Sydney filmmaker Kathy Drayton muses on what the future holds for her musician daughter amidst the threats of climate change and mass extinction.

The flying foxes that soar across Sydney each evening face many challenges: impacted by heatwaves, evicted from urban parklands, struggling to survive an ongoing loss of habitat. Bat carers save a handful here and there, and ecologists document their struggles, as threats escalate.

ADVERTISEMENT

Filmed over six years,  The Weather Diaries  reaches its climax in 2020, as temperatures soar, bushfires rage, and flying fox pups die in record numbers. Drayton ruminates on our failure to value these essential pollinators and the forests they sustain, and reflects on the implications for her daughter Imogen, a girl long inspired by Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, who’s emerging from the classical confines of the Conservatorium High School to embark on a career as an electronic pop artist.

Kathy Drayton came to filmmaking from a background in editing. Her documentary,  Girl in a Mirror: A Portrait of Carol Jerrems  (SFF 2005), was highly acclaimed both nationally and internationally.

The Weather Diaries is now streaming via the Virtual Sydney Film Festival which included bonus material exclusively filmed for SFF – including filmmaker introductions, Question and Answer sessions, and live panels.

You can rent The Weather Diaries via the Sydney Film Festival here.