Annemarie and Graham Brookman’s quest for the principles of sustainable living took them to 40 countries but ended when they encountered permaculture, a design system for sustainable living created by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison. It was everything they needed for a bold experiment, giving them a set of principles and techniques with which to plan their lives and a small farm to assess and perfect this new way of living.

The film traces the physical and economic challenges they overcame: lack of capital, smallness of scale, droughts, floods and the loneliness of the pathfinder, to become one of the World’s iconic permaculture properties and one of Australia’s most awarded organic farms, The Food Forest. 

The movie explains the ethos and planning principles of permaculture through a range of interviews with David Holmgren, Graham and Annemarie Brookman and other designers. It also gives an insight into the thoughts of ‘permaculture children’ whose generation must fix the exploitative foundations of global economics.
Design for Life illustrates the spacial and energy planning of  The Food Forest as well as tracing the development of direct sales through farmers markets, the phenomenon of WWOOFing and the spin-off enterprises of eco-tourism and short courses.

There is a sting in the tail of the film when Holmgren and Brookman address the World’s urgent needs for educational, economic and environmental reform and illustrate a model for the planning of sustainable cities.

‘Design for Life’  moves on from the string of eco-disaster documentaries that have raised public awareness and provides a glimpse of the way forward, ‘prosperity without growth’, leaving viewers hungry for more. 

In addition to the 68 minute movie the ‘Design for Life’ DVD includes a detailed 25 minute virtual tour of The Food Forest which explains the workings of the sustainable strawbale home and each of the enterprises that are stacked into this certified-organic, hive of activity – vegetables, fruit and nuts, herbs, chickens, geese, agroforestry, biodiversity, value-adding, water, compost, waste cycling, wine, cider and vinegar,.
See the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sDmbbqsGIg 

Additional notes

The movie was made on a Mac laptop on the kitchen table at The Food Forest

Pre-launch screenings at the National Permaculture Conference and for the
Roseworthy Old Collegians have both been welcomed with standing ovations

Radical ecosystem designs such as incorporating micro-kangaroos into their
horticulture and extraordinary water harvesting, storage and irrigation
systems show the application of permacuture technologies.

The virtual tour of The Food Forest explains the workings of the sustainable
strawbale home and each of the enterprises that are stacked into this
certified-organic, hive of activity - vegetables, fruit and nuts, herbs,
chickens, geese, agroforestry, biodiversity, value-adding, water, compost,
waste cycling, wine, cider and vinegar.

Rich action footage spanning almost 40 years and the information-rich
soundtrack make for compelling viewing. Clever use of still shots and aerial
views and lovely animations of water and nutrient recycling systems
graphically explain the dynamics of sustainable design.

'Design for Life' is the culmination of an intensive partnership between the
English film-maker Sam Collins, Australian permaculture designer Graham
Brookman and graphic designer Kath Read. Sam and Graham have produced over
25 short educational films for the 'Food Forest TV' channel on YouTube.
 
 

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