Film

Big Gums

Big Gums is about spending a night in a big tree. Close to home, add hoc, a bit odd, different.
 
Sorting kit for a night in a gumtree

About

Director

Beau Miles

Producer

Beau Miles and Mitch Drummond

Running time

15 minutes

Country / Nationality

Australia

Our Judges say:

Making the most of the vertical spaces available from the front door! A real feel good film!

Jimmy Hyland

How many ways can your point of view change when you climb a tree? A great micro adventure from Beau

Ed Birch Director of Salt-Street productions

This is a man who really likes trees, and this film is 100% eucalyptus tree porn. Fabulously life affirming. "This is the story of a man who's about to climb a tree. It's as simple as that."

Paul Hodgson Music Judge

Gum Trees define Australia. No other continent is dominated by a single species of tree. In the over 800 varieties found on the continent, around 100 are listed as endangered or threatened. Beau Miles lives within a cluster of Strzelecki gums, a rare breed of gum found in Gippsland, Victoria. Waxing on between awe at the great trees, and the disbelief of developers continually allowed to cut them down, Beau spends a night in one of his big gums- cooking dinner, sleeping eerily, then coffee and breakfast, while overlooking the front door of his house, and his boyhood town in the distance. It's a story of a man spending the night in a gumtree, and why such a simple gesture is meaningful, easy to do, and can provide unexpected insights into being human.

Sustainability Notes

Old trees are the life-force of bio diversity. Myself and my wife (with help from a our group of Jindivick Landcare) planted out a section of our paddock in Strezeleki gums (and other native varieties). I am doing a follow up film of planting over 1000 of these gums on a local property (with a twist). I have given talks about the gumtree since the films release and will continue to do so in coming years.