The Australian - by Graeme Blundell
Monday, December 8th 2014
PICK OF THE DAY: Defendant 5, ABC2, 9.30pm.
DOCUMENTARIAN Ken Burns said the art of filmmaking was all about process: “Go, see, do, be” — that it is imperative to just get out in the world, to look, really, then do it. Make the film, and relate, which means having a personal relationship to the environment in which you find yourself.
He would be full of admiration, I think, for this fine piece of subjective filmmaking from Heidi Lee Douglas, who several years ago went to Tasmania to make a film about the effect of logging on the community.
The story that emerged was, she says here, “a nightmare that robbed years of my life — with my video camera I was trying to save some of the world’s oldest forests but I threatened the interests of a million-dollar logging company”.
She discovered Gunns, the biggest wood chipper in the southern hemisphere, was profiting most from the logging of the old-growth forests. As the campaign to protect them escalated, Douglas took more risks and crossed the line from filmmaker to activist.
Community support to protect Tasmania’s forests spread across Australia and the world. At the same time, Douglas increasingly turned her “little video camera”, as she calls it, on herself. But the issue was divisive, with timber workers, many of whom worked for Gunns, believing their futures were at stake.
Without warning, Douglas and 19 other critics were sued by Gunns for $6.4 million for allegedly conspiring to harm the company’s business. The defendants were a disparate group: politicians, campaigners, a doctor, a dentist, an author and students. They became known as the Gunns 20, and Douglas discovered Gunns wanted to use her footage as evidence of its allegation of conspiracy. She faced a crisis of conscience as the footage she had been gathering to help the community threatened to harm them.
This is her personal story, a drama about how one young artist learns that fighting for what she believes in has the most devastating consequences.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/television/tasmanian-logging-tale-defendant-5-captures-the-art-of-the-doco/story-fn9d34el-1227147604563
Sydney Morning Herald/The Age
Monday, December 8th 2014
Heidi Lee Douglas's simple, eloquent film depicts an ugly and protracted battle over Tasmania's old-growth forests. Recounting how she became caught up in "a nightmare that would rob years of my life", she documents her involvement in the fight to save the trees and the retaliatory action of Gunns Ltd, which attempted to silence opposition to its wood-chipping operations and plans for a pulp mill through legal action. There's a David and Goliath quality to the tale of a campaign by conservationists against a mighty, bullying corporation. However, Douglas's astute and economical eye as a filmmaker also makes the film a touching personal story.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/monday-december-8-20141203-11zb4p.html
Women's Day, National
Monday, December 8th 2014
The Watch List
Nothing screams "empowering" more than this series. Marking 10 years since the Gunns 20 were sued in Tasmania, this TV special dives deep into the effects of logging on the community. Not to be missed.
Monday, December 8th 2014
PICK OF THE DAY: Defendant 5, ABC2, 9.30pm.
DOCUMENTARIAN Ken Burns said the art of filmmaking was all about process: “Go, see, do, be” — that it is imperative to just get out in the world, to look, really, then do it. Make the film, and relate, which means having a personal relationship to the environment in which you find yourself.
He would be full of admiration, I think, for this fine piece of subjective filmmaking from Heidi Lee Douglas, who several years ago went to Tasmania to make a film about the effect of logging on the community.
The story that emerged was, she says here, “a nightmare that robbed years of my life — with my video camera I was trying to save some of the world’s oldest forests but I threatened the interests of a million-dollar logging company”.
She discovered Gunns, the biggest wood chipper in the southern hemisphere, was profiting most from the logging of the old-growth forests. As the campaign to protect them escalated, Douglas took more risks and crossed the line from filmmaker to activist.
Community support to protect Tasmania’s forests spread across Australia and the world. At the same time, Douglas increasingly turned her “little video camera”, as she calls it, on herself. But the issue was divisive, with timber workers, many of whom worked for Gunns, believing their futures were at stake.
Without warning, Douglas and 19 other critics were sued by Gunns for $6.4 million for allegedly conspiring to harm the company’s business. The defendants were a disparate group: politicians, campaigners, a doctor, a dentist, an author and students. They became known as the Gunns 20, and Douglas discovered Gunns wanted to use her footage as evidence of its allegation of conspiracy. She faced a crisis of conscience as the footage she had been gathering to help the community threatened to harm them.
This is her personal story, a drama about how one young artist learns that fighting for what she believes in has the most devastating consequences.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/television/tasmanian-logging-tale-defendant-5-captures-the-art-of-the-doco/story-fn9d34el-1227147604563
Sydney Morning Herald/The Age
Monday, December 8th 2014
Heidi Lee Douglas's simple, eloquent film depicts an ugly and protracted battle over Tasmania's old-growth forests. Recounting how she became caught up in "a nightmare that would rob years of my life", she documents her involvement in the fight to save the trees and the retaliatory action of Gunns Ltd, which attempted to silence opposition to its wood-chipping operations and plans for a pulp mill through legal action. There's a David and Goliath quality to the tale of a campaign by conservationists against a mighty, bullying corporation. However, Douglas's astute and economical eye as a filmmaker also makes the film a touching personal story.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/monday-december-8-20141203-11zb4p.html
Women's Day, National
Monday, December 8th 2014
The Watch List
Nothing screams "empowering" more than this series. Marking 10 years since the Gunns 20 were sued in Tasmania, this TV special dives deep into the effects of logging on the community. Not to be missed.
