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The Happen Films team is made up of Jordan, Antoinette, Anna and Nick. Read more about us. ABOUT HAPPEN FILMS We’re currently living through an exceptional time in human history, where what we’ve known as normal is breaking down due to environmental, cultural, and social limits being reached. This metacrisis has created the conditions for a massive global shift in the way we relate to the world and each other. We need to transition to not just living ‘sustainably’, but in a way that heals and regenerates the damage that’s being done. So how do we go about this? Exploring this question is what Happen Films was founded upon. We make films because we believe it’s the most powerful way we can share new ways of thinking, being, and doing. Happen Films has been our way of contributing toward creating a new story for humanity to live by, so that all of Earth’s creatures can thrive. Currently we're taking a break from making new films. We'll update the website if there are new releases coming after 2026. Meet the Happen Films team Jordan Osmond In his mid-teens, growing up in Ballarat, Jordan was struck by how documentary films were having an impact on how he saw the world and lived his life. He wanted to get behind the camera and have a positive impact on the lives of others. Show More Antoinette Wilson Born in Tasmania, raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, Antoinette left university for a career in book publishing that lasted 20 years. As her understanding of the state of planet and human health developed, a journey of exploration led her to a change in career that began with work in a market garden and completing her permaculture design certificate. Show More Anna Veale Anna fills the role of Editing Assistant alongside her soundie role when she’s able to join on film shoots. Growing up in Christchurch listening to Radio New Zealand and pottering in her mother’s vegetable garden Anna developed a love for the environment and public broadcasting. Show More Nick Tucker Nick uses his skills in communication, positioning and strategy to the production and promotion of Happen Films content. Growing up on the family dairy farm in southern England, Nick’s love for the outdoors – and the plants and creatures that live there – began early. Show More

This is the Happen Films Privacy Policy statement. PRIVACY POLICY This is the privacy notice of Happen Films Limited . In this document, “we”, “our”, or “us” refer to Happen Films . We are company number 9429047411630 registered in New Zealand . Our registered office is at 324 Wills Road, Upper Moutere, 7175. This privacy notice aims to inform you about how we collect and handle any information that we collect from you, or that you provide to us. It covers both information that could identify you (“personal information”) and information that could not. We are extremely concerned to protect your privacy and confidentiality. We understand that all users of our website are quite rightly concerned to know that their data will not be used for any purpose unintended by them, and will not accidentally fall into the hands of a third party. Our policy is both specific and strict. It complies with New Zealand law and with the laws of all jurisdictions of which we are aware . If you think our policy falls short of your expectations or that we are failing to abide by our policy, do get in touch by visiting the Contact page on this website . We regret that if there are one or more points below with which you are not happy, your only recourse is to leave our website immediately. Except as set out below, we do not share, or sell, or disclose to a third party, any personally identifiable information collected at our website. Privacy policy and notice Here is a list of the information we collect from you, either through our website or because you give it to us in some other way, and why it is necessary to collect it: Business and personal information This includes basic identification and contact information, such as your name and contact details and also includes all information given to us in the course of your business and ours, such as information you give us in your capacity as our client. We undertake to preserve the confidentiality of the information and of the terms of our relationship. It is not used for any other purpose. We expect you to reciprocate this policy. This information is used: to provide you with the services which you request; for verifying your identity for security purposes; for marketing our services and products; information which does not identify any individual may be used in a general way by us or third parties, to provide class information, for example relating to demographics or usage of a particular page or service. We keep information, which forms part of our business record for a minimum of seven years. That is because we may need it in some way to support a claim or defence in court. That is also the period within which our tax collecting authorities may demand to know it. Your domain name and e-mail address This information is recognised by our servers and the pages that you visit are recorded. We shall not under any circumstances, divulge your e-mail address to any person who is not an employee or contractor of ours and who does not need to know, either generally or specifically. This information is used: to correspond with you or deal with you as you expect; in a collective way not referable to any particular individual, for the purpose of quality control and improvement of our website; to send you news about the services to which you have signed up; to tell you about other of our services or services of sister websites. Information you post on our website Information you send to us by posting to the comments section, is stored on our servers. We do not specifically use that information except to allow it to be read, but you will see in our terms and conditions that we reserve a right to use it in any way we decide. Website usage information We may use software embedded in our website (such as JavaScript) to collect information about pages you view and how you have reached them, what you do when you visit a page, the length of time you remain on the page, and how we perform in providing content to you. We do not presently associate such information with an identifiable person. Financial information relating to your credit cards This information is never taken by us either through our website or otherwise. At the point of payment, you are transferred to a secure page on the website of Stripe or PayPal or another reputable payment service provider. That page may be dressed in our “livery”, but it is not controlled by us. Our staff and contractors never have access to it. Note on padlock symbols and other trust marks Many companies offer certification and an icon or other small graphic to prove to website visitors that the website is safe. Some certify to a high level of safety. Others are more concerned to take our money than to provide a useful service. We do not handle information about your credit card so do not subscribe to any such service. Credit reference To assist in combating fraud, we share information with credit reference agencies, so far as it relates to clients or customers who instruct their credit card issuer to cancel payment to us without having first provided an acceptable reason to us and given us the opportunity to refund their money. Third party advertising Third parties may advertise on our website. In doing so, those parties, their agents or other companies working for them may use technology that automatically collects your IP address when they send an advertisement that appears on our website to your browser. They may also use other technology such as cookies or JavaScript to personalise the content of, and to measure the performance of their adverts. We do not have control over these technologies or the data that these parties obtain. Accordingly, this privacy notice does not cover the information practices of these third parties. Third party content Our website is a publishing medium in that anyone may register and then publish information about themselves or some other person. We do not moderate or control what is posted. If you complain about any of the content on our website, we shall investigate your complaint. If we feel, it may be justified, we shall remove it while we investigate. Free speech is a fundamental right, so we have to make a judgment as to whose right will be obstructed: yours, or that of the person who posted the content which offends you. If we think, your complaint is vexatious or without any basis, we shall not correspond with you about it. Information we obtain from third parties Although we do not disclose your personal information to any third party (except as set out in this notice), we do receive data which is indirectly made up from your personal information, from software services such as Google Analytics and others. No such information is identifiable to you. Content you provide to us with a view to be used by third party If you provide information to us with a view to it being read, copied, downloaded, or used by other people, we accept no responsibility for what that third party may do with it. It is up to you to satisfy yourself about the privacy level of every person who might see your information. If it is available to the World, neither we nor you have any control whatsoever as to how it is used. Cookies Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer's hard drive through your web browser when you visit any website. They are widely used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the website. Like all other users of cookies, we may request the return of information from your computer when your browser requests a web page from our server. Cookies enable our web server to identify you to us, and to track your actions and the pages you visit while you use our website. The cookies we use may last for a single visit to our website (they are deleted from your computer when you close your browser), or may remain on your computer until you delete them or until a defined period of time has passed. Although your browser software enables you to disable cookies, we recommend that you allow the use of cookies in order to take advantage of the features of our website that rely on their use. If you prevent their use, you will not be able to use all the functionality of our website. Here are the ways we use cookies: to record whether you have accepted the use of cookies on our website. This is solely to comply with the law. If you have chosen not to accept cookies, we will not use cookies for your visit, but unfortunately, our website will also not work well for you. to allow essential parts of our website to operate for you. to operate our content management system. to operate the online notification form - the form that you use to contact us for any reason. This cookie is set on your arrival at our website and deleted when you close your browser. to enhance security on our contact form. It is set for use only through the contact form. This cookie is deleted when you close your browser. to collect information about how visitors use our website. We use the information to improve your experience of our website and enable us to increase sales. This cookie collects information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the website, where visitors have come to the website from, and the pages they visited. to record that a user has viewed a webcast. It collects information in an anonymous form. This cookie expires when you close your browser. to record your activity during a webcast. An example is as to whether you have asked a question or provided an opinion by ticking a box. This information is retained so that we can serve your information to you when you return to the website. This cookie will record an anonymous ID for each user, but it will not use the information for any other purpose. This cookie will last for [three] months, when it will be deleted automatically. to store your personal information so that you do not have to provide it afresh when you visit the website next time. This cookie will last for [90] days. to enable you to watch videos we have placed on YouTube. YouTube will not store personally identifiable cookie information when you use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. Sending a message to our support system When you send a message, we collect the data you have given to us in that message in order to obtain