Q&A with Cathy Henkel

This Q&A was originally published on the Sydney Film Festival 2009 web site under the topic, "Can films make a difference"?

Do you have a particular interest in the environment, and if so, is this what drove you to make your film? Or was it some other aspect?

What I feel now about our environment is the same as how I felt 20 years ago when I started making documentaries. We need change! My first documentary in 1988 was about a Central Coast community raising awareness about the need to respect our natural environment. My second film was about Greenpeace raising alarm bells about the consequences of massive pollution. In the past 20 years, the destruction and damage to our environment has moved from serious to crisis point, and we need awareness about this now more than ever. Nothing less than the survival of civilisation is at stake. The choices we make now will determine the habitability of this planet not only for plant and animal life but for our children. Films can and do create awareness. They can get a message across to a mass audience in a visual and emotional way that can affect change. I am hoping that where films like "An Inconvenient Truth" started a new era of concern and interest in the environment, "The Burning Season" can turn the focus to finding innovative solutions. This film follows one young man not afraid to single-handedly confront the biggest challenge of our time.

When environmentalist and politicians start using terms like carbon credits or emission trading schemes, most of us just shrug it off. Films like "The Burning Season" give a human face and meaning to these concepts and remind us that change is possible and one individual can make a difference.

Do you think that documentary-makers have a responsibility to engage people in reflection on their world?

Documentary making is about bringing an audience to an experience they may not be aware of or have not seen before. There are a lot of stories to be told, and my task as a film-maker is to uncover those stories that inspire and move me, and to tell them with honesty and integrity. We all see the world in our own way, and there will always be people who disagree with our vision. The stories that engage me are those that reveal something new about human nature and the world we inhabit. I make documentaries because of my insatiable curiosity and deep concern about the state of the world. At this time in human history, it seems to me that there is no more urgent or compelling issue than climate change. "The Burning Season" not only shows the scale of the problem we are facing, but it also offers hope. My work over the past two years will be rewarded if people leave the cinema feeling inspired and motivated to take some action. If we are to avert this crisis, every single person needs to become aware and motivated to do something. I hope this film will play a role in making this happen.

In ‘The Burning Season’, Lone Droscher-Nielsen struggles to keep her orangutan sanctuary going in the face of ever increasing numbers of orphaned animals.� Such dedication is not unheard of - for instance, Dian Fossey and the mountain gorillas - did you get a sense when making ‘The Burning Season’ of what truly motivates Lone, and what sustains her?

Lone is that rare kind of individual who has committed herself entirely to something she believes in. After visiting Borneo and seeing the plight of the orangutans during the annual burning season, she gave up her job and set up a centre to rescue, care for for and rehabilitate orangutans. She is motivated by the hope that these beautiful creatures will be saved from extinction, and the vision of releasing them back into the wild. And she is sustained by the love and affection they give her in return for their care. But the day to day challenges of Lone's work, the limited resources she has, the over-crowding of the centre, and the lack of support she feels from the outside world are all debilitating and have taken their toll on Lone's health. I hope that the film makes people aware of the enormous challenges Lone faces. She will succeed, but we all need to help her. She also needs the help of people like Dorjee who is equally committed to raising awareness about the value of forests. Only when forests are seen as more valuable standing than chopped down, will the orangutans have a chance of surviving in the wild.

Have you ever watched a film that you knew, for sure, as the credits rolled, had changed your opinion about an issue or a subject?

Even though I knew a considerable amount about climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth" hit me like a ton of bricks. I had to see it twice. The first time I felt debilitated by the scale of the problem and was extremely depressed for days. The second time, as I watched it, I was trying to work out what I could do. As the credits rolled, I knew for sure that my next film would be about climate change and, more particularly, the search for solutions. I have been deeply affected my many documentaries, but this is the one that motivated me to make "The Burning Season".