emerging Film Development Program, a series of development and production workshops for emerging Aboriginal screen creatives held from July to October in 2019, funded and presented by the SAFC through its Aboriginal Screen Strategy, along with Country Arts SA with support from the City of Port Augusta, delivered by Change Media with additional support from the Australia Council for the Arts.

We are presenting the finished documentary to broadcasters and festivals in 2020. Find the full Media Release here.

The film has won Best Documentary at the 2020 SASA Awards. Congratulations to all involved!

The film also won Best Documentary at the 2020 International My Hero Film Festival in Los Angeles. Congratulations all around!

Dusty Feet Mob are more than just an Aboriginal dance group. They are a community that nurtures strength, confidence and dignity. They are a community that builds connection to culture, community and country. They know that storytelling through dance and song is their culture, it’s a powerful way of entering into past hurts and injustices experienced by Aboriginal families in a way that allows both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to grow in acceptance, understanding and empathy together. 

An essential make-up of the group is the strong support provided by parents, grandparents and the Port Augusta Community, who take seriously the role of passing knowledge and stories down to the younger generations. Dusty Feet Mob is a powerful expression of the old and the new: Young people are not just "the leaders of tomorrow", they are leaders of today. Dusty Feet Mob provides opportunities for young people to learn about themselves and develop leadership skills for life. 

SAFC Associate Executive, Production and Development Nara Wilson, who facilitated the program, said: “Through the SAFC’s regular workshops and initiatives over the last few years, Port Augusta has become a real hub of activity in SA for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander filmmakers, with practitioners coming from all over the state to learn new skills and develop their craft. We are proud to highlight Indigenous voices, and facilitate Indigenous storytelling through these programs.”

SAFC CEO Kate Croser said: “These documentaries not only show what incredible emerging screen talent there is in South Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, but they highlight the importance of the SAFC’s Aboriginal Screen Strategy in developing and supporting Indigenous screen practitioners, and bringing their stories and voices to the fore. I congratulate the filmmakers on their success.”

Samantha Yates, Country Arts SA’s Cultural Programming Manager, Aboriginal and Reconciliation Programs said: “Opportunities for professional Aboriginal film development in regional areas are essential. Having a platform to share and broaden awareness gives  voice to many untold stories. Dusty Feet Mob – This Story’s True is an incredible example of how a short film can educate the general public and create deeper compassion for the stolen generations.”

Change Media acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land in Australia on which this program was filmed.

Credits:

Production Company: Tallstoreez Productionz Pty Ltd t/as Change Media

Writers: Paul Tanner, Piri Eddy, Johanis Lyons-Reid, Carl Kuddell, Steven Fatt-Lang, Marika Davies, Lyall Campbell-Ware, Bonita Leahy, Bessy-May Taylor-Haseldine, Denise Champion, Donny McKenzie, Roxanne Lawrie

Directors: Johanis Lyons-Reid and Paul Tanner

Producers/ mentor: Carl Kuddell and Jen Lyons-Reid

Associate Producer: Paul Tanner

Director of Photography/ mentor: Johanis Lyons-Reid

Camera Operators: Steven Fatt-Lang, Marika Davies, Lyall Campbell-Ware, Paul Tanner

Sound Recordist/ mentor: Piri Eddy

Sound operators: Steven Fatt-Lang, Marika Davies, Lyall Campbell-Ware

Editor: Johanis Lyons-Reid

Composer and Sound Mix: Justin Pounsett

Original song: Archie Roach ‘Took The Children Away’

BTS Stills Photographer: Carl Kuddell

Archival Stills: Paul Tanner

Dusty Feet Mob interviews:

Wanita Calyun – Artistic Director/ Choreographer, Dusty Feet Mob

Paul Tanner – Manager, Dusty Feet Mob

Maria Anderson  – Chairperson Dusty Feet Mob, Wanita’s mother

Justin Mogridge – Wanita’s father

Archie Roach – Singer, ‘Took The Children Away’

Sarcha Taylor - Dusty Feet Mob member

Tyeisha Taylor  - Dusty Feet Mob member

Micah Buckskin  - Dusty Feet Mob member

Marika Garlett  - Dusty Feet Mob member

Josh Saunders  - Dusty Feet Mob member

Dusty Feet Mob dancers:

