See the movie on ABC iView Reflections on Manly Pool

This documentary tells the ongoing saga of Manly’s “Wonder Pool”, created in 1931 by The Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company Ltd. and destroyed during a massive storm in 1974.

The golden years of “The Lido of the South” are recreated using delightful archival footage and interviews with local citizens. Planning possibilities for today’s highly prized Manly Cove West are canvassed: regenerate, rebuild or regret?

We visit the big issues: public vs private access, harbour views and the survival of species. We meet Angelika, trying to save the endangered Little Penguin colony, and Dave, wanting to recreate the magnificent pool and boardwalk as a protective framework for creating a world-class pristine aquatic environment. What does the future hold for the Cove?

“Reflections on Manly Pool “ was selected from hundreds of entries to be shown at Flickerfest, the 21st international short film festival. The festival was held in the summer of 2012 at Bondi Pavilion.

The documentary was shown in the Greenflix section, and the festival toured around Australia for six months.

The Wonder Pool question was put to Manly Council
12 MARCH 2012: As a result of the Q & A panel community discussion at the second screening (see below) Councillor Burns put a motion before Manly Council to investigate the possibility of building a form of modern pool/boardwalk.

See https://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/bring-back-wonder-pool/ (No longer available because of their firewall.)

The article in the Manly Daily caused great interest with many comments from locals.

The Councillors voted at the meeting to commence a pre-feasability study into the re-building of a boardwalk/pool across Manly Cove West. Only two Councillors failed to support the motion. Councillor Candy Bingham became very interested in having the pool and boardwalk rebuilt and has been promoting the idea ever since the film was released. (See latest BLOG post for latest 2018 details.)

See https://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/manly-pool-resurrection-doesnt-float-everyones-boat/ (No longer available because of their firewall.)

Second Screening and Q&A

The second screening of the Manly Pool documentary was held on at Manly Selective High School Campus in North Curl Curl on the 28 February 2012. A panel including eco-diver Dave Thomas, penguin warden Sue Matthews, Manly Centre Manager Meegan Clancy, Manly Councillor Hugh Burns, and the filmmaker Marian Hambly were present to discuss the issues.

The Year 9 Guerrilla Filmmaking class used the event as a training session. They watched the documentary beforehand, developing a series of questions for a Q & A panel featuring some of the local identities featured in the film.

Despite the apocalyptic thunderstorm that evening, we had an audience of around 60 engaged citizens. Discussion was lively and the students filmed the proceedings with multiple cameras so that they could edit their footage as practice for making their own films later in the year.

Previously…

“Reflections on Manly Pool” had its first SELL OUT screening at Manly Fisho’s on 10 January 2012. The event was held as a fundraiser for two local environmental groups, Eco Divers and Two Hands Project. As people were queueing around the block, a second screening was held in late February.

This documentary tells the ongoing saga of Manly’s “Wonder Pool”, created in 1931 by The Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company Ltd. and destroyed during a massive storm in 1974.

The golden years of “The Lido of the South” are recreated using delightful archival footage and interviews with local citizens. Planning possibilities for today’s highly prized Manly Cove West are canvassed: regenerate, rebuild or regret?

We visit the big issues: public vs private access, harbour views and the survival of species. We meet Angelika, trying to save the endangered Little Penguin colony, and Dave, wanting to recreate the magnificent pool and boardwalk as a protective framework for creating a world-class pristine aquatic environment. What does the future hold for the Cove?

A sellout crowd of locals packed into the Fishos.