confirmation that you are entitled to receive the information and to provide to you the information you need. We record your request and our reply in order to increase the efficiency of our business / organisation. Complaining When we receive a complaint, we record all the information you have given to us. We use that information to resolve your complaint. If your complaint reasonably requires us to contact some other person, we may decide to give to that other person some of the information contained in your complaint. We do this as infrequently as possible, but it is a matter for our sole discretion as to whether we do give information, and if we do, what that information is. We may also compile statistics showing information obtained from this source to assess the level of service we provide, but not in a way that could identify you or any other person. Re-marketing We may use re-marketing from time to time. This involves Google or some other supplier placing a tag or marker on our website in order to be able to serve to you an advert for our products / services when you visit some other website. Use of the website by children We do not market to children, nor do we sell products or services for purchase by children. We do sell products and services for end use by children, but for purchase by adults. If you are under 18, you may use our website only with consent from a parent or guardian. Disclosure to Government and their agencies We are subject to the law like everyone else. We may be required to give information to legal authorities if they so request or if they have the proper authorisation such as a search warrant or court order. Compliance with the law This privacy policy has been compiled so as to comply with the law of every jurisdiction in which we aim to do business. If you think it fails to satisfy the law of your country, we would like to hear from you, but ultimately it is your choice as to whether you wish to use our website. Review or update personally identifiable information At any time you may review or update the personally identifiable information that we hold about you, by contacting us at the address below. To better safeguard your information, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections to your information. Removal of your information If you wish us to remove personally identifiable information from our website, you may contact us at happenfilms.com/contact . To better safeguard your information, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections to your information. Data may be “processed” outside New Zealand Our website is hosted in [country]. We also use outsourced services in countries outside New Zealand from time to time in other aspects of our business. [Specifically, our technical centre is based in [town, place]. Accordingly data obtained within the New Zealand may be “processed” outside New Zealand and data obtained in any other country may be processed within or outside that country. If you have any question regarding the privacy policy, please get in touch by visiting the Contact page on this website . Explanatory notes Notes referable to specific numbered paragraphs. 1 Business and Personal information This is information collected by most websites. What you do with it is obvious but including it here completes the picture. 2 Market place information To use if you take orders on your website for a third party. 3 Your domain name and e-mail address This is information collected by most websites. Basic and obvious. 4 Information you post on our website This is an area often omitted from suggested text, but it may be important. The fact that someone posts insensitive or forbidden or stupid information does not give you a licence to use it without care. However, well drawn terms and conditions will make clear that contractually you have a licence to use any such information as you decide. 5 Website usage information This information is unlikely to be personally identifiable. 6 Financial information relating to your credit cards In this and the following paragraphs we have given you several alternatives. Select the one that most accurately reflects the way you do business. 7 to 8 Alternative paragraphs. You can choose that suits you best. 9 Financial information about your direct debits Provides for direct debit arrangements and explains in plain English how they work. 10 Credit reference We sugge st that you leave this paragraph in place even if you have no immediate intention of liaising with debt collectors. It may be a useful reminder to users of your website. 11 Third party advertising This is a simple statement of the obvious. In practice, the demons that appear in our systems are usually cookies of some sort, placed by these third parties, often with the connivance of the webmaster of a site based far away. 15 Cookies You must identify what cookies you use and why so as to give a user of your website notice of what you are planting on his hard disk. It is particularly important to mention any cookie that may prove objectionable to someone. The purpose of this document is to tell those who might use your web site what will happen if they do. There are thousands of possible use of cookies. We have mentioned a few of the most obvious. Add your own. (Please tell us of any we have missed which are also obvious!) 16 to 28 . We have no comment on these paragraphs. Select which apply to you. 21 Remarketing “Remarketing” is the process whereby a visitor to your site is tagged and that tag picked up by Google or some other re-marketing service provider when your visitor goes to some other site that you have decided may be relevant to yours. If you are not immediately familiar with re-marketing, you should delete the provision. If you do use re-marketing, you should choose your words carefully in how you describe what may be regarded as an intrusive practice. More information is at: https://www.google.com/ads/innovations/remarketing.html 29 Data may be “processed” outside New Zealand It is important that this information is disclosed to comply with the law. End of notes. Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs – about how Happen Films is funded, how to buy our films and how to share and screen our films. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) Click on an item in the dropdown menu below to learn more about everything from purchasing a film, watching a film and sharing a film to trouble shooting and even what gear we currently use! How do I watch your films? Most of our films are free to view on YouTube and can also be watched from right here on our website. Check out Watch Films in the main menu. You can also purchase our films. Why? So that you have them permanently available on your device to view ad-free, offline! And so that you can hold a public screening event. For that you'll need a license. Visit the store for more information. I’ve purchased a film but don’t have a download link / can’t download it. What can I do? If you bought a mid-length or feature film from our Store you will have received a purchase receipt at the email address you provided (check your Spam folder if this didn’t reach you immediately). That email contains your download link. The link does not expire, so please keep the email, so that you can access it again if needed. To download the film, simply click on the link. You’ll be prompted to choose where to save it. If you bought a short film, you'll receive an automatic reply by email and we'll receive an alert about your purchase. As soon as that email is seen you'll be sent a download link in a second email. (Please allow two working days.) The download time will depend on the file size (i.e., whether you’ve bought a short film or a feature film) and your internet connection. Once downloaded, store the file on a hard drive, USB stick, or in a folder on your computer from which you can play it. If the download is failing, the most likely problem is that your internet connection is not reliable enough for this purpose. You could try asking a friend to download it and then transfer the file to a hard drive or USB stick. If that’s not an option, please get in touch using the form on the Contact page . To watch a film on your iPad or iPhone, you’ll need to download it to your computer and then sync it to your device. I’m screening in a cinema and they’ve requested a DCP file. In New Zealand and Australia we have a limited number of DCP files available for an additional $20 plus postage. Most cinemas require the film 1–2 weeks ahead of the screening date and we’ll need at least 2 weeks’ notice to get it to you. We don't have DCP files for films under 30 minutes in length. Can I use your short films on my website/in my educational course? If you mean you’d like to embed one of our YouTube videos on your website, we’d of course be very happy for you to do so! Please do not download and re-upload our films, with or without changes, to your own channel or website. We earn an important part of our income from YouTube ad revenue and you would be taking our creative work for your own profit. Thanks for not doing this! If you'd like to upload one of our films for course attendees to access, then we will charge a small fee for usage. In this case, please get in touch using the form on the Contact page including info about the course, the number of people expected to be accessing it, and what you charge. If you have other plans for using our films in an educational or entry-cost setting, send us a message from the Contact page with full details. What are the films rated? Living the Change is officially rated PG and The New Peasants is rated M. The rest of our films are exempt from rating due to being documentaries containing no offensive language. Do the films have subtitles? Our budget hasn’t extended to professional subtitling, but we have a wonderful team of volunteer translators from around the world who have contributed translations to some of our films. Check the film page to find subtitles available for download or go to YouTube to watch the film, where there may be more available. If you’re interested in adding subtitles, send us a message from the Contact page and we can send you the English subtitles with time code stamps. Are you interested in corporate branding collaborations? No, but thanks for asking! While our YouTube videos are monetised (meaning an ad plays at the beginning of each film – a critical income source for us), we choose not to collaborate with corporate brands or to sell products via our films. We don’t plan on changing our minds about this – even if your product is super-duper eco awesomeness – so we wish you well with your own business but request that you don’t email us offering a collaboration. Thanks again! How is Happen Films funded? We have a whole page about this! Click this link to head to the How is Happen Films Funded? webpage . What gear do you use? Our gear is the part of our lives that causes us the most conflict! For that reason, we prioritise buying secondhand wherever possible (obviously not batteries, nor hard drives). Our current gear is as follows: Main video camera: Canon C70 Lenses: Canon 16-35mm f/4, Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8; Sigma 50mm f/1.4; Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 External monitor: SmallHD Focus Audio: Sennheiser G4 wireless system, Sanken COS-11D lav mics, Sound Devices Mix-pre 3 ii audio recorder Tripod: Manfrotto 290 xtra with 701 HDV fluid head Stabiliser: DJI RS 3 Pro Editing computer: 2023 Macbook Pro Editing software: Final Cut Pro X Editing harddrive: Synology NAS What community guidelines do you operate under on social media? In order to create a positive and engaging environment within the Happen Films social media community, we ask that everyone treats each other with respect. While at times people within this community might disagree with ideas expressed by others, all opinions and viewpoints are welcome. However, insults, threats or harassment of other people or organisations, offensive statements and illegal content will not be tolerated. Happen Films reserves its right to delete – to the extent that each respective social media platform allows – any post or comment that is defamatory, indecent, hateful, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, sexist, disgraceful, vulgar, or inappropriate; and unintelligible or irrelevant posts. We love to hear from you and encourage comments, critiques, questions, and suggestions. This is an ethos in direct correlation to People Care, a Permaculture Ethic we frame our lives by.

