How much can a koala bear?
After Kev the koala is made homeless by deforestation, she finds a place to live in the epicentre of human civilisation – Lismore. Nothing about the experience is positive, leaving us to wonder how much this koala can bear.
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Christopher DavisDirectorHow to become a Dictator
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Christopher DavisWriterHow to become a Dictator
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Christopher DavisProducerHow to become a Dictator
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Benjamin GerbanasProducerHold Up
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Shanay De MarcoKey Cast"Kev the koala"
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Christopher DavisKey Cast"Ant the human"
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Sophie DavisAssociate Producer
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Alex CummingsDirector of Photography
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Ellen Joy RandallProduction Designer
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Richard LawtonSound Designer
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Benjamin GerbanasEditor
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Madelyn Killkenny1st Assistant Camera
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Ellie Hayward2nd Assistant Camera
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Comedy, Satire, Environmental, Mockumentary, Documentary
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Runtime:4 minutes 42 seconds
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Completion Date:July 30, 2019
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Production Budget:4,000 AUD
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Country of Origin:Australia
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Country of Filming:Australia
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Christopher is a filmmaker based in the Northern Rivers, who is also active in Brisbane and Sydney (and I guess, anywhere really, just give him time to travel there). Since graduating with a BFA in Film production in 2016, Chris has focused on Writing and directing satirical films with an earnest on pitch-black humour.
After his studies, ‘How much can a koala bear?’ marks Chris’ second decent into short form film making, a lengthy process he finds ironic given the operative word being ‘short’.
Christopher is highly fond of satire; which he believes to be the highest form of comedy, and mountains; which he believes to be the highest form of elevated planetary crust.
One thing that he is not very fond of is writing personal biographies - so he will stop now.
Animals are forced to follow the one rule of nature - adapt or die. And not many animals, especially exotic and unique animals, can adapt to humanity. So more often than not, their choice is ‘… or die’.
A recent UN global assessment reported that Australia has the highest rate of vertebrate mammal extinction in the world. Being a nation that is world renowned for its unique animals, this is an issue that many Australians take seriously, and yet nothing is changing.
Perhaps the problem is that we present the problem too seriously, and those who don’t care about environmental issues shut off, and don’t take note. So we have to take a different approach, and ironic approach - this truly is a serious issue, and as such it can only possibly be handled with comedy.
The genre may at times seem insincere or lackadaisical, but comedy is dead serious.
Satire can get away with addressing serious and dark issues because it’s tactful and indirect, hiding the truth behind irony and jokes, like dog medicine in a piece of ham. Before the audience knows what’s happening they have digested the topic and are already formulating their ideas on the issue.
Kev is obviously a human in a costume, we never tried to deny this, nor address the fact the koala talks or is the size of a human. This separation from reality puts enough of a distance between the audience and the issue, so their emotional bias can’t cloud their judgment.
I do not seek to vilify humans; most of us do not directly impact koalas lives. But I do aim to create empathy for the marsupials. It was important also that the short made a point of how we all can indirectly impact Koalas, and now that the audience feels empathetically towards the koalas, and the comedy has removed subjectivity, now we can objectively work to fixing the issue.
Setting the story in Lismore is key to not only the humour, but also the message of the story. It isn’t Sydney or Melbourne where Koalas are loosing their habitat; it’s in the less populated areas, where Koala’s actually live. Yes Lismore isn’t as busy or crowded as Sydney, but to a hapless koala it is just as dangerous.
Hopefully the film will make audiences laugh, then objectively think and maybe find it within themselves to help our poor koalas.