Then the Wind Changed

On 7 February 2009, record-breaking temperatures were predicted for the rural Victorian township of Strathewen. In the midst of a sweltering summer heatwave, the community expected another day of sweat and sun; what eventuated was the product of hellish nightmares, as bushfires wreaked havoc. As the third anniversary of the day now known as Black Saturday nears, resident and filmmaker Celeste Geer (Veiled Ambition) looks beyond the smouldering rubble and ash to the shell-shocked survivors. Then the Wind Changed tells their story, one of tragedy and the tenacity of the human spirit.

Taking an orderly approach to an event that proved anything but, the film starts with startling footage of a family grateful that their lives were spared. As flames flicker over the remains of their house, Shane and Bron Sparkes embrace their frightened children, nestled among the twin water tanks that provided shelter from the inferno. Over the next two years, Geer follows their efforts after the desolation, as well as those of their fellow townsfolk. Each has lived and lost – be it loved ones, their livelihood or place of residence – and each is determined to cope with their misfortune.

Accordingly, Then the Wind Changed offers an extraordinary account of devastation and inspiration, taking place 40 kilometres from Melbourne. From the writer, director, co-producer, assistant editor and narrator herself to the other men, women and children who escaped the firestorm the film charts their determination to rebuild their homes and sense of community as the landscape around them slowly turns from blackened stumps to a sea of green.

In capturing the chaos of the day and the months that followed, as well as telling a personal tale of her own family and friends, Geer witnesses the activity in the small hamlet dubbed “the valley of death” by the press. Carefully conversing with rather than probing her ravaged subjects, she combines interviews with observational and archival footage, to present a portrait of regeneration on an emotional and psychological as well as corporeal level.

As such, the moving documentary finds hope in the heartbreak, in a beautifully shot and constructed exploration of identity and recovery amidst the aftermath of the worst natural disaster in Australia’s recorded history. Discomforting in the destruction depicted, yet tender in its emphasis of triumph over the most terrible adversity, Then the Wind Changed is an important chronicle of the human impact of Black Saturday.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Then the Wind Changed
Director: Celeste Geer
Australia, 2011, 57 min

Screening Tuesday 7 February on ABC1, 8.30pm.