‘Visions for a better world'

The Transitions Film Festival has announced a virtual program for 2021

In a year of unprecedented disruption and upheaval, there has never been a more vital time to understand our world and imagine a better future. 

The Transitions Film Festival returns this February with an enthralling program of world-changing documentaries about the existential challenges, creative innovations and heroic pioneers that can help us envision a new normal. 

After previously hosting festivals in Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, this summer the Transitions Film Festival presents its first-ever virtual program, available online nationwide.

The festival kicks off on 23 February with the premiere screening of Environment Victoria’s Beyond the Burning at MPavilion in Melbourne. The full online program will be available between 26 February and 15 March.

Transitions Film Festival shares real, inspiring stories, offers solutions to society’s greatest challenges and showcases local heroes and changemakers who are building a better world.

The Hidden Life of Trees

Highlights of this year’s program include: The Hidden Life of Trees, the documentary follow-up to the global best-selling book which journeys with Peter Wohlleben as he enlightens the world on the wondrous language of the forests; Making A Mountain, which follows globally renowned architect Bjarke Ingles and his half-a-billion dollar quest to build an artificial ski-slope on a waste-to-energy power plant in the heart of Copenhagen; and Beyond Zero, an inspirational biopic about pioneer Ray Anderson, founder of Interface, and his world-changing mission to redefine the meaning of business in the era of climate change. Invisible Hand, a powerful documentary produced by, and featuring, Emmy-Award winning actor Mark Ruffalo, spotlights a powerful new tool in the quest to protect our planet – the legal rights of nature. 

In response to last year’s devastating bushfires, the climate crisis is a central theme of this year’s program. Borealis explores the threats and solutions to managing the enchanting Boreal forests of Canada, Megafires highlights the cutting-edge solutions to this alarming new genre of threat facing humanity, and Where There Once Was Water takes us into the heart of the Navajo Nation and asks us to reimagine our relationship with our most sacred element. 

Invisible Hand

Activism is celebrated in Citizen Nobel, which follows the journey of the quirkily charming Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jacques Dubochet as he uses his fame as a tool to protect our collective future; Barefoot, which travels with viral sensation Mark Baumer who walked barefoot across America for 100 days to bring attention to climate change; and Youth On Strike! which gets up close and personal with Australia’s leading youth climate organisers as they prepare for the biggest student action in history. 

NOW, blends the personal stories of youth activists with the wisdom of iconic influencers including Muhammad Yunis, Patti Smith and Wim Wenders, and showcases real-world examples of innovative solutions to our environmental challenges, and The Walrus and The Whistleblower gives us a deeply engrossing biopic about an animal rights activist who is sued for $1.5 million for trying to protect the life of a walrus named Smooshi.  

Microplastic Madness

New ways of imagining politics and the economy are highlighted in Inherent Good, which champions the benefits of universal basic income as a panacea to society’s ills, and Birddog Nation, which celebrates the power of inspired women to create massive political and social change.  

Protecting our oceans and environment is explored in An Ocean Story, which follows Dutch filmmaker Sander Van Weert as he travels the world searching for the solutions to the greatest threats facing our oceans; and Microplastic Madness, a heart-warming adventure with a class of impossibly charming 11-year-old students as they achieve significant and inspiring victories in the fight for a world free from plastic pollution.

In a year of deep pause and great resets, the Transitions Film Festival celebrates the things we love and inspires us to fight for the future we want. 

To learn more or purchase tickets, head to the Transitions Film Festival website. 

As a proud partner of #TFFest21, Pro Bono Australia is excited to be presenting the film Inherent Good which explores the concept of Universal Basic Income and the idea that this “no-strings-attached” payment could be a panacea for our economic ills.

To celebrate, there are five tickets up for grabs. Simply head to the Transitions Film Festival win page and enter the code INHERENTPBA for your chance to win.