Oyster Movie Night
Oyster Movie Night
An online synchronised watch party for the movie "The Oyster Farmers"
Community Participation -
LP041-008
The issue
The oyster industry in NSW has faced numerous challenges in recent times, including back-to-back flooding events in 2021 and 2022, disease outbreaks, and long harvest closures due to poor water quality and sewage spills. These events have contributed to the increasing difficulties and uncertainties oyster farmers are facing and have eroded mental health and well-being.
The solution
To promote mental health awareness and community resilience an online watch party was held on Monday, 12 December 2022 on zoom with funding from a Stay Afloat Community Resilience Grant, hosted by OceanWatch. The movie night was hosted on Scener, an online hosting platform which allows the synchronised viewing of movies, as well as chat functions. The party met on Zoom prior to commencing the movie, and a Zoom de-brief discussion followed after the movie, which was facilitated by a mental health professional. The discussion touched on a few themes that came up in the movie and allowed for further connections and conversations to take place. The session was designed to provide a supportive environment to discuss ideas and/or raise any issues of concern. At the end of the session links to mental health resources were provided.
"The Oyster Farmers" is a true story of the Barnegat Bay oyster farmers and a celebration of oyster farming and the deep connection it brings to the natural environment. It depicts the ups and downs of oyster farming while it centres around a positive case study of a plight to save and replenish natural oyster reefs. Through great story telling, it offers a keyhole view of human impact on the environment, following the oyster from proliferation, to decimation, to resurgence, through community action and conservation measures. It is a story of collectively coming together as oyster farmers of Barnegat Bay that have been working in the waters for the past four centuries with an ethos of environmental stewardship being the film’s driving force. It celebrates oyster farmers and their commitment to sustainable seafood. This local example draws parallels to matters of global urgency – the climate crisis, sustainable farming, primary production, marine and coastal health, rural education, and livelihoods.
The impact
The movie night had 35 people sign-up with 15 people in attendance on the day, from 4 estuaries. The movie was very well received by the industry, particularly in a stressful time of new disease detection and other challenges, it provided a forum to come together and exchange ideas and concerns and ask questions at a time when meetings were still limited due to COVID. A lot of oyster growers messaged afterward to say they very much enjoyed the evening.
Key facts
- To promote mental health awareness and community resilience an online watch party was held on a movie watch party hosting platform with follow-up Zoom discussion facilitated by a mental health professional.
- 15 people attended the watch party and there was a meaningful post-movie de-brief.
- Received positive feedback from attendees after the movie night.