In the heart of the Malaysian rainforest, tour guides and conservationists strive to rekindle our lost connection to nature by planting seeds of sustainable practices and a love for nature from an early age.

Interview with Producer/Director Claire Riverland and Lily Newcombe

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

We were prompted to make our film as part of a documentary-making study tour led by Swinburne University. The tour allowed us to make a documentary on any given topic, with a total of two weeks based in Sarawak, Malaysia, to complete the film, including post-production. It all began with Claire and Lily, our directors/producers, coming together with a love of orangutans and then setting their eyes on a much larger passion; conservation. The group grew with this concept, with all the members of our group coming together through a passion for conservation as well as their strong passion for wildlife and nature. Once pre-production was truly underway, as a team we honed in on the pressing issue of rainforest degradation in Borneo, and worldwide, and this formed the basis of our documentary we now know as understorey.

After concluding the study tour, we returned to the documentary and polished it up, re-editing and applying a thorough colour grade to complete the documentary. We wanted to make a film that showcases the beauty of Borneo and the people working to protect it. And most importantly why, holistically, everyone should aspire to conserve our beautiful earth.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

There are many films on rainforest degradation in Malaysia focused on the big-picture battle of conservation organizations against palm oil plantations and poachers, but understorey proceeds to take this a step further and pulls you into the lives of these conservationists. understorey is unique as it delves into the solutions of how to reverse our planet's dire situation, focusing on ecotourism and education in hopes of inspiring a love of nature, to influencing society to conserve the rainforests. As, without care or respect for nature, why would people band together to protect it? understoreyinspires this care and respect for nature by capturing the beauty of the Bornean rainforest and the creatures within it, including imagery of the often underappreciated smaller animals and plants such as frogs and insects which are pivotal to the rainforest's survival.

Borneo Bob, our key interviewee, along with our other leading conservationists, paints a stark reminder of our planet's dire state, this is not a doomsday documentary; it is a story of hope, passion and rooted resilience. As put perfectly by Borneo Bob, this documentary is a reminder that; "No matter how big you are, you still need the little things to help you.". In other words; everyone is needed to conserve our planet, and your actions too, can make a world of difference. This documentary will leave you feeling refreshed and empowered to continue taking action to conserve our planet.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

All the core themes in our film are personal and universal as we show how hope, respect, and resilience affect individual people, such as the tour guides and the conservationists, but then how those themes apply to everyone. Even people who don't care about conservation at all can find relatability in the struggles of working towards a goal that seems unattainable and always just out of reach or feeling like no matter how hard you work, you're always getting knocked back. However, the themes of optimism, perseverance, passion, and love also universally resonate as all of our subjects are immensely passionate about what they do and the environment they work in.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

From early development, we knew we wanted to make a film focused on conservation but weren't sure which area. Initially, we were thinking of tackling poaching but finding subjects comfortable handling the issue was immensely difficult - especially with the language barrier and no connections, as well as getting B-roll of endangered birds wouldn't be an easy task. One of our directors, Claire, found one contact online who had left conservation but introduced us to a massive network of conservationists in Kuching. We contacted every single one, but only a handful replied and not all were available for interviews. However, two organisations were happy to speak with us, WWF and Wildlife Conservation Society.

Whilst in Kuching, we visited a vegan cafe called Indah Cafe, where there happened to be ads for tour guides stuck on the wall. We reached out to one in particular, Lucian Eng, who introduced us to the tour guide community. We had planned a full-day shoot with Lucian, interviewing him and having a guided tour at the local national parks to get plenty of B-roll. However, upon our arrival, Lucian informed us that his former teacher and fellow tour guide, Borneo Bob, would be coming to assist him in our guided tour. From the moment we met Bob, we knew we had just found the most incredible conservationist duo!

After the most phenomenal day with Lucian and Bob, we knew we had uncovered the embodiment of what “conservation” was in Malaysia, so from there we met with many other interview subjects and gathered as much information as we could about their experiences. We aimed to understand the web of interconnection between all elements of Kuching’s conservation efforts, so we had a holistic narrative when building our story in the editing room.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Our feedback has been overwhelmingly positive! Our lecturers, peers, and subjects were impressed with the film and loved its themes and the unique issue of burnout in conservation. We also received positive feedback from film festivals, being Earth Stories in the UK praised the cinematography and empathetic tone. They presented us with the "best documentary" this year which was a massive honour. We also have been nominated as a finalist in the Vaasa Wildlife Festival and are screening before a prestigious feature for the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

The feedback surprised us as we are all immensely proud of the film, but, we didn't expect it to be recognised by festivals around the world and to get the praise it's received. It is especially remarkable to us considering the project was made in two weeks by a team of four filmmakers under the age of 25. If anything, the feedback has inspired us; it has spurred us on in our mission to share the incredible work of conservationists in Malaysia, the beauty of our world, and the necessity to restore and nurture our planet, which was what we set out to do in the first place!

