Residents across East Gippsland are being invited to a free community film screening at the Slipway this Saturday, January 17, 6pm, aimed at opening up thoughtful conversation about housing, community and fairness.
Hosted by the East Gippsland Housing Affordability Conversation, the event will feature two short documentaries, Bay Views for All and Nothing Wasted, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and participants.
Bay Views for All is a 37-minute community-made documentary that follows residents of the Barak Beacon public housing estate in Port Melbourne as they organise to protect their homes.
The film offers an intimate look at what happens when people come together to stand up for secure housing, dignity and the right to remain in their community.
“While this story is set in Melbourne, the issues it raises are very relevant here,” said a spokesperson from the East Gippsland Housing Affordability Conversation.
“We are seeing more and more people in our region struggling to find secure, affordable housing. This film helps humanise those experiences and reminds us that housing is a human right, and public housing has always been about providing for the most vulnerable in our community.”
The second film, Nothing Wasted, is a 19-minute documentary exploring how designers and builders are rethinking materials in the built environment. With billions of tonnes of natural materials already locked into buildings globally, the film highlights practitioners who see these resources not as waste, but as an opportunity to build differently.
“Nothing Wasted invites us to think more deeply about how we design and build homes, and how sustainability and affordability can go hand in hand, ” the spokesperson said.
“It opens up important questions about the future of housing and construction in regional areas like ours.”
Sarsfield architect and designer, Callan Green, is featured in Nothing Wasted, featuring the small dwelling he and his partner and fellow architect, Lindsay Legros, built with reclaimed materials in the aftermath of the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires.
Following the screenings, audiences will be invited to stay for a relaxed Q&A and open discussion. Organisers say the aim is not to provide all the answers, but to create a welcoming space for people to share ideas, experiences and hopes for housing in East Gippsland.
“This is about listening to one another and learning from real stories, ” the spokesperson said.
“We want to encourage respectful conversation about what fair, secure and sustainable housing could look like in our communities.
“The event is free and open to everyone.”
