STAFF WRITERS
THE team at Life After Coal is hosting a community day at Kernot Hall this Saturday (February 17) to reflect on post-coal progress since the Hazelwood mine fire.
Beginning at 10am, everyone is welcome to come to the newly refurbished Kernot Hall for a reflective, fun and family-friendly day.
The director, Josie Hess, and producer, Stephanie Sabrinskas, from Life After Coal have organised a free community lunch, kids’ activities and music, talks, film screenings, history recordings, workshops and a community mural.
With discussions and talks covering how far the community has come since the Hazelwood mine fire, the focus will be on health and wellbeing impacts, mine rehabilitation plans for Hazelwood and surrounding mines, plus climate active communities.
The community day aims to be a mix of celebrating the wins and the power of community advocacy, while also respecting the enormity of the impact that the fire had on the community.
This event will include a double film premiere of Environment Victoria’s short documentary series featuring unheard stories from a diverse range of those in the community.
The Victorian premiere of After The Smoke! tells the story of Wendy Farmer, president of Voices of the Valley, who recounts how the devastating Hazelwood mine fire led her and many others to find their voice as community advocates.
The event has been created as part of the impact campaign of independent Latrobe Valley-based filmmakers, Ms Hess and Ms Sabrinskas, for the short film, ‘After The Smoke’ (2023).
‘After the Smoke’ was supported by the ABC, VicScreen & Doc Society. This impact event is also supported by Doc Society.
The event is free, but the organisers ask that people register for free tickets which they can access through the event’s Facebook Page ‘Life After Coal’.
This is important so that organisers can accommodate accessibility needs, order enough food and plan kids’ activities.