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We hope to gain more publicity amongst a younger audience as we want to connect with filmmakers interested in documentaries, conservation and wildlife so we can collaborate. We are also super passionate about our film and its message of inspiring love of nature in young people so we want to get the word out about it as much as possible. We are also hoping our documentary may be discovered by a filmmaker or production company that might be able to fund this film so we can develop it further.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We would love to attract the attention of those keen to help us expand the film's reach, particularly journalists and film festival directors who are based locally in Australia or internationally. We are especially seeking anyone who can help to promote our film in Malaysia. In addition to this, the ultimate dream is to go back and complete this documentary as a feature-length film. We have four filmed interviews that were not used in the film documentary due to time constraints, and many other conservationists we made connections with who we wished to interview. If we were able to receive funding and support from either an individual or company, we aspire to return to Malaysia and continue interviewing and filming more B-roll which is needed to extend the film. We only touched the surface of the conservation effort in Malaysia and would love to provide a deeper scope of the efforts.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

Through understorey, we hope to promote public awareness about the beautiful wildlife in the forests of Sarawak and how individuals, government bodies, such as Sarawak Forestry, and conservation organizations (WCS and WWF Malaysia) are working to protect them. Our story seeks to inspire passion for wildlife conservation in global audiences and demonstrate the importance of protecting nature sanctuaries by showcasing the magnificent creatures that inhabit them and their relationship to Malaysian culture. More importantly, this film explores how the future of conservation relies on the education of youth about the importance of protecting wildlife, preserving nature and developing an appreciation for the environment at a young age is crucial to ensuring conservation efforts proceed. The first step in conservation is making people care about our planet’s health and we hope understorey inspires its audiences by showing them what we still have left to protect.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

The key question this film aims to pose to the audience is; "How can humanity heal our current disconnect with nature?" Our film poses multiple answers but the core one is fostering love and respect for nature in young people and future generations. Teaching them to care for it starts with teaching them why caring for our Earth is important. We need to educate them on the wonders of healthy wilderness and wildlife, whether that's cute or funny-looking animals, growing fruits and veggies, or just growing up close to nature where cities integrate green spaces.

Would you like to add anything else?

We would like to thank all our wonderful interviewees who took the time to speak to us as well as being immensely welcoming and supportive of our journey as filmmakers. We'd also like to thank the lecturer leading the study tour, Max Schleser, who encouraged us to pursue our topic and offered us guidance throughout the tour. He has also been massively supportive in promoting our film around Swinburne and we are grateful to be able to share our work with our peers. We'd also like to thank everyone else who supported our journey in Kuching and afterwards, including the We Are Moving Stories team for providing us with this exciting platform to share our message and process!

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Our team has gone off to do a range of different projects since completing the understorey.

Claire Riverland (director/producer/colourist) has gone on to act in and direct a range of films. Most notably, the short film she directed, Hard To Swallow, has been selected in a range of film festivals, winning ‘Best Rising Star Director’ and 'Best Cinematography' at the Melbourne CINEVERSE Film Festival. She is currently directing three films that are to be released in 2025 and this July she is also travelling to Bangladesh to make a series of microdocumentaries about arts and culture.

Lily Newcombe (director/producer) went on to do a range of production design/art department work since concluding the documentary, she is currently in the process of designing for four films. Additionally, she also went on to co-direct and produce as well as costume/set design, scriptwriting and acting in Swinburne University’s first-ever musical, Meddling With Time. Her aspirations to direct have not been neglected, she is currently in the process of writing a script she aspires to direct in 2025.

Isabella Sanderson (DOP/Co-editor) has continued her work in the camera department. She has a new-found love for film, recently working on the medium to shoot a short film Last Day. Another documentary she was director of photography on, Cornerstone of Melbourne, has also screened in several festivals around the world.

Spencer Cameron (creative producer, camera operator, co-editor) often spends his time in the wilderness as an outdoor educator and environmental advocate. Primarily a creative producer and cinematographer in his film career, Spencer has produced music videos for bands like Boy and Bear and Steph Strings. He remains active in the documentary space and also freelances as a content producer.

Interview: June 2024

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

understorey

Length: 7:06

Director: Claire Riverland, Lily Newcombe

Producer: Claire Riverland, Lily Newcombe

About the writer, director and producer:

CLAIRE RIVERLAND is a filmmaker, actor, and model based in Melbourne. Her main pursuits are directing and acting whilst she completes her film studies at Swinburne University. Claire hopes to continue to make both narrative and documentary films that tell local and international stories.

LILY NEWCOMBE is heavily interested in the realm of directing and writing both fiction and non-fiction filmmaking. She adores everything theatre, co-producing/directing, writing plot and acting.

Key cast: Bob Zakaria, Cynthia Chin, Joshua Pandong, Lucien Eng

Looking for: distributors, journalists, film festival directors, buyers

Instagram: @understoreydoco

Hashtags used: #environment #doco #shortfilm #conservation #conservationfilm #borneo # sarawak #conservationmalaysia

Website: understorey

Made in association with: NCP, Swinburne, Sarawak Forestry WCS Malaysia, WWF Malaysia

Funders: Self-funded

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, Cinema Nova - 28 July 2024