Filthy Rich and Homeless

Our world is at a crossroads of myriad crises, but all too often the solutions to the problems we face – especially climate change – are put in the ‘too hard basket. But, as director Celeste Geer discovers, it doesn’t have to be this way. Following Then the Wind Changed, her Walkley Award-winning film about rebuilding after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, she sought answers to why, after decades of warnings, we continue to shirk the necessary measures that will prevent all-out climate catastrophe.

Strathewen: a lush green paradise where families built their homes to raise their children, close to nature. But at 3am one summer morning residents are woken by the trees thrashing in the hot northerly wind. "It felt like we were in a tinderbox". The lucky ones drive out before the firestorm spreads across the darkened countryside and the trucks start to explode.