Wanita Calyun, Tyrone Taylor, Sarcha Taylor, Tyeisha Taylor, Josh Saunders, Shalana Cox, Jakeem Cox , Tyree Cox, Tia Buckskin, Laila Buckskin, Micah Buckskin, Mareeka Garlett, Twyla Stuart, Rikki-Lee Bodger

Thanks to:

Archie Roach and Jill Shelton

Dusty Feet Mob crew and supporters

Mii Pudanthi festival - Angelena Harradine

Mushroom Music – Lisa Businovski

Warner Music Australia – Rose Sejean

Port Augusta Car Club - Mark Taylor

City of Port Augusta – Maria Anderson

Country Arts SA – Sam Yates and Josh Barbo

South Australian Film Corporation – Lee-Ann Tjunypa Buckskin and Nara Wilson

DEVELOPED AND FINANCED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FILM CORPORATION

and

Country Arts SA

The City of Port Augusta

Australia Council for the Arts

©2019 Change Media, Dusty Feet Mob and the City of Port Augusta

The Mulka Man

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and videos links contains images and voices of people who have died.

Adnyamathanha Elder Roy Coulthard is The Mulka Man, the last wood carver of the Flinders Ranges. With time against him, Uncle Roy is determined to see his tradition live on. From the rich ochre sands outside Port Augusta in search of the perfect Mulka tree to a firelit camp back-dropped by the stunning Flinders Ranges, Uncle Roy passes his expert carving knowledge to the next generation. But to do so, he must bravely cross traditional conventions and gender lines, teaching women the art of Mulka wood carving in order to keep Adnyamathanha culture alive.

Change Media partnered with the City of Port Augusta to deliver a series of media literacy workshops with First Peoples participants from a wide range of communities in and around Port Augusta.

The first production resulting from the workshops is ‘The Mulka Man’, a short documentary following Adnyamathanha Elder Roy Coulthard, the last wood carver of the Flinders Ranger, as he passes on his skills to a new generation of Mulka carvers, crossing traditional conventions and gender lines in the process.

We worked with Wangkangurru woman Marika Davies as the co-director/ co-producer and mentored participants across all stages of production.

Festival updates: The Mulka Man has been invited to screen at The Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival in Queensland, Oct 2021. In 2021 The Mulka Man was selected to screen at Koori Mail’s/ First Nations Media’s Blak Cinema Festival in Lismore, NSW. And in 2020 the Nunga Screen film festival toured the film throughout regional locations in South Australia.

The project has been funded by the Port Augusta City through the Regional Arts Fund and Country Arts SA and the South Australian Film Corporation grants for an Aboriginal screen initiative, with additional support from the Australia Council for the Arts through Change Media’s What Privilege initiative 2019.

Change Media acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land in Australia on which this program was filmed.

Credits:

Writers: Marika Davies, Piri Eddy, Johanis Lyons-Reid, Carl Kuddell, Steven Fatt-Lang, Paul Tanner, Lyall Campbell-Ware, Bonita Leahy, Bessy-May Taylor-Haseldine, Denise Champion, Donny McKenzie, Roxanne Lawrie

Directors: Johanis Lyons-Reid and Marika Davies

Producers / mentor: Carl Kuddell and Jen Lyons-Reid

Associate Producer: Marika Davies

Director of Photography / mentor: Johanis Lyons-Reid

Camera Operators: Steven Fatt-Lang, Marika Davies, Paul Tanner

Sound Recordist / mentor: Piri Eddy

Sound operators: Steven Fatt-Lang, Marika Davies

Editor: Johanis Lyons-Reid

Composer and Sound Mix: Justin Pounsett

BTS Stills Photographer: Carl Kuddell

Mulka Arts interviews:

Uncle Roy Coulthard – Adnyamathanha Elder

Marika Davies – Wangkangurru woman

Mulka Arts participants:

Roy Coulthard, Marika Davies, Matthew Davies, John Davies, Phillip Naylor

Colleen Naylor, Anisha Davies, Flynn Spencer, Lahni Von Senden, Kellie Von Senden, Tweedy Martinot, Maya Fettke, Jakai Page, Georgia Keenan, Shayleigh Cooper, Casey Green