Host a screening of a Happen Films documentary for your community. Learn how to hold a film screening and how to purchase a screening licence. HOST A SCREENING Film screenings are a great way to connect with your community and can be the perfect starting place for building local resilience. While most of our films are freely available on YouTube, if you’re holding an event you’ll need a public screening licence. Buy a screening license Why hold a screening? There are many benefits to hosting a film screening. You could use the event as a fundraiser for a project, political party or school; as an entertaining way to raise awareness about local environmental/community issues; as a way to bring members of your community together who might not otherwise meet; or, hey, just for fun! We’ve kept our licence fees low to be as accessible as possible to all communities. Please let us know if your situation isn’t met within the options we offer. Which films can I screen? Nearly all of our films, with a few exceptions, are available on our Store. Below you’ll find links to purchase a license for specific films. The New Peasants (66 minutes) Ben & bEartha: A Community’s Compost Love Story (39 mins) Together We Grow (38 mins) Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest (30 mins) Living the Change: Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future (85 mins) A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity (79 mins) One or more short films for free events (<20 mins) (see the Store for a list of films that are not available) Frequently Asked Questions What happens at a film screening? You have lots of scope to create anything from a simple screening event through to a night filled with activities. If your aim is to create community connection and/or to raise awareness about local issues, here are some suggestions: Include a panel discussion after the film, inviting local experts to speak on the film’s subject. Show a collection of short films all around one theme – e.g.: “Tiny House film night”, “Be the Change film night”, “Permaculture Gardens film night” etc. If space allows, invite local groups to promote/share their wares, e.g., the local herb society could provide tea & coffee; the local seed library could set up a stand; local permaculture or organics educators/growers/farmers could have a table with flyers or samples of their produce, etc. These are all great ways that we’ve practised ourselves to create connections within our community at the same time as providing entertainment and time out. Why do I need a licence to screen films that are free to view online? As a rule, any public film screening, whether or not to a paying audience, requires licensing. If you’re screening our free-to-view films from YouTube there is, of course, nothing stopping you from doing so without a licence. However, when you purchase a download of our films, you receive a high-quality version that doesn’t require an internet connection to view and contains no ads. Importantly, you’re also supporting us to make more films. How do I purchase a licence? Click here to visit the Store page on this website to see the screening options we offer. Feature films, short films, and collections of short films are all available for purchase. See the FAQs page for details about film files. What do I receive upon payment? You’ll receive a link to a high-quality digital download of the film along with screening tips and a PDF invoice. If you’re purchasing The New Peasants , Living the Change , Fools & Dreamers , Together We Grow or Ben & bEartha you’ll also receive promotional materials and a press pack. Have a question about screening our films? Feel free to send us a message from the Contact page ! We’re happy to help. Photos by Wild Feet Productions

Find out about how Happen Films is funded and how we access funds from different sources like philanthropic funding, audience donations and YouTube ad revenue. HOW IS HAPPEN FILMS FUNDED? This is a question we’re often asked when people learn we choose not to take conventional film funding routes and make most of our films free to view. It’s a big subject for us and the ethics around how we fund our lives and our business have been deeply thought about. How do you make ends meet? We refer to our funding model as Community Supported Filmmaking, because we are almost entirely reliant on our audience for the funding of both our films and of Happen Films as a business. For the sake of resilience, we don’t have all our eggs in one basket; our sources of income while we were making films from 2015–2025 were Patreon, Open Collective, YouTube ad revenue, screening licences, and one-off donations. How are funds used? Our major costs are the usual ones for a film production house, with the less usual element that we prioritse buying film gear secondhand (except for batteries and hard drives). The conflict between our films’ messages and the high energy/mining/waste involved in creating the gear we use is not lost on us and each purchase is thoughtfully made. (If you’re in film yourself and have a geeky interest in the gear we use, we’ve added the list on the FAQs page .) As we both lead relatively simple lifestyles we haven't needed to fund luxuries. We paid ourselves a good wage whenever the business could afford it and contractors received standard industry rates. From 2022–2025 we committed to two paid employees working a few hours each a week. The rest of our costs, outside of film production itself, go to platforms that enable the maintenance of this website, cloud file storage, subscriptions for editing and other post-production programmes and music libraries, and of course our accountancy programme and fees, gear insurance, and general home office costs. It all inevitably mounts up, even when you think of your business as tiny! In total, our monthly outgoings in our last few years making films amounted to between NZ$7000 and $10,000, not counting film production, where each film has a separate budget. Usually NZ$15–20,000 for a short film and NZ$40–80,000 for longer-form films. Ethics We want to live in a world in which all of Earth’s creatures can thrive in the way they’re meant to. At present this feels far from the reality of the world we live in but we try to live our lives in a way that contributes to making it possible. We’re white, middle class, educated, and a great deal of privilege and responsibility comes with those things. We were born and raised and live in countries that were colonised by our ancestors – Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. We don’t believe colonisation ended sometime in the past – we see that it continues around us and that we can easily play a part in its continuation if we’re thoughtless enough. We’re committed to being allies to indigenous cultures wherever we are, and we have much to learn for that commitment to be in action. Part of the learning is understanding whose stories it’s appropriate for us to tell and how to tell those stories respectfully. This is a constant work in progress. We came to filmmaking with a mission to share stories that contribute to creating a new narrative for humanity to live by. It’s profoundly important to us, but it’s not a mission that sits above our drive to create beautiful, engaging films – it’s on a par with it. We live in a way that is aligned with the message we share in our films: low waste, minimal long-distance travel, growing as much of our own food as possible, and we prioritise secondhand and/or local for pretty much everything except underwear 🙂 We strive to be useful and connected members of our communities and we support initiatives and movements that promote a move towards energy descent and a degrowth economy. We welcome your questions about Happen Films, whatever they might be. Please feel free to be in touch! Photos by Wild Feet Productions

Contact us at Happen Films with your questions and suggestions. GET IN TOUCH Your questions, comments, or your simple hello are welcome 🙂 Before you start though, a couple of things… We are currently not making new films. Keep an eye on the website and YouTube channel to know about any new films coming after 2026. Therefore, we're not receiving new project pitches. Thanks for thinking about us though! If you’d like to hold a public screening of one of our films, visit the Host a Screening page or the Store for details about screening licences. You’ll find info on the FAQs page about download issues, sharing our films, and much more. If you still have a query or comment, Antoinette looks forward to hearing from you. Write away! Watch our films PLEASE NOTE: Are you writing with a branding collaboration pitch? Happen Films doesn’t do brand collaborations or have sponsored videos in any of our films, even when the products seem completely aligned. Thanks for thinking of us though! Your name Your email Subject Your message * Required Submit message Your message has been submitted Your name* Email* Subject Your message* Submit message Photo by Wild Feet Productions

Read the Happen Films Accessibility and Inclusivity statement. ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVITY At Happen Films, we’re committed to making our films and this website accessible to everyone and inclusive of all. We’re actively learning in this space and acknowledge all the learning still to come, so let us know how we’re doing. You can use the form on this page at any time to send us feedback, highlight areas that need more work, and help us better serve your needs! How are we doing? Use the form below to provide any feedback about how we can improve accessibility. Your name Your email Subject Your message * Required Submit message Your message has been submitted Our commitment to accessibility and inclusivity “Through our work, we want to make a tangible impact. Not just through films that inspire us to live more simply on the planet, but in embracing and encouraging a culture of inclusivity and diversity.” Antoinette Wilson & Jordan Osmond, Happen Films More inclusive representation Part of that commitment is to continuously strive to represent a wider range of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, and physical abilities. We want to more inclusively represent our audience, enable more people to see themselves reflected in our work, and make it easier to access that work. One step towards this goal has been in making changes to this website to make it more navigable and readable for people of all abilities and preferences, and in all situations. It’s a work in progress, so please bear with us as we learn what is needed to truly meet everyone’s needs! Audio-described film versions We’ve released two films with audio description (AD). Fools & Dreamers and Together We Grow can now be played with full AD , making them more accessible for people with visual impairment or those wanting to listen, not watch. Our aim is to continue adding this feature to future films where we can, along with closed captions (CC) in one or more languages, and we’ve already started to build this into film budgets. Whose stories are ours to tell? Another step is for us to consider inclusivity as part of the pre-production process for each film, and in how we operate as a company in general. Whose stories are ours to tell and what is the most appropriate way to tell them? Whose stories are missing from our past work? In what ways can our films express our commitment to being good Treaty partners (Tangata Tiriti) in Aotearoa New Zealand? We welcome your thoughts about the ways we can achieve these goals, and how you feel about the changes we’re making. All feedback is welcome – use the form on this page at any time. 