Local filmmakers Bettina Richter and Toni Houston are embarking on the project of a lifetime, they are off to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen to show their film ‘Aqua’ as part of the official cultural program.
Aqua highlights the story of the Great Barrier Reef blending spectacular reef footage with immersive sounds of contemporary dance music.
The project brings together the filmmaking team of Toni and Bettina as well as acclaimed natural history filmmaker Tina Dalton, Emmy Award winning cinematographer David Hannan, Europe’s international chart-topping DJs Safri Duo and Australian talent Endorphin.
The goal of Aqua is to expose a young international audience to the plight of one of the world’s most treasured icons.
“The Great Barrier Reef may be dead by 2050 if nothing is done as well as the millions of sea creatures that depend on the reef,” said Toni.
“It is a shocking fact but it is a good example of just what is at stake during this conference.”
Aqua is a project Toni says she dreamt up five years ago as a way to get young people to connect with the story of the reef.
“I have always had a passion for wildlife, however I wanted to break away from the traditional mould and the ‘voice of god’ narration for which wildlife documentaries are known,” she said.
“We are aiming to engage young people who are the future movers and shakers.
“It is a critical message and the problem we were faced with was how you tell that story to young people 15 to 25 in a way that is interesting to them.
“We all know the story and we are saturated with words I think expressing the message to music it will be able to reach more people,” said Toni.
Toni and Bettina have teamed up to create Wish Bone Films.
The pair met one year ago in the carpark of the Pambula Kindy Gym where they say they instantly clicked.
“We started talking and realised we both had similar backgrounds, moved here for the lifestyle, to get away from the Sydney madness and raise our children,” said Toni.
“However I think we are both busier now than we ever were before because Aqua has taken off.
The pair has a number of events lined up during COP15 including a public performance at the famous Copenhagen music venue Pumpehuset (The Pump House).
They also have an official function to welcome the Australian Embassy COP15 delegation.
“This is our more serious audience Kevin Rudd, Penny Wong, Peter Garrett and all the Australian representatives will be there,” said Bettina.
They will be showing a 12-minute version of the film Aqua which they are working on at the moment.
However they will also produce a 75-minute feature length film for cinema distribution.
The short film will premier in Bega for the Bega Valley Festival youth event before they take it overseas.
“It will be like a dance party/Aqua launch and local youth will be the test audience,” said Bettina.
The pair say they were very excited and looked forward to being in Denmark for COP15.
“I think it is the biggest most important event of our generation, people from all over the world are going to be there,” said Toni.
“It is some pretty serious stuff and we are going to be there in the middle of it with our little film about the Great Barrier Reef,” said Bettina.
Aqua will be the only film event on the cultural program and the pair feel they are ambassadors for all of Australia and the Great Barrier Reef.
The project has been endorsed by a professor Ove Hoegh Guldberg from the University of Queensland who is one of the world’s most eminent coral scientists.
Toni and Bettina have also secured a major sponsor and partner in Pyramid Power who will be helping them to get to Denmark.
As the Official Local Sponsor of AQUA, Pyramid Power will support their two fundraising events.
Pyramid Power’s support of the night will ensure that all money raised will go directly into the film.
“We are just delighted to be supporting local filmmakers with this important environmental project,” said Rachel Choy, general manager of Pyramid Power.
“As the official local sponsor of Aqua, Pyramid Power is very excited to be supporting this innovative film which tells the story of one of Australia’s greatest treasure, the Great Barrier Reef, and its plight under Climate Change.”
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