By Shamsiya Hussainpoor
A Belgrave film-making student have been nominated to earn an Honourable Mention in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest for her short film ‘Tipping Point.’
Mater Christi College Year-11 student, Ivy Tucker is one of the few young filmmakers to receive such a prestigious nominee while still learning about the industry.
The 17-year-old high school student has been filmmaking since she was merely eight years old.
She has produced four short films by herself.
“I was amazed when I heard about the nomination, I wasn’t expecting this film to go anywhere, really, it was a school project, and I decided to submit it to some festivals to resonate with people and just to see what happens – the honourable mention has just been amazing,” Ms Tucker said.
“It all began with me doing a class each week at the Belgrave library with the Rangers Academy for Performing Arts, I started making films with my small class there and from then on, I branched off by myself to make my own short films, and continued it into high school, which I’m now doing it as media studies Year 11 and 12 and I’m really enjoying it ever since.”
“I started with being in front of the camera, and then I realised my creativity and enjoyment comes more from being behind the camera – just being able to capture stories and share them with other people around, it’s a very great medium to share, especially in a world where everything is now digitalised.”
The 17-year-old does not claim to be an environmentalist, but things changed when she went on a school trip to Central Australia.
“Once I saw these, these beautiful imageries, these ancient environments, it had a big impact on me,” she said.
“When I came home, I paid closer attention to the greenery which we are surrounded by, and I went to see the ocean, I saw yet another beautiful part of our environment, and I thought by sharing and showing those things that makes our environment beautiful was important, to get people to think about what they can do to keep it healthy and beautiful for longer, because we know climate change is a big problem.”
“To make this short film to bring awareness to these beautiful environments and to address climate change is my way of looking after our nature.”
Her film ‘Tipping Point’ was originally for a school project but later received greater attention for its far-reaching content and creativity.
The film is a three-minute journey across Australian landscapes, accompanied by Dave Higgins’ haunting original score, where anonymous callers express their views on the words ‘Tipping Point’.
This artful three-minute film shows stunning scenery of mountains, cliffs, caverns, and wildflowers, concluding with a powerful quote from the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the exigency of climate change.
“I have followed One Earth online for a while and believe in its mission to communicate this message as widely as possible. I hope this film can be a part of that,” the 17-year-old said.
The One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest allows students from age eight to 25 to create a three to eight-minute environmental film that inspires change or action.
During the past year, One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest received over 400 submissions from 55 countries and 36 states.
Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Poland, and United Kingdom will be represented among winners, along with the United States, states of California, Florida, Illinois, and Virginia.
“It’s important for everyone to look after our environment, we’re living in this world and we need to take care of it, because our future is at the climate tipping point and we need to decide what we want to do with it,” she said.
“I want to continue my filmmaking journey, currently I’m in the postproduction of my next film, ‘Man or Bear’, and that is for my Year 12, unit four media studies.”
Ms Tucker’s upcoming screening Re-Generation International Youth Film Festival will be at Melbourne Fringe on October 4.
The global award celebration will take place on September 22, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, Illinois, and online virtually anywhere in the world.
