Event title:
‘Winaityinaityi Pangkara – The Country of the Birds’
– A short film by Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary in South Australia
Organizer:
Friends of Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary (FAIBS)
Participants:
FAIBS contacts, BirdsSA members, four local government Councils, Green Adelaide, and Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, local newspapers and local environment centres, and the general public.
Summary:
‘Winaityinaityi Pangkara – The Country of the Birds’: a film contributing to the celebration of World Migratory Bird Day, May 8th, 2021.
Jeffrey Newchurch and Lynette Crocker, two Northern Kaurna Elders integral to the establishment of Winaityinaityi Pangkara, the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary in South Australia, reflect on the importance of this place to their People. They are joined by ecologist Joan Gibbs from the Friends of Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary.
The Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary is one the southern-most roosting and feeding sites for thousands of migratory shorebirds that annually use the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
The film was produced by the Bowerbird Collective on behalf of the Friends of Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary. It was supported by the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership and filmed with permission from the Department for Environment and Water, the Government of South Australia, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia. Film, sound, music and editing were by Anthony Albrecht & Simone Slattery of Bowerbird Collective.
This short film is the first of its kind foregrounding First Nations voices along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. It contains beautiful footage of the AIBS landscape, its birds, atmospheric music, and most importantly, moving commentary by Northern Kaurna Elders who have been carers and spiritually linked to this environment for tens of thousands of years.
The film was released on various local, national and international social media sites on World Migratory Bird Day, 2021. Within one week it had achieved a reach of over 6000 with some 200 viewers on the FAIBS Facebook page alone.
Watch the film:
Access the film through the FAIBS Facebook page ‘Friends of Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary’.
Outcome:
On WMBD, 8th May, 67 reached on the FAIBS Facebook page, there were 26 engagements, 40 went, 95 interested, 3 likes and 2 comments. Further comments were arrived by email or word of mouth.
In the week after the film launch on the FAIBS Facebook page there was a 335% increase in interaction, 400% more likes, and 12 new followers. To date (21st May) there have been more than 1000 views between Facebook and YouTube, and a reach of over 6,500 between the Bowerbird Collective and FAIBS Facebook sites. There will be a continuing reach and viewing well into the future, while anticipating FAIBS and allied organisations will be using this film at selected community and professional events in the years ahead.
A still from the film showing Northern Kaurna Elder, Jeffrey Newchurch with Joan Gibbs in the Bird Sanctuary. © Anthony Albrecht
FAIBS and Bowerbird Collective film planning group at St Kilda: from L to R: Anna Woods (FAIBS), Joan Gibbs (FAIBS), AIBS Ranger Andrew Cowley, composer Anne Cawrse, Bowerbird Collective musician Simone Slattery, and Jennifer McKay (FAIBS) © Warrick Barnes
