Overview
In 2012, the forestry industry and unions agreed to the protection of key leatherwood forests through the historic Tasmanian Forest Agreement; however, the laws that delivered this agreement have since been overturned.
Passionate beekeepers, Bob Davey and Hedley Hoskinson are part of a frontline effort to monitor and maintain vast pockets of leatherwood trees, and they’re pressing hard to gain access to unutilised areas of this critical resource.
The leatherwood tree is the foundation for Tasmania’s four-million-dollar honey industry - accounting for 70% of all honey produced in Tasmania. Without maintaining the existing leatherwood forests, this vital Australian resource will be compromised and have disastrous flow-on effects to the agriculture industry.
Director Biography - Mark Pearce
Mark is an award winning filmmaker from Australia, creating social impact films around themes of nature and humanity. He produces journalistic projects at his production company, Balangara Films in Maleny, Queensland. Balangara has produced a slate of films that have won international acclaim, including ‘Nature Needs You’, ‘A Gentle Giant’ ‘Looking After Our Food’, ‘Looking After Our Country’, 'Looking After Our Environment', 'Looking After Our Past, Present and Future', ‘Our Greatest Blessing’ and 'Pilliga Rising'.
His advocacy films have opened festivals in Melbourne, Frankfurt and Sarajevo and featured in articles for the Wall Street Journal International, Medium, The Australian, Independent Australia, ABC Australia, The Guardian, and Australian National Geographic to name a few.
Importantly, his stories have changed the outcome of many lives, successfully lobbying governments to protect the animals, the people, and the places we love.
Watch all of the finalist films, click here.
The Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air (BOFA) Film Festival is proudly Tasmania’s film festival. The featured short films are finalists in the 2021 Stories of Tasmania as part of BOFA’s free online film festival. With viewing starting May 3, Forty South is proud to offer previews of the eight best films chosen by the BOFA judging panel. Follow this link to sign up for free access to the online event.
