Directed by Kate McIntyre Clere and Mick McIntyre
This groundbreaking film captures the untold love-hate story of Australia’s most famous and contentious national icon. Set in distinctive Australian landscapes, KANGAROO explores the complex and conflicting opinions around this unique marsupial that is at the center of the largest mass destruction of wildlife in the world.
The kangaroo is the second most recognizable tourist symbol in the world behind the Statue of Liberty. It is an image that defines Australia to the world. The kangaroo graces Australia’s national coat of arms, flies through the skies with the national airline and is deeply intertwined in Australia’s corporate and cultural identity. Yet despite a common perception that they are plentiful to the point of pestilence, most Australians have little idea of the story of the kangaroo and what is at risk.
KANGAROO is filmed around Australia showcasing some of the world’s most diverse natural environments and wildlife. The film features interviews at large rural commercial properties with a variety of views on the ‘roo’. The film explores the perspectives of farmers who see kangaroos as grazing competition for their cattle and sheep, which is solved through shooting or the hiring of commercial hunters. And includes comments from farmers who are anxious to find long-term solution paths of coexistence with local wildlife.
The film introduces the audience to professional, former and current kangaroo hunters, some who experience long-term trauma from their trade and others who see their work as a key part of maintaining population balance. The film unfolds the cycle of the kangaroo from paddock to plate as different scientists, industry and government representatives talk around the issues of killing wildlife, saving grasslands for agri-business and the growth in international trade of kangaroo parts.
This film moves from considering the commercial interests of kangaroos to exploring the standpoints of conservationism, public policy and political agendas. KANGAROO explores the perspectives of environmental scientists, indigenous leaders and government officials as they interact on the international stages of California, China and Russia. The film moves through the perspectives of those who do research on kangaroo populations, visits sanctuaries for wildlife and the work of those who defend the Australian wildlife outside their backdoors.
With breath taking footage of kangaroos in the wild, Kangaroo gives the audience an up close experience of this unique species.
