Home About Deer FeralScan Resources
Melbourne Water - Film Festival Program
Source: Original Article on the Melbourne Water Website
"From the Ground Up" is a series of eight short films showcasing environmental volunteers in Greater Melbourne.
Over 500 groups work to enhance soils, waterways, and biodiversity while fostering community connection.
In July 2024, the From the Ground Up Film Festival attracted more than 220 attendees at Nova Cinemas, highlighting the successes of environmental stewardship. Hosted by Costa Georgiadis, a supporter of the Landcare movement, the festival featured a longer 28-minute film alongside 7 five-minute shorts.
Funded by the Victorian Landcare Program via Melbourne Water, these films demonstrate the positive impact of community environmental efforts. The festival celebrated volunteers and aimed to inspire further action for the environment.
Northern Yarra Landcare Network - Steels Creek, Dixon Creek, Chum Creek
In Landcare people rally around a common cause. In the case of Northern Yarra Landcare Network the target was weeds, specifically weeds such as blackberry which had proliferated in the fire-ravaged landscapes, post-Black Saturday.
With the disaster further in the past their diverse membership are still finding ways to keep weeds out of the Yarra Valley including with some natural mower mouths, the humble goat.
As Landcare Facilitator Rob Fallon explains, for this network, pragmatism endures. - Utube
Bass Coast Landcare Network
Victoria's biggest and busiest Landcare network is the Bass Coast Landcare Network.
It has used funding bids and council contracts to build its footprint over more than 20 years making as lasting impact on the environment. But it's been the gentle building of relationships with landholders that underlines its work. In this story we meet Landcare Facilitator Dave Bateman and three landholders who have joined the Bass Coast Landcare Network cause of transforming landscapes. - Utube
Mornington Peninsula Intrepid Landcare
Intrepid Landcare aspires to give would be youthful volunteers a purpose to follow through on their environmental passions.
Usually its multi-day leadership and enviro retreats that distill the vision of these groups.
In this film we meet Amy Henson and other founders of the Mornington Peninsula Intrepid Landcare group, documenting how young people interact with nature in these busy times. - Utube
Tree Project
Some ideas are so empowering success is inevitable. This is true for the TreeProject formula. For more than 30 years volunteer staffed depots have distributed soil, seeds and growing kits to suburban families.
Four months later a bounty of healthy seedlings are collected bound for the country where they shape biolinks and shelterbelts. In this film we meet TreeProject manager Susi Milton, the urban growers and volunteers who shape TreeProject. - Utube
Urban Bushland Initiative
Environment volunteering is full of feel good opportunities like tree plantings but the challenge is to find and bring new people to these activities.
The Urban Bushland Initiative finds its volunteers by knocking on doors, by posters left in cafe walls and in savvy social media posts. For Alex Paporakis, diverse, colourful planting days are all small steps to bringing nature back to suburban Melbourne. - Utube
Friends of Iramoo
Grasslands in Melbourne’s west are encroached on by some of the nastiest and most pervasive weed species including serrated tussock and Chilean Needle Grass, threatening to overrun them.
A target for developers, volunteers for grasslands like Megan O’Shea and the Friends of Iramoo go the extra mile knocking down the weeds and championing the delicate niche plants and animals that prove just how dynamic these endangered grasslands are. - Utube
Nugal Biik Junior Rangers
Re-establishing a relationship with Country is what the Nugal Biik Junior Rangers Program is putting in place.
Thanks to the efforts of Sharna Brown, aboriginal children from Melbourne’s north are experiencing a classroom on Country. In its early stages Nugal Biik Junior Rangers hopes to be a catalyst for First Nations youth finding pathways to secure lives and employment, using Country as the teacher. - Utube
From the Ground Up feature film
The eight short films, listed, were filmed between March 2023 and February 2024.
The body of work which Tim Brown and Michael Portway had shot and edited was significant – many of the films featured multiple engaging personalities and inspiration stories fuelled by nature and social connection. So it was decided to produce a longer film combining all the great stories uncovered over the project.
From the Ground Up became the working title and planning for a film festival commenced. It was decided to make this project a celebration. Costa Georgiadis, a Junior Landcare Ambassador with Landcare Australia was approached to narrate the project and generously agreed.
In May 2024 four of the film subjects David Bateman, Susi Milton, Alex Paporakis and Sharna Brown met Costa and took part in more filming From the Ground Up feature film at Thompson St Reserve, Avondale Heights and the old saleyards in Kensington. 28 minutes - Utube