🙂 Working to improve accessibility and inclusivity Implementing the changes we want to make is a big process and will take time. Below is a list of what we’ve done so far towards meeting our accessibility and inclusivity goals, what we’re currently working on, and what’s in the pipeline for the future. Work completed so far New brand identity fully compliant with W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 to meet AA standards for colour contrast. Release of first Happen Films audio-described films. Improvements that are in progress Fixing heading structure, adding alt-tags, and readability issues across the Happen Films website. Including funding for audio-described versions in budget proposals for all new films. Building stronger relationships with those sectors of our community who have been poorly represented in our films to date. A list of future work What would you like to see here? Please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

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Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Our new feature-length documentary The New Peasants Other films you might like Simple Living, Permaculture, Community, Urban Living 12 mins A Day in the Life of Woody A Day in the Life of Woody showcases the unschooled life of 11-year-old Blackwood, a boy who has been schooled from home all his life. Community, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Farming 12 mins From Weedy Forests to Grassy Woodlands A film exploring how the simple practice of grazing goats on wild lands can lead to a healthier forest and a more connected community. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Urban Living 12 mins Creatures of Place This family live an incredibly simple life, yet they have an abundance in so many things – food, community, time to create a beautiful life. Share your thoughts about The New Peasants Which film are you commenting on? Your name or username Your comment * Required Submit comment Your comment has been submitted “ Martin Shaw, author of Smokehole “ Uncle Charles Davison, Jen Ridley and family “ David Holmgren, permaculture co-originator “ Su Dennett, permaculture elder “ Helena Norberg-Hodge, filmmaker, writer, activist Thank you! This film was made possible through the generous financial support of the Biome Trust with assistance from The Gift Trust . How to watch The New Peasants can be rented from Kinema and will soon be available on a broad range of platforms, including online libraries that provide free access to members. We’ll update the website with those details as they become available. Rent the film Streaming Platforms (we will add new platforms as they come available) Shelter Hold your own screening How about bringing together friends and acquaintances to view the film in a community hall or local cinema? Meg, Patrick and Woody, who feature in the film, are often generously available to video call in to these events, if the time zones align. Buy a screening licence If you're intention is to hold an online screening or you'd like access to a ticketing platform and promotional tools, you can also purchase a screening licence from Kinema (this option is also best for schools, universities, councils and other government organisations). Contact us if you have any questions about hosting a screening. You can also visit our Host a Screening page for more info. Scroll down to view three short films we've previously made about this wonderful family. Financed with the assistance of Documentary Australia "With this documentary Happen Films are revealed as masters of their craft honed over the years through an ethos of DIY minimalism to create a powerful and loving portrait of life lived to the full in the relationship to place, kin and community." – David Holmgren, permaculture co-originator What happens when the values of the culture you’ve always known no longer align with how you see the world? The New Peasants offers an intimate look into the life of Meg, Patrick, Zephyr, and Woody. A family who, for 20 years, have been transitioning away from modern industrial culture toward a radically simple, sustainable, and beautiful way of life. Concerns about the industrial food system and environmental crises provided the family’s initial motivation to live differently. Now it’s 15 years since they’ve eaten from a supermarket or owned a car. The household, living intentionally below the poverty line and meeting 80% of their needs without using money, is nonetheless rich in so many ways. Wealth is found in their cellar of preserved foods, connections with community, saved seeds, homesteading skills and the time to focus on what really matters in life. Yet the decision to live this way has brought profound challenges for their family, in the form of their eldest son’s encounters with the law. These experiences have produced immense grief, but, in the end, also great joy. This film shares the unfolding journey of a family rejecting the mainstream culture and working to create a new one. A culture and economy that draw on ways of the past while stepping joyfully into the future. For everything they’ve let go, something has been gained. With every challenge, something learned. This is one family’s response to the predicament of our time, offering an inspiring glimpse into the kind of future, culture, and economy we can create. This family’s way of living shows that transformative change begins at the home and community level and that we can all participate in creating a better world. "A gorgeous film about wealth, just not the kind you may expect. The nobility of peasantry is in full effect throughout this lovingly crafted work. Brave, funny, kind, proper. Amen to the handmade life!" – Martin Shaw author of Smokehole "Overwhelmingly beautiful portrayal of lives lived with purpose, beauty and courage in all its rawness, pain and worthiness." – Su Dennett, permaculture elder "A resplendent open window into the lived experiences of conscious simplification, connection to land and intentional community compass." – Uncle Charles Davison, Jen Ridley and family "The New Peasants offers an engaging and inspiring insight into one family’s response to the predicament of our times." – Helena Norberg-Hodge, writer and filmmaker Community, Farming, Food & Gardening, Homes & Building, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste About The New Peasants 66 mins “ A gorgeous film about wealth, just not the kind you may expect. The nobility of peasantry is in full effect throughout this lovingly crafted work. Brave, funny, kind, proper. Amen to the handmade life! Martin Shaw, author of Smokehole Direct message ” “ A resplendent open window into the lived experiences of conscious simplification, connection to land and intentional community compass. Uncle Charles Davison, Jen Ridley and family Direct message ” “ With this documentary Happen Films are revealed as masters of their craft honed over the years through an ethos of DIY minimalism to create a powerful and loving portrait of life lived to the full in the relationship to place, kin and community. David Holmgren, permaculture co-originator Direct message ” “ Overwhelmingly beautiful portrayal of lives lived with purpose, beauty and courage in all its rawness, pain and worthiness. Su Dennett, permaculture elder Direct message ” “ The New Peasants offers an engaging and inspiring insight into one family’s local response to the predicament of our times. Helena Norberg-Hodge, filmmaker, writer, activist Direct message ” Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Watch all of Happen Films documentaries about simple living, sustainable living, community resilience. ALL FILMS Browse all films Here you'll find all the films we released from 2015 to 2025 – short films, mid-length films, feature films. Our films cover a huge variety of topics under the Happen Films umbrella themes of community resilience, living simply, and transitioning to a more beautiful world. There's something here for everyone! Filter options: Use the buttons below to filter the list of films. You can select more than one option, and click again to deselect. Mid-length (21–40 mins) Short (0–20 mins) Feature (+40 mins) Community Economy Farming Food & Gardening Homes & Building Mindfulness Permaculture Regenerating Nature Simple Living Urban Living Zero Waste Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature 15 Years of Limestone Permaculture Farm 12 mins Limestone Permaculture Farm is a 1-acre property in Stroud Road, NSW, Australia. This is our third film with them! Community, Farming, Food & Gardening, Homes & Building, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste The New Peasants 66 mins Our new feature film won Best Environmental Documentary at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2025. Food & Gardening, Homes & Building, Permaculture The Plummery, 5-year Revisit 12 mins In this film we revisit The Plummery, the 100sq/m backyard garden in inner-city Melbourne where Kat Lavers lives and gardens. Regenerating Nature, Food & Gardening, Community Rongoā Māori 11 mins Rongoā is the healing practice and an essential element of the worldview of Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. Simple Living, Permaculture, Community, Urban Living A Day in the Life of Woody 12 mins A Day in the Life of Woody showcases the unschooled life of 11-year-old Blackwood, a boy who has been schooled from home all his life. Mindfulness Flute Making and Human Making 17 mins A mediation on the unexpected similarities to be found between making a beautiful Japanese shakuhachi flute and making a beautiful human. Community, Food & Gardening, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Economy, Urban Living Being the Change at 85 13 mins Helen Dew is an 85-year-old activist with a passion for gardening, community resilience, biochar, seed saving and living simply. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Urban Living The City Food Commons 12 mins The commons has been an almost-forgotten concept, and yet once provided so much community resilience. This film showcases a new approach. Permaculture, Simple Living, Homes & Building, Community Strawbale Dream Home 25 mins Follow Adam and Sian as they build their traditional timber frame home combining timber joinery, strawbale and cob. Zero Waste, Urban Living, Simple Living The Rubbish Trip 17 mins What does it mean to be on the zero waste journey? And why is it important for us each to take personal responsibility for our waste? Zero Waste, Community, Urban Living, Food & Gardening Ben & bEartha: A Community's Compost Love Story 39 mins Follow the remarkable journey of a passionate man making composting at a community-wide scale not just a dream but the real thing. Regenerating Nature, Food & Gardening Fishing for the Future 17 mins A small-scale, thoughtful and ethical approach to fishing our oceans is possible – this family is leading the way. Permaculture, Food & Gardening, Urban Living, Regenerating Nature Growing Wild Together 16 mins We revisit the food forest we filmed five years ago to discover what's changed and how much more wild it's all become – plants and people! Food & Gardening, Community, Permaculture, Urban Living Together We Grow: The Story of Common Unity 39 mins Learn the variety of ways this community comes together to help those in need to have access to great food and meaningful connections Community, Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture Hua Parakore 8 mins Hua Parakore encapsulates the principles behind growing food from a te ao Māori – Māori worldview perspective. Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature The Food Forest Farmers 24 mins What role do humans play in Earth's ecosystems and how can we be good stewards of the land? This film showcases syntropic farming as a way. Community, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Farming From Weedy Forests to Grassy Woodlands 12 mins A film exploring how the simple practice of grazing goats on wild lands can lead to a healthier forest and a more connected community. Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Farming Limestone Permaculture Tour #3 17 mins Our second film with Brett and Nici of Limestone Permaculture, and the third film in our Permaculture Tours series. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Regenerating Nature Melliodora Tour 11 mins A tour of David Holmgren and Su Dennett's 1-hectare permaculture paradise – explore the home and garden of the co-founder of permaculture. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Urban Living An Invitation for Wildness 20 mins The Guytons have made a name for themselves as forest gardeners. In this first of two films we tour the forest when it is 23 years old. Regenerating Nature, Simple Living Fools & Dreamers 30 mins Does regenerating a native forest mean hundreds of staff or volunteers planting individual tress? What about leaving it to nature? Community, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Urban Living A Life with Less Waste 8 mins What secrets does this family hold to reducing individual impact on the planet by reducing family waste streams? Permaculture, Food & Gardening How to Make Seaweed Gomasio 11 mins A step by step guide to foraging for edible seaweeds at your local beach and making gomasio to season your meals. Permaculture, Community, Food & Gardening, Simple Living, Urban Living The Plummery 8 mins Find out how to grow an abundance of fruit and vegetables even when you have a tiny backyard garden in the middle of a busy city. Permaculture, Simple Living, Urban Living, Zero Waste, Food & Gardening, Community, Economy Degrowth in the Suburbs 15 mins What does sustainable living in the city look like? This film explores the different methods one family employs to reduce their impact. Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Urban Living Abdallah House 14 mins A tour of a very small urban section that has been developed using permaculture principles to make best use of the space. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Urban Living Creatures of Place 12 mins This family live an incredibly simple life, yet they have an abundance in so many things – food, community, time to create a beautiful life. Community, Simple Living, Regenerating Nature, Urban Living, Permaculture, Economy, Farming, Food & Gardening, Homes & Building, Zero Waste Living the Change 86 mins Living the Change is a feature-length documentary that explores solutions to the global crises we face today. Farming, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature Restoring Paradise 8 mins A short film showcases Mangarara Farm, where holistic grazing practices are regenerating the land to the biodiverse fields that once were. Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture The Future of Food 5 mins Frank and Josje discuss Community Supported Agriculture as a sustainable and viable food system for the future. Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste Closing the Loop 7 mins Learn about how this couple manages their composting toilet, why it's so important, and how easy it is! Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Urban Living Urban Abundance 5 mins This couple have turned their urban back yard into beautiful neat rows of market garden and help others to garden in their own back yards. Simple Living, Homes & Building The Handmade Housetruck 12 mins Explore the simple life and beautiful home of this couple in their beautiful off-grid handmade tiny house truck, built with love and skill. Community, Permaculture, Simple Living, Homes & Building Living Simply in an Off-Grid Tiny House 6 mins Living simply in just 20 square metres this family has found a different way of living that helps them to feel more sustained and content. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste A Simpler Way 78 mins What would it look like to live within Earth's available resources? This group came together to explore a one-world-footprint lifestyle. Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Economy From Finance to Farmer 15 mins Explore the beautiful food forest Andrew Martin has created from a paddock of grass, and learn all the reasons why he's doing so. Simple Living, Homes & Building Off-Grid Tiny House on Wheels 17 mins This 17-minute tiny house tour takes us through all the highs and lows of building a tiny house on wheels. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Urban Living The Food Is Free Laneway 4 mins A film showcasing Lou and the Food is Free Laneway she initiated alongside her house, following the principles of #foodisfree. Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture Purple Pear Permaculture Farm 6 mins A tour of Purple Pear Farm, where permaculture principles and biodynamic farming guide the management of gardens and animals. Community, Simple Living, Permaculture, Homes & Building, Zero Waste $420 Tiny House 4 mins This film showcases the build of a very tiny house, built using reclaimed materials by a couple with no previous building experience. Simple Living, Homes & Building Earthbag Timelapse 2 mins A 3-minute time lapse showing the build of an earthbag tiny house built by unskilled labourers at Wurruk'an, in Gippsland, Australia. Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature Limestone Permaculture Tour #1 13 mins The first of two Happen Films tours of well known Limestone Permaculture Farm, where an abundance of food and medicine is grown on 1 acre. Community, Permaculture, Simple Living, Homes & Building Building a Beautiful, Rustic Tiny House 8 mins Meet Taj as she gives a tour and describes living simply in this 10 sq metre tiny house built using reclaimed materials. Community, Permaculture, Simple Living Agari Permaculture Farm 4 mins A short film showcasing Agari Permaculture Farm, a place for exploring natural building and permaculture.

Happen Films makes inspiring eco documentaries about sustainability, resilience and people making change for a more beautiful world. STORIES FOR A MORE BEAUTIFUL WORLD We are impact storytellers And we believe in the power of documentary film to tell compelling, engaging stories. Stories to inspire change. To share wisdom. To shift us toward an ecological culture, and a more beautiful world. From 2015 to 2025 we shared the stories of passionate people who are sowing the seeds of a more beautiful world, in their own lives and in their communities. In 2026 we've paused our work for the foreseeable, but our films remain available to watch here and on YouTube. To share our films in community events, we have screening licences available from our Store. We have 44 films that are free to watch at home – so come on in and be inspired! We are impact storytellers STORIES FOR A MORE BEAUTIFUL WORLD 44 Films 67M Views 556k Followers “ A gorgeous film about wealth, just not the kind you may expect. The nobility of peasantry is in full effect throughout this lovingly crafted work. Brave, funny, kind, proper. Amen to the handmade life! Martin Shaw, author of Smokehole Direct message ” “ A resplendent open window into the lived experiences of conscious simplification, connection to land and intentional community compass. Uncle Charles Davison, Jen Ridley and family Direct message ” “ With this documentary Happen Films are revealed as masters of their craft honed over the years through an ethos of DIY minimalism to create a powerful and loving portrait of life lived to the full in the relationship to place, kin and community. David Holmgren, permaculture co-originator Direct message ” “ Overwhelmingly beautiful portrayal of lives lived with purpose, beauty and courage in all its rawness, pain and worthiness. Su Dennett, permaculture elder Direct message ” “ The New Peasants offers an engaging and inspiring insight into one family’s local response to the predicament of our times. Helena Norberg-Hodge, filmmaker, writer, activist Direct message ” Our new feature-length documentary The New Peasants Our new feature film won Best Environmental Documentary at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2025. Watch this film WATCH OUR LATEST FILM RECENT SHORT FILMS Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature 12 mins 15 Years of Limestone Permaculture Farm Limestone Permaculture Farm is a 1-acre property in Stroud Road, NSW, Australia. This is our third film with them! Food & Gardening, Homes & Building, Permaculture 12 mins The Plummery, 5-year Revisit In this film we revisit The Plummery, the 100sq/m backyard