Interweaving the inspirational activism of Australian Greens co-founder Bob Brown with the stories of the ancient trees he is fighting to save, this environmental documentary is a rousing call to action.
You don’t really need to tell people to act when you show how those who came before have achieved so much. That is a galvanising message—a demonstration that people can effect change.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2023
The Giants 2022
Laurence Billet and Rachael Antony’s richly cinematic portrait of Bob Brown, the co-founder of the Australian Greens and the first openly gay Australian MP, draws on 50 years of inspiring activism. From the 1970s campaign to save the Franklin, Tasmania’s last wild river, which catapulted Brown into national politics to the current fight to save the Tarkine rainforest from logging, the film tells Brown’s story in his own words. Interweaved throughout the film are also the stories of the ancient trees wants to preserve, brought to life by cameras rigged high in the tree canopy, immersive animation and insight from environmentalist David Suzuki and biologist Merlin Sheldrake.
“We all know that old idiom ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’. Few people would accuse Brown of that; he always had his eyes on a larger prize. Similarly, the film-makers never lose sight of the most important things, using the natural world to wrap an ancient context around contemporary politics and individual narratives. Their meditative tone could have felt starry-eyed or heavy-handed but instead The Giants is beautifully balanced, ruminative and rousing.” — Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian
“You can almost feel the damp floor beneath your feet and smell the leaf cover as engaging voices explain how trees drag moisture up through their trunks, how fungi reproduce, how the whole system is barely understood, how the trees may be communicating with each other.” — Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald
An open captions session will screen in Auckland at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket, on Sunday 30 July and in Wellington at Deluxe Cinemas, Embassy Theatre, on Sunday 6 August.
Find out more about our accessbility screenings at our NZIFF Access page HERE.