Thanks to:

Mulka Arts crew and their supporters

Stirling North Primary School

City of Port Augusta – Maria Anderson

Country Arts SA – Sam Yates and Josh Barbo

South Australian Film Corporation – Lee-Ann Tjunypa Buckskin and Nara Wilson

DEVELOPED AND FINANCED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF:

THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FILM CORPORATION

Country Arts SA

The City of Port Augusta

Australia Council for the Arts

©2019 Change Media, Mulka Arts and the City of Port Augusta

Positively Fabulous - Women’s Voices

Women Living with HIV workshop - Bangkok ICAAP Women's Voices 2014 March - Bangkok International

Change Media collaborated with GloballyAware’s Artistic Director Kim Davis and women living with HIV from across the Asia-Pacific region during a series of co-creative community workshops in Adelaide, Melbourne and at ICAAP conference in Bangkok. We produced a 15min documentary and a series of Women's Voices interviews as part of a large scale public art project GloballyAware is creating for global HIV conference AIDS 2014 in Melbourne in July 2014.

‘Positively Fabulous’ will be a large-scale interdisciplinary community health-arts collaboration between GloballyAware, Straight Arrows, Living Positive VIC and Change Media, connecting Women Living with HIV, global stakeholders and communities through co-creative film-making, innovative public arts interventions and social media strategies, with on-line engagement via Feral Arts’ PlaceStories and ABC Open platforms.

‘Positively Fabulous’ combines an online platform with innovative engagement strategies through digital media and public art events and accessible peer-produced resource kit.

During the project we collaborated with women living with HIV to support their voices and offer them a platform to address the decision-making that affects their health, well-being and quality of life. With long-term benefits reaching well beyond 2015, this interactive arts project amplifies HIV-positive women’s voice for self-determination and effective harm reduction, human rights, social justice and equality.

View 18 short Womens Voices interviews here:

NUKSHINARO - Part 1 - Personal history

NUKSHINARO - Part 2 - NGO funding

ANANDI - Part 1 - Personal History

ANANDI - Part 2 - Stigma

JANE - Part 1 - Family Support

JANE - Part 2 - Children's Education

MELLY - Part 1 - Sterilisation

MELLY - Part 2 - Newspaper Media

MELLY - Part 3 - Social Media

NORLELA - Part 1 - Shelter

NORLELA - Part 2 - Condoms and Sandwiches

NORLELA - Part 3 - Relationships

PRUM - Part 1 - Capacity Building support

PRUM - Part 2 - Change Silent Places

SIRINTHORN - Part 1 - Women's Discrimination

SIRINTHORN - Part 2 - Knowledge Future Empowerment

SITA - Part 1 - Personal History

SITA - Part 2 - Treatment

Partners:

Arts SA Strategic Community Partnerships

Australia Council for the Arts

Change Media

Globally Aware

Living Positive Victoria

Straight Arrows

Flow - Life Giving Lands and Waters

Flow - Life Giving Lands and Waters

Ngarrindjeri Media - 2013 February - Meningie SA

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and video links may contain images and voices of people who have died.

The Change Media team partnered with the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority in association with the SA Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to produce a collaborative community-driven documentary about the Ngarrindjeri lands and waters and The Living Murray Initiative’s ICON sites during a four day capacity building workshop in Dec 2012 and edit process in Jan-Feb 2013 with the Ngarrindjeri Media Team.

Our crew worked with 12 scientists selected by DEWNR and the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority, to address a series of issues about managing the River Murray, the Lower Lakes and the Coorong. Over 4 days we investigate the different western scientific and economic approaches, in comparison with Ngarrindjeri knowledge and cultural practice shared by their elders, and find out how both sides can work together for a better understanding of the fragile environment of the Ngarrindjeri lands and waters.

