Our screenings of RIVER - the film

All photos by Louis Muller

“To think like a river means to dream downstream in time; to imagine what will flow far into the future from our acts in the present. To be good ancestors to those who will come after us, downstream of us.
Look after the river and the river will look after you.”

In the middle of September we hosted our screenings of RIVER at Pearces Creek Hall & Byron School of Art. Thanks to the wonderful sound engineering from Louis Muller (who also took these photos) we were treated to a masterpiece of sight and sound. Narrated by Willem Dafoe with a soundtrack from artistic director Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, RIVER honours the wildness of rivers while recognising their fragility and vulnerability.

"The mystery and beauty of a wild river is beyond our ability to comprehend but within our capacity to destroy. Rivers that have flown for eons have been cut off in decades."

Thanks to all who came along and sorry to those of you who missed out! It's inspiring for us to put on events like these and have a bunch of people we don’t know come along. It’s a far cry from our first couple of events in which the crowd was mostly populated with our friends and family.

Unbeknownst to us when we bought the film rights, RIVER is now available to stream on ABC iView. We couldn't recommend this film more highly. Our only suggestion - a good soundsystem, if you can manage it.

Here's a little summary of the night from Gabrielle who came along to watch the film:

"As I settled into my seat for RIVER, the first black & white images of the orchestra arriving helped me feel like I was up close to the action already. The sound system wrapped the music around me, and the torrent of stunning river footage began! Glaciers, deserts, jungles and cities unfolded in front of us, with the waterways running through everything. The narration by Willem Dafoe was perfect: not too much, not too little. The drone footage over waterfalls almost made me feel sick, but in a good way, it was so vivid. THANK YOU for all the efforts behind putting on such an event, and promoting such an important film. I wish I'd brought my young adult son and all his friends, for they are truly the future ancestors we need to help us take care of our rivers. I was deeply moved, and inspired, so thanks again. I wanted it shown in every school, every RSL, every prison and Parliament too, because we need to make changes NOW, stepping up for our mutual futures."

Gabrielle Griffin
Mullumbimby

And that’s it for us for events in 2022 - time for a rest.

We’ve got a donor-funded flood mitigation project using nature-based solutions coming up so we’ll keep you posted on that.

As always, don’t forget to look up.

Cheers,
The Rivers Crew