About

'This Land is Mine | This Land is Me' brings together a collection of films that explore how we view and engage with the natural world. The program considers the philosophy and politics of land ownership and the balance between exploitation, cultivation and sustainability. The program is presented across four interweaving strands – Connection, Transition, Consequence and Revelation. It features powerful stories of the human experience of landscape and reveals some of the distinct ways in which nature has been characterised in art and cinema.

The title of the project is taken from the lyrics to a song by musicians Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody written for the film One Night the Moon 2001. In the song two characters sing of their deep and vastly different connection to the same piece of land. Kelly, in the character of a white settler sings of his toil farming his hard-earned land while Carmody, as an Indigenous tracker, sings of his sacred, abiding connection to the landscape. The two men's voices come together to sing the same line – "they won't take it away from me."

EFFECTING CHANGE: FILMMAKING AND POLITICS

2.30pm Sun 19 Feb 2017 / Cinema A / Free

Panellists from the frontlines of environmental and social change discuss how their approaches contribute to public dialogue about land stewardship and corporate land use. Participants include film producer, Trish Lake, National Parks ranger Holly North and climate change policy analyst Kirsten Lovejoy. More information on the panellists here.

WHAT IS YOUR SACRED SPACE?

1.00pm Sun 26 Feb 2017 / Cinema A / Free

Join our panel as they discuss the places that are restorative, inspiring and important to them and explore the way landscape is an integral part of cultural connection and contemplation. Participants include novelist and poet Melissa Lucashenko, Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal and Gardening Australia presenter Jerry Coleby-Williams. More information on the panellists here.

LIVE MUSIC & FILM: THE SEASONS

6.00pm Fri 24 Feb 2017 / Cinema A / Ticketed

A night of music accompanies screenings of Armenian filmmaker Artavazd Pelechian's short films, The Inhabitants 1970 and The Seasons of the Year 1972. The Inhabitants will screen with its dramatic soundtrack that captures the grace and brutality of the animal world. After this initial screening, Camerata of St John's quartet will perform compositions that respond to nature, followed by their re-scoring of Pelechian's iconic work The Seasons of the Year.

More information here.

Program curated by Rosie Hays, Australian Cinémathèque.