Australia

In 2019, Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau produced the acclaimed documentary, 2040, structured as a visual letter to his then-four-year-old daughter Velvet to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us. As Earth Day 2022 approaches, Gameau will be returning to the Gold Coast Film Festival in Queensland – where 2040 premiered - to introduce his new 17-minute short film, Regenerating Australia.

A big change happened to Kate Walsh during the Covid-19 pandemic - she moved to Australia. The American actress known for Grey’s Anatomy and her own spin-off show Private Practice was visiting her friends when the global pandemic started.

While the Hollywood film and TV industry is still trying to figure out how to safely return to work, Australia has put out ‘Open for Business’ signs, both domestically and abroad, with their newly-released COVID-Safe Guidelines. The 41-page document gathers together the first official recommendations approved by both federal and state governments, addressing every aspect of production from handling props to having cast refrain from physically touching each other during filming.

One in an occasional series exploring the state of Hollywood films in global markets. Just last year, the Guardian Australia lamented that Australian film and TV was fighting for its life as Hollywood blockbusters made up 84% of the country’s box office.

On Tanna, a South Pacific island nation in the Vanuatu archipelago, Wawa, a young girl from one of the last remaining traditional tribes, falls in love with her chief’s grandson, Dain. When an intertribal war escalates, Wawa, unbeknownst to her, is  betrothed as part of a peace deal.