Shalini Kantayya
US filmmaker Shalini Kantayya will open the 5th annual Transitions Film Festival with the Australian Premiere of her feature documentary Catching the Sun.
Shalini Kantayya finished in the top 10 out of 12,000 filmmakers on Fox’s On The Lot, a show by Steven Spielberg in search of Hollywood’s next great director.
Her sci-fi film about the world water crisis, A Drop in the Life, won Best Short at Palm Beach International, and was broadcast on national television in the US and India.
She is a Sundance Fellow, a TED Fellow, and was a finalist for the ABC Disney | DGA Directing Fellowship.
The mission of her production company, 7th Empire Media, is to create a culture of human rights and a sustainable planet through imaginative media that makes real impact.
Catching the Sun follows the hope and heartbreak of unemployed American workers seeking jobs in the solar industry.
An unlikely ensemble of characters contrast with preconceived notions about who is at the forefront of a transition to clean energy.
They include Eddie Wiltz, a college dropout with few job opportunities who seeks training as a solar installer; Debbie Dooley, a Green Tea Party activist who takes on Georgia’s utility monopoly; Van Jones, a Bay Area activist who goes to Washington to elevate the national conversation on green jobs and implement policy, and; Wally Jiang, an ambitious Chinese CEO pursuing global markets in this rapidly growing industry.
Catching The Sun tells the story of the global energy transition from the perspective of workers and entrepreneurs building solutions to income inequality and climate change with their own hands.
Transitions Film Festival director, Daniel Simons said: "With the recent announcements from China about its phasing out of coal and the Australian government's championing of our imminent ideas boom, Catching The Sun showcases powerful and important stories about how the green energy revolution can solve environmental and economic challenges," he said.
"We are honoured to have such an inspiring film and talented filmmaker opening our festival."
The fifth annual Transitions Film Festival returns to Cinema Nova this February.
The program kicks off with pre-festival outdoor screenings at City Square in partnership with The New Joneses, and Federation Square in partnership with Pause Fest, before the opening night screening of Catching The Sun, presented by Bank Australia, at Cinema Nova on the 18th of February.
The films in this year's Transitions Film Festival focus on the themes of discovery, purpose, innovation, impact and the #ideasbloom that will shape the future of our society and civilisation.
This year’s program covers an enormous spectrum of themes, including activist grandmas, global tax avoidance, the history of climate change, international energy transitions, pathways out of poverty, and the future of the global food system.