Australia’s unprecedented bushfires of 2019 to 2020 burned an area larger than the United Kingdom, killed at least 33 people, killed or displaced close to 3 billion animals, and destroyed the habitats of more than 500 species. In 2023, the fires were even larger. Such devastation has prompted scientists and planners to ask how the world’s most fire-prone continent can prepare for future megafires. Today, they’re drawing both inspiration and lessons from Indigenous peoples, who have been lightly burning the land for some 60,000 years.
Filmmaker Kirsten Slemint followed James Shaw — of the Melukerdee tribe of the South East Nations — as he trained young Indigenous people to execute cultural burns on Tasmania’s Bruny Island. Burning the land at low temperatures, he says, reduces the fuel load and provides nutrients for the plants and seeds under the ash. Notes conservation biologist Hugh Possingham, “The whole system evolved with Indigenous burning. It’s one of the cultures that humanity needs to learn from in the coming years if we’re actually going to stabilize this planet.”
Asked what inspired her to focus a film on cultural burning in Australia, Slemint said, “Australia is not alone in facing devastating wildfires, and it has a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer the global community. I think the film’s messages of respect, community, and hope are critical to creating a brighter future — where both our environmental and cultural heritage are protected and celebrated.”
About the Filmmaker: A recent graduate of Britain’s National Film and Television School, Kirsten Slemint is a freelance filmmaker and producer based in London. Her work explores the intersections between people and nature, and it is driven by her interest in achieving specific social and environmental goals.
About the Contest: Now in its 11th season, the Yale Environment 360 Film Contest honors the year’s best environmental documentaries, with the aim of recognizing work that has not previously been widely seen. This year we received 714 submissions from 91 countries across six continents, with the winners selected by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Thomas Lennon, and e360’s editor-in-chief Roger Cohn.