The film has already triggered some interesting responses, a researcher from Flinders University said the film sets a new benchmark for collaborations between Indigenous communities and government departments, especially on the contentious issue of water and land management and related cultural rights.
We also have been asked to co-present Flow at the World Indigenous Network conference in Darwin in May 2013.
The Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority will use the documentary also as part of their Native Title claim, as it provides supporting evidence of their ongoing cultural connection to their land and waters. If our work can make a contribution on this level, then may be not all is lost…

Partners

Arts SA

Australia Council for the Arts

Indigenous Cultural Support, Office for the Arts, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport

Murray Darling Basin Authority

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

South Australian Government Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

A Life Well Lived - Disability Services SA

Strathmont disability arts - 2012 August - Strathmont SA

This 22-min community documentary is a great discussion starter for anyone working in or interested in supporting for people living with intellectual disabilities.
The DVD was officially launched at the national ‘Stronger Together’ disability conference in Adelaide, August 14-15, 2012.

The Change Media team ran a series of workshops with residents and staff at the Strathmont Centre, documenting the process, challenges and improvements as people are moving out of institutional care into houses in the community.
During the collaborative production in Adelaide, Strathmont Centre, Salisbury and Elizabeth, Strathmont residents and staff members of the Disability Services also learned skills in film narrative, interview and editing techniques.

Our team in collaboration with staff and community members produced a unique person-centred documentary with people living with intellectual disabilities. What does it take to shut down an institution and move its residents into community care facilities? Will they be better off in their brand new community house?

Partners

Australia Council for the Arts Creative Community Partnership Initiative

Department for Communities and Social Inclusion – Disability Services

OurCommunity

Strathmont Centre community

I am a Rocket - Dfaces Whyalla SA

HYPER program workshop 2009 June - Whyalla SA

 D’Faces of Youth Arts Whyalla requested a professional development session to support them set up their youth media centre. They were also keen to produce a documentary about Port Lowly, but due to a last minute change in program, our team tailored a workshop with a group of young people from D’Faces and its HYPER Program to make a series of short films based on the theme, ‘What gets in your way?’.

One of the four co-created films, I Am A Rocket, was selected for the prestiguous Children’s FIlm Festival in Mumbai, India.

Through a series of brainstorming and hands-on sessions the teams produced 4 hilarious films: Abby follows her family tradition sky-high in I am a Rocket, soon-to-be hairdressers face it off in World War 3, two jaded rock stars mop up their success in Josh Burns, and a bunch of understated super heroes are in search for their necessary nemesis…meet the Failtaculars…
The message: Don’t let anyone get in your way to do what you want with your life!

Community art often has a mandate to voice overtly political and/or sensitive issues, which can impact on sponsorship deals along the arts funding pipelines. One strategy discussed was to request clear guidelines from funding bodies about how to deal with art content that potentially could upset corporate sponsors. It is important to identify how these funding relationships may impact on job positions and funding decisions.

The 3-day workshop was re-designed for 10 young people at risk from the Hyper Program, D’faces, with the challenge: ‘How do you see yourself in the future?’ The spontaneous answers: super heroes, rock-stars, a rocket and hairdressers! After a quick story boarding and scripting session, the teams interviewed each other to get the main voice-over for their films. Then on location at Middleback Theatre, TAFE hair and beauty facilities and a Deli.  In the hardware store Rocket Girl had the most weird and wonderful encounters. The TAFE youth worker was so impressed that he now wants to engage the young people to document local events..

Partners

Apple

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

Australia Council for the Arts

D’faces of Youth Arts Whyalla and its HYPER program through the Attorney General’s Office SA

Middleback Theatre

SA Youth Arts Board

On the Move - Dungog NSW

Arts Upper Hunter Dungog workshop - 2009 April - Dungog NSW

Arts Upper Hunter invited the Hero Project to run a workshop titled ‘Portraits of Place’, to work with locals to create a film about Dungog. In their first film workshop together, 12 Dungog locals explored a seemingly quirky topic, yet controversial exposition of the hidden tensions in their town. Their film, On The Move, got selected for the renown Dungog International Film Festival and featured on ABC.

At first glance the country town of Dungog in NSW feels like any other quiet, small rural town. Driving down the main street, past the monument one would never suspect that the community is divided. The problem is the local icon in the middle of the main street. Is it a monument or an obelisk? A round about or a traffic hazard? And more importantly should it be moved?

Dungog locals explored how they could make a film that would portray their town and life AND do justice to all of their creative visions?! This resulted in several intense brainstorming sessions, teams conducting a series of interviews and a fabulous factory style editing suite as everyone crafted the final film. And finally it all revolved around the monument in the main street!

