Transitions Film Festival 2015

“Another world is happening. Get engaged. Get inspired. The future is now.”

Hollywood blockbusters, such as Interstellar, may be fictional representations of the future, or they may be foreshadowing things to come. Major shifts over the next decade will alter Melbourne’s cityscape forever. By 2050, a mere 35 years away, Melbourne’s metropolitan area will hover around the 8 million mark, placing our capital among the global giants of New York City and London. Longer queues, increased congestion and a CBD crippled with longer periods of peak-hour traffic are bleak predictions of things to come – not to mention the environmental toll on our coffee-loving, brunch-consuming jewel of a city.

A solution is clearly needed. An alternative to the current must be considered. And that is where the Transitions Film Festival whirls in to potentially provide answers.

Promoting their principles of innovation and creative genius, the Transitions Film Festival kicked off last Friday and will run to 6 March 2015, presenting a prospective mid-21st century reality to its audiences.  Screening in several locations around Melbourne – including Cinema Nova in Carlton and Federation Square – you are invited to participate in constructing dialogue about our sustainable future – for us and for the generations to come.

In its fourth year, the festival program showcases inspirational documentaries revolving around social and technological advances that may pave a way to a better world. It explores the mega-trends, scientific breakthroughs and ingenious what- if’s that could become a reality, in hopes of discovering what it means to be human.

Transitions Film Festival tackles wide-ranging themes from population explosions to arctic drilling and debt bubbles – all problems that may have detrimental effects on the community – and endeavours to make us think and do more than hashtag #firstworldproblems.

But it’s not all the doom and gloom of a world run rampant with chaos. The documentaries are light-hearted, rich with imagery, and wealthy in knowledge.  Here are three documentaries that will change your life:

Love Thy Nature

A Liam Neeson narrated documentary. Enough said.

You know this flick will be worthwhile. Neeson is the man you want on your side when the sky is falling; this time, the human race is in jeopardy. That may be an exaggeration, but the documentary explores untapped treasures of the earth riddled with potential. It seems Mother Nature still has a few nuggets up her sleeve.

The Yes Men Are Revolting

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano reprise their activist-prankster roles by taking on multi-national conglomerates in the heart-warming sequel to The Yes Men and The Yes Men Fix The World. In a series of hilarious hijinks, the mischievous duo with hearts of gold conspire to derail the daily operations of government officials, media outlets and corporations, crusading in the name of the environment with the aim of garnering attention for climate changes facing the globe.

Immortalists

Lucy: the movie that polarised audiences in 2014. Is limitless intelligence a scientific possibility? Although this doco may be more fact-heavy than Hollywood flare, Immortalists explores the likelihood of eternal life: is aging curable? Two scientists bring their all to answer this question. If a magic potion to stop the biological clock piques your interest, then this movie is for you.

Sustainable living may take up little space in our minds, but our planet is not indestructable and consequences are inevitable. It may become a mode to survival in the future. Dramatic or not, Transitions Film Festival will leave you searching for your inner Captain Planet.

Transitions Film Festival 2015
Friday February 13 – Friday March 6
transitionsfilmfestival.com