garden in inner-city Melbourne where Kat Lavers lives and gardens. Regenerating Nature, Food & Gardening, Community 11 mins Rongoā Māori Rongoā is the healing practice and an essential element of the worldview of Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. Simple Living, Permaculture, Community, Urban Living 12 mins A Day in the Life of Woody A Day in the Life of Woody showcases the unschooled life of 11-year-old Blackwood, a boy who has been schooled from home all his life. LATEST MID-LENGTH FILMS Permaculture, Simple Living, Homes & Building, Community 25 mins Strawbale Dream Home Follow Adam and Sian as they build their traditional timber frame home combining timber joinery, strawbale and cob. Zero Waste, Community, Urban Living, Food & Gardening 39 mins Ben & bEartha: A Community's Compost Love Story Follow the remarkable journey of a passionate man making composting at a community-wide scale not just a dream but the real thing. Food & Gardening, Community, Permaculture, Urban Living 39 mins Together We Grow: The Story of Common Unity Learn the variety of ways this community comes together to help those in need to have access to great food and meaningful connections Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature 24 mins The Food Forest Farmers What role do humans play in Earth's ecosystems and how can we be good stewards of the land? This film showcases syntropic farming as a way. OUR FEATURE FILMS Community, Farming, Food & Gardening, Homes & Building, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste 66 mins The New Peasants Our new feature film won Best Environmental Documentary at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2025. Community, Simple Living, Regenerating Nature, Urban Living, Permaculture, Economy, Farming, Food & Gardening, Homes & Building, Zero Waste 86 mins Living the Change Living the Change is a feature-length documentary that explores solutions to the global crises we face today. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste 78 mins A Simpler Way What would it look like to live within Earth's available resources? This group came together to explore a one-world-footprint lifestyle. “ Jordan and Antoinette, thank you, thank you so much for bringing us this knowledge. @sharonadlam3195 YouTube ” “ You and the stories you tell are an inspiration for all of us, we are following you from the Sahrawi refugee camps in southwest Algeria, and we learn from your experience, we are also working hard to grow food in the desert, our community really needs access to local food and we working slowly to get it done the right way. Keep up the good work and keep sharing the beauty and love you see in this world. @Motif Art Studio YouTube ” “ I have now watched a number of your videos. As a gardener, seedsman and garden educator, I think these are brilliant. Clearly presented, visually engaging and very inspiring. @syalutsa YouTube ” “ It's awesome what you do, Happen Films! You inspire me A LOT! @umrespiro Instagram ” “ I'm so happy I found this channel. Your documentaries are stunning - thank you! This is the way of the future. @mathildamoon2100 YouTube ” “ Thank you for your enlightening information, you have changed my perspective. Keep inspiring a better more meaningful way. Anthony Patreon ” “ These films inspired me ten years ago and they continue to inspire me today. @shaelinwood8165 YouTube ” “ I love your work. I watch your documentaries over and over! Thank you! @claudiavarino2712 YouTube ” “ I love your films. I love the people you’re filming. Thanks for inspiring us to remember who we are as Nature Beings. Maya GiveForms ” “ Your work was a great eye-opener for me, thanks for your great green stories. Lena GiveForms ” “ Thank you for your gorgeous films, I'm learning so much and you've piqued my curiosity to go and learn more! Greatly appreciated. Mary YouTube ” “ These videos give me hope and make me dream of what I can do. They show me there are people doing the right thing. Thank you. Leah YouTube ” “ I have been going through each of your films on YouTube and want to say thank you for the inspiration you share with others! Rose Patreon ” “ I have been learning so much from watching your films and videos. It has helped me to reflect on the state of our world and to give form to thoughts that I had intuitively within me but that your films helped to shape and bring clarity to. Laura Email ” “ Your work is so inspiring and a light to navigate important change! Thank you! Laura Patreon ” “ 'Living the Change' has just given me such a deep and profound inspiration to change how I choose to live my life. Thank you so much for creating this and sharing it with the world. @alwaysaboutthejourney YouTube ” “ Thank you for the awakening and inspiration! Chad GiveForms ” “ Thank you for releasing your art for free. It is a testament to your interviewing and editing skills that 'Living the Change' explains so many complicated systems and their interactions so clearly and concisely. @KenTanis YouTube ” “ Living the Change' film has become the catalyst in my action to build a food forest on the property left to me by my late father. Permaculture farming here I come! @rbsax YouTube ” “ I love your work. I watch your documentaries over and over! Thank you! @claudiavarino2712 Patreon ” “ These films inspired me ten years ago and they continue to inspire me today. @shaelinwood8165 YouTube ” “ So proud of humans like you guys - thank you for inspiring me and so many others - you guys rock! Lorna GiveForms ” “ Long time fan of your work - thank you for all the information and inspiration! Dorene GiveForms ” “ There's no way I can watch one of your films and not feel inspired. @suburbanhomestead YouTube ” “ As a cinematographer myself, I really appreciate the artistic flavour of motion imagery... And of course, the content is educational, entertaining and most importantly it is inspiring! @whiteroomfd YouTube ” “ Your films are absolutely beautiful, real jewels of hope for the future. @odiepapa6033 YouTube ” “ A few years ago I watched a video about food forest on your channel. I was extremely inspired, and started my own organic indigenous food forest because of it! After 3 years of hard work, it's finally starting to look like a permaculture but it will take a lifetime to accomplish. Thank you, it changed my life! @Im-just-Stardust YouTube ”

Full-length interview with Charles Eisenstein from the film Living the Change CHARLES EISENSTEIN EXTENDED INTERVIEW << Previous Interview Next Interview >> Find out more about Charles Eisenstein https://charleseisenstein.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4zGuuCE5Yk https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/mar/09/we-need-regenerative-farming-not-geoengineering Description Charles is a speaker and writer focusing on themes of human culture and identity. He is the author of several books, most recently Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible . His background includes a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Yale, a decade in Taiwan as a translator, and stints as a college instructor, a yoga teacher, and a construction worker. He currently writes and speaks full-time. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and four children. “Going around New Zealand making a film … like that’s not gonna get you anywhere, that’s irrational, impractical, unrealistic…” Lots of people have asked about our interview with Charles Eisenstein for Living the Change – only a few minutes of the awesome 1.5-hour interview made it into the film so we thought we’d share it all with you. Have a listen to get the full picture of that quote. Below is a list of questions we asked Charles and the timecode they are answered in the video: 1:06 – What are the ‘old story’ and ‘new story’ that you describe in your writing? 14:37 – Where does the sense that a better world is possible come from? 19:16 – What guides us in the space between stories to creating the new story? 21:11 – How did the world get to where it is now? 28:20 – Do you think advancements in technology can solve the problems we’re facing? 33:50 – Do you see the current money system as a symptom of separation? 37:50 – What could an alternative system look like? Would the current system need to collapse to make way for the new? 43:24 – Can individual action create big change? 48:14 – What is the wound of separation and how do we see it expressed in society? 54:32 – What do you advise people to do in times of not knowing what to do? 1:01:33 – Can doing nothing take you to a place of knowing what to do? 1:06:39 – When you imagine the new story, what does it look like? Community 70 mins Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest Fools & Dreamers Other films you might like Regenerating Nature, Food & Gardening 17 mins Fishing for the Future A small-scale, thoughtful and ethical approach to fishing our oceans is possible – this family is leading the way. Community, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Farming 12 mins From Weedy Forests to Grassy Woodlands A film exploring how the simple practice of grazing goats on wild lands can lead to a healthier forest and a more connected community. Permaculture, Simple Living, Urban Living, Zero Waste, Food & Gardening, Community, Economy 15 mins Degrowth in the Suburbs What does sustainable living in the city look like? This film explores the different methods one family employs to reduce their impact. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Urban Living 12 mins Creatures of Place This family live an incredibly simple life, yet they have an abundance in so many things – food, community, time to create a beautiful life. Share your thoughts about the film Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest Which film are you commenting on? Your name or username Your comment * Required Submit comment Your comment has been submitted “ @phyllisgenetti9970 “ @p_aulwhite “ @yobrvldas “ @anroburger7689 “ @small.footprints.aotearoa Thank you! This film was made possible through the generous financial support of the Biome Trust with assistance from The Gift Trust . Festival selections: Find out more about Hinewai Nature Reserve and Hugh Wilson: • Visit the Hinewai Reserve website • Read about the film in the media • The beautiful soundtrack to Fools & Dreamers , composed by Karl Steven and Ariana Tikao, is available for purchase as an album on Bandcamp . All proceeds from sales will be donated to Hinewai Reserve. Support Hinewai Nature Reserve: The work at Hinewai Reserve is made possible in part due to generous donations from people all over the world. If you’d like to make a contribution, big or small, you can do so using the PayPal donate button (you don’t need a PayPal account, just a credit card) or by bank transfer/cheque using the details below. Direct credit: Maurice White Native Forest Trust BNZ Akaroa 02 0832 0044225 00 Cheque: Maurice White Native Forest Trust Hinewai Reserve 632 Long Bay Road R.D.3 Akaroa 7583 New Zealand Subtitles Most of our subtitles are generated by YouTube (English) or created by volunteers. We try to make time to correct YouTube's English but for other languages we can't control the quality, sorry! Download your preferred language and upload it via your media player. Fools & Dreamers - English Fools & Dreamers - Spanish If you'd like to volunteer to create subtitles in your language, please contact us ! Audio Description An audio description (AD) version of this film is also available. Click this link to download the AD version of the Fools & Dreamers film . Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest is a 30-minute documentary about Hinewai Nature Reserve, on New Zealand’s Banks Peninsula, and its kaitiaki/manager of 30 years, botanist Hugh Wilson. When, in 1987, Hugh let the local community know of his plans to allow the introduced ‘weed’ gorse to grow as a nurse canopy to regenerate farmland into native forest, people were not only skeptical but outright angry – the plan was the sort to be expected only of “fools and dreamers”. Now considered a hero locally and across the country, Hugh oversees 1500 hectares resplendent in native forest, where birds and other wildlife are abundant and 47 known waterfalls are in permanent flow. He has proven without doubt that nature knows best – and that he is no fool. Watch the trailer for Fools & Dreamers Endorsements of Fools & Dreamers: “Fools and Dreamers tells the most important story of our time.” – Paul Hawken, founder Project Drawdown “Watch this natural Kiwi miracle: how the earth regenerates native bush if given half a chance.” – Bunny McDiarmid, Executive Director Greenpeace International “A powerful ‘call to action’ for all of us to heed.” – Jonathon Porritt, Forum for the Future “This is an inspirational documentary.” – Dr Mike Joy, freshwater ecologist “Regenerating human rights can learn from nature: it takes ‘Fools and Dreamers’ to give life a chance….” – a personal message from Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International Regenerating Nature, Simple Living About Fools & Dreamers 30 mins “ The world needs thousands of people like him. What a wonderful world it could be again. Legends @phyllisgenetti9970 YouTube ” “ This is my new go to film if ever I start believing that we cannot make change on a personal level. Hugh Wilson speaks with words of wisdom! @p_aulwhite YouTube ” “ This is one of my favourites. I rewatch it every once in a while when my soul needs saving. Tysm for capturing and sharing this story with the rest of the world. @yobrvldas Instagram ” “ I appreciate this documentary so much. This film will be the catalyst for change. @anroburger7689 YouTube ” “ I love this film....watched it over and over and told everyone to watch it. @small.footprints.aotearoa Instagram ” Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Incredible 1.5-Acre Syntropic Food Forest with Over 250 Plant Species The Food Forest Farmers Other films you might like Regenerating Nature, Food & Gardening 17 mins Fishing for the Future A small-scale, thoughtful and ethical approach to fishing our oceans is possible – this family is leading the way. Permaculture, Food & Gardening, Urban Living, Regenerating Nature 16 mins Growing Wild Together We revisit the food forest we filmed five years ago to discover what's changed and how much more wild it's all become – plants and people! Community, Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture 8 mins Hua Parakore Hua Parakore encapsulates the principles behind growing food from a te ao Māori – Māori worldview perspective. Community, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature, Farming 12 mins From Weedy Forests to Grassy Woodlands A film exploring how the simple practice of grazing goats on wild lands can lead to a healthier forest and a more connected community. Share your thoughts about The Food Forest Farmers Which film are you commenting on? Your name or username Your comment * Required Submit comment Your comment has been submitted “ @bobterhaar9091 “ @PermacultureHomestead “ @johnb7046 “ @permibw Thank you! This film was made possible through the generous financial support of the Biome Trust with assistance from The Gift Trust . Visit Permadynamics online: Website Instagram Facebook Access all 10 full-length interviews from the film shoot via our Patreon page Subtitles Most of our subtitles are generated by YouTube (English) or created by volunteers. We try to make time to correct YouTube's English but for other languages we can't control the quality, sorry! Download your preferred language and upload it via your media player. The Food Forest Farmers - English The Food Forest Farmers - Spanish The Food Forest Farmers - Portuguese If you'd like to volunteer to create subtitles in your language, please contact us ! Syntropic farming is a new and ancient regenerative agriculture practice that can be implemented in any region, in any climate, in limitless ways – even in your own back yard. For over a decade the Lotz-Keegan family have been implementing permaculture practices to regenerate a degraded hillside into an abundant food forest of native and exotic trees that feed their family, their community, the wildlife, the soil, and their souls. Combining the practices of syntropic agroforestry with the principles of permaculture and their own deeply thoughtful approach to land regeneration, food growing, and lifestyle, this family is partnering with nature to create a humming diversity on the land and a positive story about the role of humans in an ecosystem. Farming, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Regenerating Nature About The Food Forest Farmers 24 mins “ Thanks a BUNCH for making this. These types of videos are my sign posts in life! :) @bobterhaar9091 YouTube ” “ Another masterpiece, thanks so much for sharing the love and knowledge from this family. @PermacultureHomestead YouTube ” “ This was fantastic! Put a smile on my face showing how humans should truly exist within our ecosystem. @johnb7046 YouTube ” “ This was an amazing film (as usual) with loads of valuable information and inspirational footage. @permibw Instagram ” Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Jono Frew: Transforming farms and changing lives with regenerative agriculture HAPPEN FILMS PODCAST #3 << Previous Podcast Next Podcast >> << Previous Podcast Next Podcast >> Audio only Jono Frew: Transforming farms and changing lives with regenerative agriculture 00:00 / 1:05:25 Learn more about Jono Frew Website YouTube Facebook Description In Episode 3 of the Happen Films podcast we speak with regenerative agriculture coach Jono Frew. Jono started his working life age 11 in farming and he’s been passionate about the industry from Day 1. But his career took an unexpected turn a few years ago and it’s impacted not just how he approaches farming, but how he approaches life. As he moved from conventional agriculture to regenerative agriculture, Jono learnt not only that true farming solutions don’t come from a bottle, he also learnt how to cry freely, how to connect with his kids, how to share himself, and how to help fellow farmers steer a new, regenerative course for their own farms and families. Jono’s an inspiration to us, a beautiful example of how reconnecting with the soil upon which all life depends can also reconnect you with your family, your community and your very self. Have a listen and let us know your own thoughts about the future of farming. Regenerating Nature, Farming & Composting 65 mins Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

The full-length version of the interview from our documentary A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity DAVID HOLMGREN EXTENDED INTERVIEW << Previous Interview Next Interview >> Find out more about David Holmgren https://holmgren.com.au Simplicity Institute: http://simplicityinstitute.org Description David Holmgren is the co-originator, with Bill Mollison, of permaculture. This is the full interview we shot with him for our film “ A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity ”. We can only ever fit in a few minutes’ worth of the amazing interviews we get to shoot, so here’s the whole thing for people who want to get into the nitty-gritty! Permaculture, Gardening, Farming & Composting, Community 87 mins Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

A Simper Way: Crisis as Opportunity A Simpler Way Other films you might like Permaculture, Simple Living, Urban Living, Zero Waste, Food & Gardening, Community, Economy 15 mins Degrowth in the Suburbs What does sustainable living in the city look like? This film explores the different methods one family employs to reduce their impact. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Urban Living 12 mins Creatures of Place This family live an incredibly simple life, yet they have an abundance in so many things – food, community, time to create a beautiful life. Community, Permaculture, Simple Living, Homes & Building 6 mins Living Simply in an Off-Grid Tiny House Living simply in just 20 square metres this family has found a different way of living that helps them to feel more sustained and content. Share your thoughts about A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity Which film are you commenting on? Your name or username Your comment * Required Submit comment Your comment has been submitted “ @danielleptc “ @bethtucker5275 “ @holisticallyfitbritt5657 “ @tanner587 Thank you! This film was made possible through the generous financial support of the Biome Trust with assistance from The Gift Trust . Festival selections: Watch the other short films we made during our time in this community: Building a Rustic Tiny House $420 Tiny House Earthbag Time Lapse Watch the extended interviews from this film: David Holmgren Ted Trainer Helena Norberg-Hodge Graham Turner Nicole Foss Subtitles Most of our subtitles are generated by YouTube (English) or created by volunteers. We try to make time to correct YouTube's English but for other languages we can't control the quality, sorry! Download your preferred language and upload it via your media player. A Simpler Way - English If you'd like to volunteer to create subtitles in your language, please contact us ! A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity is a feature-length documentary following a community in Australia who have come together to explore and demonstrate a simpler way to live in response to global crises. Throughout