Evacuate is an official selection for the 2022 Golden State Film Festival screening at TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood Blvd with participating films on ShortsDaily Roku Channel from February 25th - March 3rd, 2022.

Here is my director's statement: The bushfires on the south coast of Australia at the end of 2019 beginning of 2020 were unprecedented in their extent and intensity. An estimated total area of 186,000 km² of the country was engulfed in flames, filling the skies with thick plumes of smoke that caused extreme pollution levels and forced people to breathe toxic air for months. During that time 34 people died and thousands more lost their homes and livelihoods.

As for the consequences to ecosystems, this was a disaster of apocalyptic proportions. Over three billion animals were killed, that is not counting insects, worms, tiny invertebrates and other organisms. It is expected that countless more species that depend upon the country’s native plant life for food will be pushed to extinction in the coming years since around 58,000 km² of bushland was completely obliterated and is unlikely to regenerate.

I experienced the approaching fires in Moruya. Electricity poles were burned. There was no TV or internet or phone coverage, so we couldn't get news. We relied on patchy radio contact with the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) for some understanding of what was going on. Citizen journalists reports were invaluable. The shops didn't have food because the roads were cut off. The town water wasn’t fit to drink so we were boiling tap water.

Regional areas, First Nations peoples, the elderly and the disabled were amongst those hit hardest during this time, left feeling betrayed and abandoned. As a disabled person, I want a say in the future, I want to join with other oppressed communities and lead through my art. This film is a small step towards that outcome.

Our survival depends on collective work, on building grassroots solidarity and self-transformation. This animation has been made through a process of group imagination and creativity. I thank the team that has contributed to its making, Daria Lytvynenko, Latif Rabhi, Kate Hood and Miriana Marusic. I am also grateful to the City of Sydney for their kind support.

A drawing in white of a kangaroo floating in a cloud on a black background by Daria Lytvynenko