Officially launched at the Australia Pavilion at COP31, the concept trailer for new Australian feature documentary Holding Fire reveals the incredible fire management practices being brought back by Indigenous Australians.
Evolved over decades, Indigenous ranger groups in northern Australia’s remote Arnhem Land combine ancient knowledge and modern technology to deliver sophisticated landscape scale fire management. Their fire programs address this most urgent of global challenges, with results that are visible from space.
Scheduled to enter production in early 2027, Holding Fire follows the work of Aboriginal cultural custodians and internationally renowned fire ecologists Dr Otto Campion and Dr Dean Yibarbuk, whose advocacy formed part of a movement that brought Traditional Owners together with scientists, land managers, Government and Corporate entities to transform the way fire was managed across Arnhem Land.
In Arnhem Land, after families were displaced from their homelands, the careful and deliberate fire management of custodial estates ceased, replaced by uncontrolled wildfire that used to incinerate an area greater than France every year. Science helped document and measure what the Elders already understood: early, carefully placed fires could protect Country from the vast wildfires that came later.
Underpinning their mission was a determination to get families back on Country, to teach young people, make Country healthy again and pass on their knowledge before it disappeared.
Their collaboration helped build the foundations to deliver long-term sustainable funding for fire management through engagement with Australia’s carbon market – an approach that now operates through ALFA (Arnhem Land Fire Abatement), an Aboriginal owned organisation supporting 11 ranger groups across 86,000 square kilometres of Arnhem Land, an area roughly twice the size of Denmark.
The results can be seen from space: thousands of small fires form an intricate mosaic across the landscape, reducing destructive wildfire, protecting cultural sites, forests, wildlife and homelands, while preventing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. Those avoided emissions can be turned into carbon credits, creating an economy that pays Aboriginal people to care for their own Country.
Written and directed by acclaimed Warumungu/Luritja filmmaker Danielle MacLean (Emily: I Am Kam, Like My Brother), with award-winning producers Citt Williams (5 Seasons, Yellow Fella) and Rachel Clements (Journey Home, David Gulpilil, Finke: There and Back), Holding Fire is being shot on IMAX-compatible cameras by trailblazing cinematographer Allan Collins ACS, who was the first Indigenous Australian to be accredited by the prestigious Australian Cinematographers Society.
Aligning with Türkiye’s vision of the “COP of the Future,” which aims to elevate climate action beyond abstract promises into a verified, measurable, and sustainable era of implementation on the ground, the trailer launch was followed by a panel, Indigenous Leadership in Emissions Reduction where Indigenous leaders from Australia and the Pacific explored the role of Traditional Knowledge in addressing climate change and the importance of high-integrity carbon markets.
Travelling to Türkiye for COP31 are Dr Dean Yibarbuk, Fire Ecologist, Mentor and Professor, Warddeken Land Management Limited, a Founding Director of ALFA and current Co-Chair of ICIN (Indigenous Carbon Industry Network), and his son Jamie Yibarbuk, Senior Ranger, Bawinanga Djelk Rangers and current Director of ALFA joined by one of the film’s Executive Producers and ALFA’s Chief Commercial Officer Adrian Enright, and Producer Citt Williams whose media work for an Indigenous-led UN COP15 campaign in 2009 was instrumental in Indigenous Knowledges being enshrined in the UNFCCC Climate protocols
“What the ALFA team has achieved is nothing short of extraordinary,” says Danielle MacLean.
“Born from the vision of the old people, they’ve built one of the greatest ecological success stories of our time, bringing Aboriginal knowledge and science together to care for Country on an enormous scale. They’ve created livelihoods, strengthened communities and built something for future generations. It’s a powerful example of what Aboriginal self-determination can achieve, and a story the world needs to hear. I feel incredibly lucky to be working with such a wonderful team to bring it to the screen.”
Holding Fire is a Brindle Films, AKA Teacup and ALFA (NT Ltd) production. Director and writer is Danielle MacLean. Producers are Citt Williams and Rachel Clements. Executive Producers are Trisha Morton-Thomas, Jennifer Ansell, Adrian Enright, Dr Otto Bulmaniya Campion. Director of Photography is Allan Collins ACS. Developed with the support of Screen Australia, Screen Territory and Screen NSW.
Holding Fire will premiere in cinemas globally in 2027.
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