It is fantastic to see how the story evolved and everyone experimented with new art forms. Their project promptly attracted the interest of the local media, the Dungog Chronicle. The Arts Upper Hunter development officer was also keen to train up the 5 adult supporters, so they could keep producing their own films, with the aim to take part in the Dungog film festival as local artists… the final film screened during the Dungog Film Festival – so watch out, Bruce and Hugo, there’s home-grown competition!

Partners

Apple

Arts NSW

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

Arts Upper Hunter Inc

Australia Council for the Arts

Country Womens Association

Dungog Shire Council

What's Yours is Mine...d - Gloucester

Arts Upper Hunter Gloucester workshop - 2009 April - Gloucester NSW

Arts Upper Hunter invited the Hero Project to run a workshop titled ‘Portraits of Place’, to work with locals to create a film about Gloucester. 20 participants from all walks of life decided very quickly they wanted to explore the impact of coal mining on their community and environment. Their film, Whats Yours is Mine...d, made in only three days, was screened at several local and national film festivals.

Join Eric Ingot as he shows Gloucester their future. With reassuring confidence and panache he identifies the multitude of benefits to enjoy from an open cut mine. “At Envira-Coal, we dig the future! “

The Gloucester team met for the first time at the Council’s youth centre. Within an hour, they had identified their story – the looming open pit coal mine, that is threatening to destroy their beautiful environment. Their biggest challenge: how to make a community film that depicts a possible threat, raises awareness and educates without scaring your audience? They created a satirical pro-mining advertisement, applying spin doctor messages to sell-up potential problems as benefits!  The diverse team, aged 14-65, learnt how to script and pace a comedic narrative, storyboard and film on multiple locations. 8 laptops formed a mobile edit unit, with every team producing a different chapter of the story, plus music, titles and GFX.

Partners

Apple

Arts NSW

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

Arts Upper Hunter Inc

Australia Council for the Arts

Gloucester City Council Youth Centre

10x14 Bricks - stories from youth in lock-up

10x14 Bricks - stories from youth in lock-up - 2008 June - Cavan Secure Care Facility SA

Contact us here to buy your interactive DVD tool kit (2009 Winner SA Screen Awards for Best Multimedia). Find all videos below - the DVD comes with a crime prevention tool kit and interactive manuals.

10×14 Bricks – Stories from Youth in Lock-up was produced at Cavan Secure Care Facility (SA) and its Youth Education Centre [DECS] over a 5-week intensive workshop. Participants learnt essential 21st Century digital media skills to create relevant crime prevention messages for their peers. In candid meet-the-director documentaries and in their own films young offenders share their life choices about crime and the consequences.

Why choose to commit a crime? How far will you go?
Is it worth it? What is it like in lock-up? What would you do differently? What can you do to change?

This new peer-educational DVD offers relevant crime prevention strategies from the experts: Young offenders share their life choices, crimes and consequences in their own films and unique ‘meet-the-directors’ documentaries – made behind bars.

All 5 team members deeply engaged with the project, as they all had to make their own story AND be the production team and talent in their peers’ films. Through the unique ‘meet-the-director’ mini-docs we were able to delve deeper into each of their stories of crimes & consequences, and also showcase the incredible film making process.  

CHOICES:
Shane is 15, he knows it is not fun in lock up but he keeps coming back. What does he need to do to break the cycle?

ANGER:
Bayden is 17, after a drunken night he woke up in a police cell charged with attempted murder. What does he need to do to control his anger?

REGRET:
Sam is 18, he regrets committing armed robbery to finance a drug debt. What does he need to do to avoid future events that could lead to crime? What is the impact of your offence on you, your family, your victims?

HOPE:
Robert is 18, he feels like he is trapped in a cage, waiting for the day he can leave. What can he do to make his dreams become reality?

FREEDOM:
Greg is 17, he is ʻjust an Indigenous boy trying to get through life and come out on topʼ. What does he need to do to stay out of trouble? What support is available?

