“The trees that we plant today might be the homes for that bird tomorrow, might mean the story of those birds continues and our kids, our community & our culture will remain alive & thriving because we chose to plant a tree today.”
— Kirli Saunders
Cry of the Glossy
The plight of the Glossy Black-Cockatoo has become synonymous with Australia's devastating 2019-2020 bushfire season. The birds are also emerging as a symbol of hope and environmental regeneration. Filmed by Grassland Films, the award-winning and internationally screened short documentary follows Kirli Saunders’ personal connection to the Glossy Black-Cockatoo/Garrall and the bird’s broader cultural significance to Aboriginal Australians along the South-East Coast is captured.
Worldwide Screenings and Awards:
Benalla Short Film Festival (Winner, Best Documentary + Peoples' Choice Award)
Society for Ecological Restoration Film Festival (Winner, Best Film)
Monster Children Short Film Awards (Finalist / Honourable Mention)
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival
Byron Bay International Film Festival
Canberra Short Film Festival
Rhodope International Documentary Film Fest (Bulgaria)
Princeton Environmental Film Festival (US)
Heathcote Film Festival
Far South Film Festival
Wild Earth Oceania Film Festival
Equinox Mountain Film Festival (US)
Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest (Malaysia)
First Nations Film Festival - NAIDOC Week
BiodiverCiné Short Film Festival
We were instantly enamoured with the Glossy Black-Cockatoo when we first saw them late one afternoon in far East Gippsland, after spending days searching for and failing to find them. At that time we had also come across Kirli Saunder’s beautiful writings about Garrall, the black cockatoo. This seemed like some kind of sign and led us to reaching out to Kirli about making what became Cry of the Glossy. Hearing the Glossy’s cries echo through the forest at dusk is a surreal experience. As Kirli describes in the film, they've inspired stories which Aboriginal Australians have told for tens of thousands of years. So knowing their calls have disappeared from so much of the country carries a real heaviness. It was important for the audience to feel this heaviness, but not despair. Through tonal shifts in the visual elements, sound and poetry excerpts from one of Kirli’s books, we strived to create an arc of nostalgia, loss and hope. Ultimately we wanted to produce a film that conveys the enchanting nature of these birds, the sense of both personal and cultural loss when a species is threatened with extinction — and the potential to reverse environmental decline.