Don’t Inflate to Celebrate & Ecotainment! are proud to present the European Film Premiere of Rubber Jellyfish in Wimborne on March 14th. The venue will be transformed into an underwater wonder-world at CLaRC, King Street Wimborne BH21 1EB from 6pm. Reserve your seats for this extravaganza and see you name on the BIG screen via Crowdfunder. They are raising money for a film-tour and will be announcing more Dorset dates on the night. Entry also available by donation on-the-door and via Eventbrite. There is ample free parking (after 6pm) and it’s child-friendly, featuring crafts, stalls and activities from local campaigns Wimborne War on Waste and Ideas 2 Action. Further news and information available from www.waveofchange.uk
This promises to be a very green and eco-friendly plastic-free celebration of the seas
RUNNING ORDER
6 pm – 7 pm Film Fiesta
- On-site Vegan Cafe serving snacks and beverages
Crafts & Activities – Origami, Colouring-in, Rock Painting, Be a Mermaid!
7 –8.30 Rubber Jellyfish Film
- Seats 90
- High Definition 3.7 meter/ 12ft wide-screen
- Professional Stereo Audio
8.45 – 9.30 Q&A Discussion
SYNOPSIS
Rubber Jellyfish is a feature-length documentary film about Sea-Turtles and their propensity for eating discarded ‘novelty’ balloons. These majestic creatures which have been around since the age of the dinosaurs are under threat from ocean plastic and in particular plastic-bags, wraps and balloons which mimic their prey.
A helium balloon released into the atmosphere will travel 8 km up before exploding into a distinctive jellyfish-shape. You see balloons as bio-degradable is really just a myth created by commercial interests to increase sales and irresponsible behaviour aka ‘littering from the sky’! Take a look at any balloon packaging and it will tell you Choking Hazard.
Unlike sea-birds and other marine predators susceptible to dining on our plastic-waste the incredible evolution of the sea-turtle has created Papillae. These are downward facing throat spines meaning it cannot regurgitate anything that enters and the only way is down. Now compare a floating bag or balloon to the Jellyfish prey and voila the perfect storm for species extinction due to human greed and negligence.
Enter our protagonist Carly Wilson, Australian wildlife-conservationist turned film-maker who decided to make Rubber Jellyfish instead of publishing scientific research which may or may not be adequately communicated to the public. Just like the Plastic Ocean film that came before it Rubber Jellyfish shares narrative and content but it’s more focussed, factual and shorter. Whereas Plastic Ocean’s global outlook felt overwhelming Rubber Jellyfish is more.. for want of a better analogy, digestible.
WAVE OF CHANGE
These events form part of the Plastic-Free ‘Wave of Change’ that was created during A Plastic Ocean film-screenings in 2018. That film was shown locally in fifteen venues to over 600 people after an initial screening in Wimborne (May 2017). The response from the public to Plastic Ocean was overwhelming and this was partly due to BBC Blue Planet 2 that screened in November 2017. ‘From that moment on the whole plastic-free thing went mainstream and was prevalent throughout the whole of 2018’ says Lee Hadaway of Ecotainment! ‘Obviously we would like to repeat the success of Plastic Ocean with Rubber Jellyfish but without a sponsor we are relying on public support’. It could be as simple as liking and sharing their posts on social-media or coming to a screening as either a guest or a volunteer.
Sophie From Litter Free Dorset says, ‘Balloons negatively impact our environment by littering streams, lakes, and beaches. It’s the same as intentionally throwing rubbish on the ground or into the ocean. Even balloons marketed as biodegradable or “eco-friendly” can still take years to disintegrate and are not any better for the environment than standard balloons. There are many alternatives to balloons- making pompoms, flying recycled material flags or planting a tree- Lets embrace and celebrate these alternatives!’
