Documentary web series Voices of the River follows 10 Traditional Owners fighting to protect the Martuwarra Fitzroy River from large-scale water extraction.
The series will premiere July 28 via Facebook and Instagram TV, and release weekly over the next 10 weeks, in partnership with Environs Kimberley, the Kimberley Land Council and The Kimberley – Like Nowhere Else alliance.
The National Heritage listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River stretches over 700km from desert to sea in WA’s Kimberley region, and is of great cultural and environmental significance. However these values are under threat from Murray-Darling style proposals to pump more than 375 billion litres of water from the river for intensive irrigated agriculture. Voices of the River goes out on Country with 10 Traditional Owners fighting to protect one of the last wild rivers in the world.
Filming on Voices of the River began in 2019 after documentary filmmaker Stephanie King and cinematographer John Chisholm were approached by Environs Kimberley to help share the voices of Traditional Owners on the Martuwarra.
The series premiered at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival and was awarded Silver Award for Best Web Series in Los Angeles-based Independent Shorts Awards. It was also selected for Documentary Australia Foundation’s competitive Environmental Incubator program.