MIFF 2026: Super Nature

Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my fourth session (of 14!)

This post is my short review of 'Super Nature'

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 14 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

As per its title, this movie uses Super 8 footage, which is a film video format that was meant for amateur home movies. The format is what intrigued me, having used many rolls of 35mm for photos. I actually didn't initially book this movie as part of my 14, but since one of the movies that I went to watch had an issue with the subtitle, they refunded me with credit to pick another one. And I'm glad that I chose 'Super Nature'! This was super inspiring and a great watch. Plus, they were two of the film makers attending the session and they had a Q&A session at the end, so cool. This is also my first time watching a documentary movie at MIFF, I think I should watch more next year.

All images courtesy of miff.com.au

Who would I recommend this to?

Lover of celluloid, a.k.a film. The texture grain on the movie makes it feel nostalgic, and in some way more real that a perfectly captured wildlife movie. If you like wildlife documentaries, then this would provide a different perspective with its format, which is super (haha) charming. I think if you have any interest in analog things, you would like this movie.

Structure

The movie consists of many splices of Super 8 footage from all over the world. The director, Ed Sayers, collected these from people that each have a unique story to tell about nature around them. I keep mentioning the format, Super 8, because it's a big proponent of the movie. Each filmmaker was seen using a Super 8 camera, captured with Super 8 by their partner. It creates this sense of "we all in this together" just by them using a similar looking camera - though they aren't all the same.

The movie didn't just go through each footage and call it a day, there's an overarching message that it wants to tell. So using that narrative as a glue, it goes around while bit by bit unraveling the message - not in a spooky mysterious way, just in a normal storytelling way, like in a book.

Narrative

The narrative revolves around nature, as per the title. Specifically, how humans connect with nature. The fact that nature is always there and when we are 'called by nature', we're just returning to it - we're always part of it. It's about nature conservation as well, as seen from footage of rhinos, bisons, and the ocean cleaning team. There are some funny ones in the middle too that releases the tension a bit. And some footage that are just beautiful and awe inspiring.

Cinematography

Although the footage came from many different creators, the visual language feels cohesive. I feel like that's a lot to do with the editing work by the director. It's no easy task to combine different styles of footage into one movie. I feel like the pacing was good, the transitions between them, and his own footage too matches well with the rest. There's no particular scene or shot that is out there enough to talk about, but I think that's the point. The movie supposed to feel nostalgic and natural, almost like a memory. At the Q&A, one person said "All the tech to make wildlife footage as perfect is possible is great, but that's not how our memory works. A format like Super 8 is nostalgic because memory is imperfect, a bit blurry, and fuzzy"

Aside: Straight 8

I'm so pumped about this format now. The two filmmakers at the Q&A mentioned that they both were in the straight 8 competition (that was created by the director btw), and that looks so cool. You're supposed to just shoot a cartridge of Super 8 and just send it off - submit it without even looking at it yourself. You just need to trust your judgement on it. That's crazy.

Outro

Super Nature is a superbly well done movie using a format that was invented and use 50+ years ago about things in nature today - from the mysterious world of insects, the somber story about the endangered rhinos, tribes in Indonesia living one with water, the Australia kangaroos, and many more. And if you are a filmmaker too, you might just get inspired to use Super 8 too...