Partners

Apple

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

Australia Council for the Arts

Cavan Secure Care Training Centre

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Department of Families and Communities

The Australian Government through the Attorney General’s Department

Youth Education Centre Cavan DECS

Artists not Aliens - Dfaces Whyalla

Dfaces Whyalla youth workshop - 2008 May - Whyalla SA

Artists not Aliens: Follow three aliens on their journey to find out if there is artistic life in Whyalla, a sports-mad steel town in South Australia. Whyalla has more sports facilities than you can count on your fingers and toes, but only a few places to do some art…

D’Faces commissioned the Hero Project team to run a holiday program. The Hero Project extended the workshop as part of their commitment to produce the Document Your World finalist films. 20 young people, aged 10-19, from Whyalla and surrounding communities were involved in this project.

At the beginning of the workshop James presented the initial idea he pitched to a large audience of professional film makers and broadcasters at the Document Your World competition, hosted by the Australian International Documentary Conference in February 2007. The group were excited about the idea, and had a great team of actors and crew to make this ambitious film work.

The Hero Project trained all of the participants in digital media skills to script, storyboard, film, record sound, and part- edit their film during the 5- day workshop. The group split up into teams to make it to all of their desired locations and apportioned roles and tasks according to age and ability – a fantastic team effort. Take a look for yourself, it is sometimes hard to grasp that they managed to have the same actor appear multiple times in the same scene…

Partners

Apple

Australia Council for the Arts

Australian Childrens Television Foundation

Australian International Documentary Conference

Country Arts SA Regional Arts Fund

D’faces of Youth Arts Whyalla and its HYPER program through the Attorney General’s Office SA

9 steps for successful underage drinkers

Karoonda Area School - underage drinking campaign - 2007 August - Karoonda SA

9 Steps to Become a Successful Underage Drinker is a fabulous discussion starter about underage drinking: ‘9 Steps to Become a Successful Underage Drinker’ is a comedic take on ‘how-to­’ videos and drug education with a high impact ending that will have your students talking for days. Goose bumps guaranteed!

The Karoonda community commissioned the Hero Project team to work with a group of local youth to produce a documentary about the impact of drink driving on small rural towns.

Initially the group discussed interviewing the local police officer and locals to create a documentary about the issue. When the Hero Project team asked if they would watch this film, they admitted they find ‘educational’ videos boring. So their task was to make a film they would watch. After lengthy debate from the young people and adults in the room, the Hero mentors suggested the team work with a satirical reversal to get the message across. They brainstormed all the stories ‘everyone shares about their youthful exploits’, and so the conversation began… The team drafted the 9 steps in the first session and then shot them over several sessions working with the Hero mentors. It was fantastic to work with the youth team and the Karoonda community, who all pitched in to support the project, from offering locations, making props and acting in the film.

Using humour and a satirical reversal this film drives a serious punch and comes with an urgently needed resource pack to support teachers and youth workers to tackle the issues of underage drinking.­

Partners

Apple

Arts SA Health Promotion through the Arts

Country Arts SA

Karoonda Area School

Mallee Health Service Inc

Murray Mallee Community Education Network Inc

Adelaide Bites - Adelaide Fringe

Adelaide City Council youth art campaign - 2007 May - SA

We made 10 experimental short films for Adelaide’s new, large public digital screens, by SA youth sharing stories about Adelaide, as part of our public art game, Love Referendum, for the Adelaide Fringe Festival, supported by Adelaide City Council and Arts SA. Love Bites - do you love or hate Adelaide?

Partners

Adelaide City Council

Arts SA

Adelaide Fringe

Love Referendum - Adelaide Fringe

Love Referendum - public art game 2007 March - SA

Developed as an interactive alternative reality game ARG for the public realm, the initial phase included a series of video clips, viral postcards and an interactive website. Is Adelaide in the grip of a potentially fatal pandemic called lovesickness…?

Has it become a sentimental slave to romance or a slick metropolis for the cool and uncaring? In an urgent call to action, the Department of Deliberation is conducting a statewide referendum in December 2007.

It will ask the public to decide whether they are lovestruck or lovesick. Results will be tallied and citizens will be officially (and spectacularly) notified during opening night of the 2008 Adelaide Fringe.

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Artistic Director - Jennifer Lyons-Reid

Producer - Carl Kuddell

Game development mentor - Christy Dena

Graphic design - Working Images, Drew Joyce

Love Referendum was supported by Arts SA Public Art

Partners

Adelaide City Council

Arts SA