The Bilbies — Em Frank

THE BILBIES

The Bilbies are a loose collective of filmmakers, activists, artists and ratbags who hate fracking and love to throw a tea party.

They first appeared in 2013 at Wide Open Space Festival in Alice Springs. Months later they became anti-fracking activists in a mockumentary called ‘Nocturnal Warriors’, which won the people’s choice award at Lens Flair film festival.

They have appeared at many anti-fracking protests, helping bring awareness to the precarious situation unfolding in the Northern Territory.

From 2014 – 2017 they hosted the Bilby Tea Party at WIde Open Spaces, the Sunday staple of frocks, teacups and dance hits of the 80s & 90s. During this time they also ran kids workshops for the Alice Springs Eco Fair and helped launch the ‘Bilby’s Ring’ children’s novel series by author Kaye Kessing.

Bilby mask creator: Christopher Baldwin

Bilby performers: Imogen Semmler, Lou Stanley, Em Frank, Jess Cuneo, Amy Lamb, Christopher Baldwin, Gregory Gonzalez, Elissa James, Pete Raftos, Alex Kelly, Kim Webeck, Franca Barraclough, Melissa Kerl, Anna Cadden, and Beth Sometimes.

Nocturnal Warriors Short Film

Images and words courtesy of Imogen Semmler, Occassional Collective

Living and labouring on Kaurna Yarta

@em___frank