Director Shane McLachlan
Score 6/6
In 2019-20 Australia experienced a catastrophic bushfire season, one of the worst on record. This documentary focuses not only on the fires and their devastating effect on Australia’s unique wildlife and eco system, but whether climate change played a roll, why was it so random and merciless and will this become the new normal?
Australia Burns … Silence of the Land is currently being screened in the 2021 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. Australia Burns … Silence of the Land is another documentary you probably should not watch if you are having a bad day. Though it is something everybody needs to watch, if you are going to watch Australia Burns, I would also recommend you watch We are Conjola.
Australian Burns … Silence of the Land seems to have a broader scope when looking at the impact of the Black Summer Bushfires talking about the impact of the fires on the entire state instead of a local area. Going into this I never really thought that much about the impact of the Black Summer Bushfires on New South Wales and going by the statistics quoted it is a little hard to comprehend the level of destruction when it comes to the amount of land burnt and animals who lost their lives. It was an interesting move by the filmmakers to recount their experiences fighting these fires and the footage used of the fires seemed to have a surreal quality.
Watching this certainly was educational I had no clue for how long bushfire season had been arriving early in Australia. What climate scientist Dr. Joelle Gergis had to say was interesting. I had never really heard climate change specifically being defined as being natural variability plus an industrial element. Greg Mullins had some remarkably interesting points, especially what he had to say about the treatment of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action Group by the Australian government. The more confronting moments of the documentary was when it explored the impact of bushfires on the wildlife. It was heart-warming hearing how Taronga Zoo helped rescue seven platypuses from Tidbinbilla nature reserve. Also, the footage of the Wollemi pine was stunning.