one year the group build tiny houses, plant veggie gardens, practice simple living, and discover the challenges of living in community. The film documents the community’s learning process as well as exploring the global issues we’re facing, through interviews with some of today’s most interesting speakers on the subjects, including permaculture co-originator David Holmgren, filmmaker and activist Helena Norberg-Hodge, climate change activist David Spratt and many more. Filmmakers Jordan and Antoinette both lived on the property for the entire year of the project, Jordan as director and cinematographer and Antoinette as a participant and ultimately co-writer of the film. It was our first film and an inspiring and life-changing year for us both, and it was the catalyst for Happen Films! Watch the trailer for A Simpler Way : Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste About A Simpler Way 78 mins “ I've watched this film 3 times now and find myself more inspired with each viewing. Thank you! @danielleptc YouTube ” “ This was a beautiful documentary. While watching I could feel my inner passions firing up! @bethtucker5275 YouTube ” “ What an amazing documentary and community in general. I have had an insane urge lately to live a simple life, this made me want it a million times more. @holisticallyfitbritt5657 YouTube ” “ It's been 5 years since I've first watched this film and I'm now officially living off grid with my family to pursue a different path. @tanner587 YouTube ” Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Make Amazing Compost with a Composting Toilet Closing the Loop Other films you might like Zero Waste, Community, Urban Living, Food & Gardening 39 mins Ben & bEartha: A Community's Compost Love Story Follow the remarkable journey of a passionate man making composting at a community-wide scale not just a dream but the real thing. Community, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Urban Living 8 mins A Life with Less Waste What secrets does this family hold to reducing individual impact on the planet by reducing family waste streams? Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Urban Living 14 mins Abdallah House A tour of a very small urban section that has been developed using permaculture principles to make best use of the space. Community, Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste, Urban Living 12 mins Creatures of Place This family live an incredibly simple life, yet they have an abundance in so many things – food, community, time to create a beautiful life. Share your thoughts about Closing the Loop Which film are you commenting on? Your name or username Your comment * Required Submit comment Your comment has been submitted “ @markanthony4655 “ @nadakuditigopikrishna6587 “ @Helen1118Kang “ @pennyparker2370 Thank you! This film was made possible through the generous financial support of the Biome Trust with assistance from The Gift Trust . We highly recommend the book Lisa mentions by Joseph Jenkins, The Humanure Handbook – you can buy it online or download a free PDF . Here’s a subject we’re super passionate about – although it’s not for everyone! Humanure composting is the ultimate in self-responsibility. When we use flush toilets we not only waste beautiful clean water, we waste an incredibly useful resource. Our poo, when properly composted, is a brilliant addition to our gardens, making it the ultimate in ways to create a closed-loop system. While this isn’t an immediate option for apartment-dwellers, it’s certainly an option for anyone with a back yard big enough to hold a couple of compost bays. In this video, Greg and Lisa describe one of the easiest ways to compost your poo. And not without a bit of humour too! Food & Gardening, Permaculture, Simple Living, Zero Waste About Closing the Loop 7 mins “ Loved the film. Always wondered if it could be done, now I have the answer. Thank you so much. @markanthony4655 YouTube ” “ This method helps to get rid of polluting water resources across the world. Thank you very much for sharing this great video. @nadakuditigopikrishna6587 YouTube ” “ Awesome video! We need to spread this kind of videos to the world! Thank you so much. @Helen1118Kang YouTube ” “ Loved this film. We have been making humanure for 12 months now. No going back. @pennyparker2370 Instagram ” Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Navigating the human predicament with Nate Hagens HAPPEN FILMS PODCAST #6 << Previous Podcast Next Podcast >> << Previous Podcast Next Podcast >> Audio only Navigating the human predicament with Nate Hagens 00:00 / 56:23 Learn more about Nate Hagens Websites: The Great Simplification , The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future Book: The Bottlenecks of the 21st Century: Essays on the Systems Synthesis of the Human Predicament by Nate Hagens & D.J. White Article: Ecological Economics issue 169: ‘Economics for the Future – Beyond the Superorganism’ by Nate Hagens Transcript Antoinette: Hi everyone, I’m Antoinette, welcome to the Happen Films podcast. Today I’m speaking to Nate Hagens. Nate’s the co-founder and director of the Institute for Energy and Our Future. He has a deep knowledge of the workings of finance, having begun his career on Wall Street, but his focus changed entirely in the early 2000s. Since then he’s dedicated himself to understanding the interrelationship between energy, the environment, and finance and the implications of that relationship on human futures. Nate teaches a course at the University of Minnesota called Reality 101: A Survey of the Human Predicament and that course is available online. He also gives regular talks, which are available online and I’ll pop links to those in the show notes and in the YouTube description. I’m really excited to speak to Nate today and I hope you’ll enjoy the conversation. Show More Description In Episode 6 of the Happen Films podcast, with Jordan away spending time with an unwell family member, Antoinette is flying solo for the first time. She had the pleasure of speaking to Nate Hagens, someone we’ve been following for a while now because we love his deep knowledge and insight into the interrelationship between the environment, energy, and finance. Having begun his career on Wall Street, Nate has a deep understanding of finance, but his career took a change of direction in the early 2000s as he began to understand the repercussions of peak oil. His personal research led him back to university and a PhD in Natural Resources and he’s dedicated the last 20 years to educating himself, freshman students and the world at large about what he terms The Human Predicament. Now, instead of Wall Street being the hub of his universe, he states: “Our real stock market is our air, our soils, our forests, our oceans, and the biodiversity we share the planet with. This stock market has been going down for over a millennium and has been in slo-mo crash mode [for decades].” How did we get to this point, and how do we move beyond it in a way that ensures the planet and humans will thrive? We hope you enjoy the podcast. Check out the links to dive deeper into Nate’s research, writings and videoed talks. Urban Living, Permaculture, Zero Waste 56 mins Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text

Imagining Decolonisation and Why it's Good for Everyone with Tina Ngata HAPPEN FILMS PODCAST #7 << Previous Podcast Next Podcast >> << Previous Podcast Next Podcast >> Audio only Imagining Decolonisation and Why it's Good for Everyone with Tina Ngata 00:00 / 1:13:28 Learn more about Tina Ngata Website Support on Patreon Watch Tina’s talk during the Claim the Future webinar (July 2020) Buy Tina’s book, Kia Mau: Resisting Colonial Fictions (digital download – please koha/gift if you can) Transcript Antoinette: Hi everyone, I’m Antoinette. Welcome back to the Happen Films podcast. Today I’m joined by Tina Ngata, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s waste resistance heroes. Her blog of many years, The Non-plastic Maori, described, among connected topics, her personal transition to living plastic-free. More broadly her work involves advocacy for environmental, indigenous and human rights. She’s spoken for Maori and indigenous rights at the United Nations and at conferences around the world and has published a collection of essays entitled Kia Mau: Resisting Colonial Fictions . I’ll include links to her work in the show notes and in the YouTube description. Show More Description In Episode 7 of the Happen Films Podcast, Antoinette is joined by Tina Ngata (Ngati Porou), an advocate for environmental, indigenous and human rights. Tina is based in Tairāwhiti, East Coast, Aotearoa New Zealand, where she’s a busy community leader working for the rights and wellbeing of her whanau/family and community. For many years her blog, the Non-Plastic Maori, documented her journey reducing her personal dependence on plastic, a journey that led to a deepening understanding of the wider issues of plastics consumption and waste and becoming a prominent activist in that space and beyond. She has spoken for Maori and indigenous rights at the United Nations and in conferences around the world, has published a book of her collected work opposing the continued celebration of colonial history, Kia Mau: Resisting Colonial Fictions , and is continually writing, speaking and protesting for justice for humans and Papatuānuku/Mother Earth. The intention was for this episode to be Happen Films’ contribution to Plastic-free July – Tina being one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s waste resistance heroes – and the idea was to talk about waste within the context of environmental, indigenous and human rights. And we do… but the focus of the conversation turned out to be colonisation – its history; its day-to-day presence – and what decolonisation might look like. That’s an appropriate conversation to be having at any time and feels particularly resonant right now, within the extraordinary context of this year, 2020, and everything it’s bringing forth to challenge our thinking, our history, our practices and our plans for the future. As Tina says: “Anti-colonialism is not just for indigenous people. Anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism and anti-racism is for everyone – we’ll all get well-being out of deconstructing the ways in which we believe that we have entitlement to each other’s spaces and places and bodies.” We hope you enjoy listening to Tina’s wise and profound words and come away as inspired as we have! Community, Zero Waste 73 mins Five ways you can help increase our reach and impact Click on the options below to find out more about each one. Find out how Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text Add text