FUNGI ON THE BIG SCREEN
Read about the world premiere of FOLLOW THE RAIN Planet Fungi’s new documentary, plus MUSHROOM WHISPERERS – a live music and multimedia event.
Find out how to organise a screening of the IMAX documentary FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE and where to see an immersive fungal experience in Adelaide.
And, check out our February fungi photography tips.
Watch the official trailer for FOLLOW THE RAIN on YouTube
Don’t miss out on the WORLD PREMIERE of FOLLOW THE RAIN
8 March – 7.30 pm
In just over three weeks Bangalow Film Festival will host the world premiere of Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak’s tribute to fungi at the iconic A&I Hall. We would love to see you there. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss out. We can’t wait to share this with you on the big screen.
In FOLLOW THE RAIN we take you zombie fungus hunting
FOLLOW THE RAIN is a journey into our fungi-obsessed world.
We share fungal finds in some of the most stunning wild landscapes of Australia –tropical islands, ancient rainforests, and the hostile majesty of the desert.
We discover the creepiness of zombie fungi and the wonder of the Australian ghost fungus.
Go behind the scenes into our fungarium, where we reveal what we observe as we record the life and death of mushrooms and mycelium growing in spellbinding time-lapses.
We meet mycologists who reveal mind-expanding science and unearth new and charismatic species.
Our mission is to FOLLOW THE RAIN to find out where fungi fit into the world of living things.
Be the first to know about future screening opportunities near you –
More screenings are listed at the end of this newsletter.
We’d also appreciate it if you shared with your friends on socials or in person.
This film event is perfect for the whole family. Here are some posts you can share.
THE MUSHROOM WHISPERERS also premieres at Bangalow
10 March – 3.00 pm
We have another wonderful fungi event at the Bangalow Film Festival. THE MUSHROOM WHISPERERS is a collaboration between the Follow the Rain composers and Planet Fungi. Romano Crivici and Carla Thackrah and two more extraordinary musicians, didgeridu player Mark Aiken and multi-instrumentalist Jess Campia, will play live to some of our fungi time-lapses and forest imagery.
Our combined dream is to tour this event internationally. We’ll keep you updated on any overseas opportunities.
Romano Crivici and Carla Thackrah
IMAX documentary FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE
In February, we joined some of the legends of fungi and a packed house of fungi-philes to watch for the first time our fungi time-lapses and footage on the most giant screen of all. The BFI big screen cinema in London hosted the UK launch of FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE.
It was mesmerising to see the tiny mushrooms we time-lapse, some only a few centimetres high in reality, transform into 3D giants. Similarly, Wim van Egmond’s world of hyphae and spores and Patrick Healey’s mycelium, usually only visible under a microscope, unfurled in massive layered images.
These combine with stunning footage in Tasmania’s wilderness, China’s tropical forests, and the exquisite Kew Gardens as the international voice of fungi - botanist Dr Merlin Sheldrake, and world-famous singer/songwriter Bjork, take us into the Kingdom of Fungi with poetry and lyricism.
Fungi: Web of Life is about how fungi have shaped life on Earth for over a billion years and how we might partner with them to adapt to the radical change of our times.
Catherine’s fungi cape was designed and created by Joanne Rapa, Myrtle and Dove Byron Bay.
FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE is rolling out in IMAX cinemas worldwide (find out where).
And GREAT NEWS. Due to popular demand, groups and individuals can now organise a screening near you. There are already events planned in Canada, and if you are interested in requesting a screening, fill in this form https://tickets.demand.film/film/request/
Interview with Merlin Sheldrake about FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE on BBC Breakfast
Narrated by Björk, presented by Merlin Sheldrake, distributor K2 Studios, produced by Stranger than Fiction Films and Definition Studios, directed by Gisela Kaufmann and Joseph Nizeti, written by Catherine Marciniak and Joseph Nizeti and cinematography by Cam Batten.
PLANET FUNGI @ ADELAIDE FRINGE FESTIVAL, SLEEP’S HILL TUNNEL
16 FEBRUARY TO 17 MARCH
If you are in Adelaide, Australia, for the Fringe Festival, be sure to drop into Sleep’s Hill Tunnel, a one-of-a-kind immersive experience.
The event features Planet Fungi time-lapses and Romano Crivici and Carla Thackrah’s evocative music in a rare opportunity to explore Sleep’s Hill Tunnel, a hidden heritage gem of the old Adelaide-to-Melbourne rail line that is now a heritage site.
Also featured in the tunnel is the installation, The World Beneath Our Feet, which transports audiences into the incredible world of life in the soil underground; this piece was a hit at The Barbican in London last year.
FEBRUARY PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS
Those growing in the ground are the trickiest mushrooms to photograph in a landscape.
Suppose you are in a protected wilderness area or a national park. In that case, you cannot pick a mushroom just for a photograph unless you have official permission to collect or photograph specimens for scientific purposes.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a great photograph.
View all the possible backgrounds behind the mushroom, and choose the angle with the least cluttered backdrop.
See if you can find an angle where the backdrop is darker than the mushroom/s.
Make sure the mushroom and its background are in the shade. Use your body or an umbrella.
Use a piece of aluminium foil to reflect light up under the mushroom so that the detail of the underside is revealed.
It’s essential to keep the camera steady, as even the slightest movement will mean the diagnostic details are not in focus. You can use a specialist tripod or a little bean bag. We have used eye pillows or plastic bags full of rice or barley. These allow you to position either a digital or phone camera without movement.
The camera must be at, or close to, ground level to see under the mushroom. Phone cameras can be placed so the lens is close to the ground.
For identification purposes, also take a photograph of the top of the mushroom and then step back to get a wide shot of the surrounding habitat and vegetation.
Always check that your camera or phone is far enough away so that your image is in focus.
Download our free How to photograph and describe my fungus field guide.
Remember to upload your photographs and observations to iNaturalist to help expand the knowledge of species identification and distribution.
For more advanced photography tips you can stream Stephen Axford’s
Masterclass in macro fungi photography
or watch this free video on YouTube about Focus bracketing with the Sony α7R V.
In FOLLOW THE RAIN we find not just Frosty Blue on Lord Howe Island but also an unexpected relative of this charismatic mushroom.
OTHER SCREENINGS - FOLLOW THE RAIN
We are waiting to hear back about the possible selection of FOLLOW THE RAIN for some Australian and International Film Festivals. Once we have more information, we will announce additional national and overseas screening events. However, we do have a few other screenings confirmed in NSW in the meantime.
16/03/2024 – Dorrigo in collaboration with the annual fungi foray with friends and the local film society.
21/06/2024 - Narooma Kinema in collaboration with Fungi Feastival
22/06/2024 - Moruya @The Red Door in collaboration with Fungi Feastival
24/06/2024 - The Picture Show Man in Merimbula in collaboration with Fungi Feastival
28/06/2024 - Perry Street Cinemas in Batemans Bay in collaboration with Fungi Feastival
29/06/2024 - Cobargo School of Arts in collaboration with Fungi Feastival
Planet Fungi will be conducting two macro photography workshops at Fungi Feastival. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.
We seized the opportunity of a visit to the UK for the London launch of the IMAX documentary FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE to explore some of the wild places of Wales. We knew it was unlikely we would find any fungi in winter, but despite the cold weather, Stephen the mushroom whisperer, found these beautiful Scarlet Elf Cups, Sarcoscypha coccinea.