The Mercury has announced Bryce Kraehenbuehl as the recipient of this year’s $45,000 Hanlon Larsen Screen Fellowship, established to enable experimental and surreal filmmakers to develop a distinctive voice and create bold work for the screen.
The fellowship will see Kraehenbuehl create and deliver experimental screen-based project, Red Earth, for which see him travel to endangered ecosystems around South Australia and photograph them on Aerochrome, an extinct film stock, to showcase the environments in an unseen way.
“The film explores themes of conservation, with the subject being environments that will be lost due to climate change. By using an endangered medium, I want the audience to look at the ecosystems we have left in a different way and think about the need to conserve these unique environments,” said Kraehenbuehl.
The collaborative fellowship is supported by philanthropist, Peter Hanlon, The Mercury, Flinders University, Light ADL and Adelaide Film Festival. It was established in honour of the late Cole Larsen, a Flinders University screen production lecturer, who encouraged his students to think and do outside the norm of conventional filmmaking.
“I’m proud to support emerging filmmaker Bryce and his project, Red Earth, which is emblematic of Cole’s dedication and passion for experimental screen-based work,” said co-chair of The Mercury board and fellowship founder, Hanlon.
The Hanlon Larson Screen Fellowship follows on from Kraehenbuehl being the inaugural winner of the Helpmann Innovator Program in 2021. He also received a fellowship in 2022 for a year-long mentorship with experimental filmmakers Richard Tuohy and Diana Barry.
As well as developing his creative work, Kraehenbuehl co-owns and works for production company Two Up Films which focuses on producing creative and sustainable commercial work.