“When that whole ocean comes and rises up, where are we going to go?” ponders Inherkowinginambana, a Kunjen elder from Kowanyama, a coastal Aboriginal community in tropical Queensland, Australia. Like other coastal peoples, Australian Aboriginals living traditionally on gulf coastal plains are particularly susceptible to even the most minor changes in sea level and monsoon flooding.

Featuring Inherkowinginambana
Director/Camera/Editor: Paul Bell
Producer: Citt Williams
Associate Producers: Viv Sinnamon
Graphics: David Jimenez
Sound Mixer: Tfer Newsome

Shot on location in Kowanyama Qld Australia
Duration 6:27 minutes

Developed and produced for United Nations University (UNU) by UNU Media Studio & Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office (KALNRMO) , in association with UNU-IAS Traditional knowledge Initiative and The Christensen Fund.

Further information for this film can be found at film’s website: ourworld.unu.edu/en/sea-level-rise-in-kowanyama/

United Nations University has published this work under a Creative Commons license - share alike, attribution, no derivatives, non-commercial

*About this Project*
Collaboratively made with Indigenous storytellers, these videobriefs are told in local languages, respect Intellectual Property rights and provide storytellers with media training, resources and a fair media engagement model for future projects. The final videos played alongside other international climate change videos at a locally coordinated forum event, in April 2009’s Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Summit and later at a special screening at the National Museum of Denmark during the Copenhagen COP15 meeting.

*About the filmmakers*
Paul Bell- Director/Camera/Editor
Feral Films is a production company based in Broome specialising in documentary film making. We are also available for corporate needs and television commercials. Available as freelance camera, editor, director, and stills photographer.

Citt Williams- Co-director/Producer/Editor
Citt is a documentary filmmaker at the UNU Media Studio with over 12 years producing experience in broadcast media. Citt’s produced documentary films have been screened at festivals including Cannes (Yellow Fella), Sundance, Mumbai, Melbourne and by broadcasters including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Discovery and National Geographic. She has a Masters degree in documentary from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (Sydney) and a Business degree in Film and TV Production from QUT (Brisbane). Within UNU, her unit “Media Studio” (MS) has grounded expertise in online learning, interactive media and video production and in linking development issues with visual media and online content on social and environmental issues. Her role in the UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative seeks to build greater understanding and facilitate awareness of traditional knowledge (TK) to inform action by Indigenous peoples, local communities and domestic and international policy makers. Key outputs include research activities, policy studies, capacity development and online learning and dissemination.

Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office (KALNRMO)
KALNRMO works to promote and facilitate Aboriginal management of the natural and cultural resources of Kowanyama country by the people of Kowanyama. Through community consultation and direction, KALNRMO has developed a community development agenda for the Kowanyama region. Kowanyama community is widely regarded as a leader in indigenous land management issues.

United Nations University Media Studio
The UNU Media Studio was established in March 2003 and works in collaboration with a global network of partners to develop and share open educational resources. Through a small team based in Tokyo, the UNU promotes innovation in the building of interactive content and video documentaries that engage, entertain and educate. The core creative team is comprised of specialists in web and graphic design, documentary and multimedia production, as well as educational technology and instructional design. In developing projects, this team collaborates with subject matter experts from within the UNU, from other UN bodies and from partner universities. The UNU Media Studio also collaborates with independent professionals in the area of documentary production, web application development, web design and instructional design. mediastudio.unu.edu

United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies - Traditional Knowledge Inititaive
The UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative seeks to build greater understanding and facilitate awareness of traditional knowledge (TK) to inform action by indigenous peoples, local communities and domestic and international policy makers. Key outputs include research activities, policy studies, capacity development and online learning and dissemination. unutki.org

For more information:
Our World 2.0 ourworld.unu.edu and UNU IAS-TKI unutki.org

A high resolution version of this video, and additional language subtitles are available. Please contact us for details:
Media Studio
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Tokyo JAPAN 150-8925
Ph: +813 5467 1324
onlinelearning@unu.edu