Transitions Film Festival 2021

Overview

This planet we all call home is constantly in flux. After the year everyone has just been through, that shouldn't be news. And, it isn't a new topic to Australia's annual Transitions Film Festival either. Based in Melbourne — and touring its program around the country on occasion over the past decade — it routinely programs films on the topic. In 2021, it's continuing that mission, too.

There is something different about this year's Transitions Film Festival lineup, however. For the first time, the festival is jumping online. In collaboration with MPavilion, it is still hosting a physical screening of documentary Beyond the Burning in Melbourne on February 23 — but from February 26–March 15, it's streaming its selection of films digitally.

Available on an on-demand basis (so you can view whatever you like whenever you like), the program includes plenty of factual flicks on topics as broad as walking barefoot across America (as seen in Barefoot), youth activism (the subject of NOW), a lawsuit against an animal rights advocate (The Walrus and The Whistleblower) and the benefits of adopting a universal basic income (Inherent Good). Or, you can dive into the sea with An Ocean Story, watch the fight against plastic pollution via Microplastic Madness, see the threats to Canada's Boreal forests in Borealis and tackle blazes in Megafires.

Elsewhere, The Hidden Life of Trees takes its name from Peter Wohlleben's best-selling book, and continues its focus on forest. And, Invisible Hand dives into the battle between capitalism and nature — and it's produced by Mark Ruffalo.

Top image: The Hidden Life of Trees, 2019, Constantin Film Verleih GmbH, nautilusfilm.