Byron Bay producer helps expose polar bear trade in Bangalow Film Festival documentary

POLAR bears are often seen as the iconic symbol of climate change, yet many people are unaware that warming temperatures are not their only threat – despite their vulnerable status, these Arctic animals are not protected from commercial trade.

Byron Bay-based impact producer Sarah Beard is determined to change that with the help of the film Trade Secret, which will screen at the upcoming Bangalow Film Festival.

Filmed over six years across nine countries, the documentary follows three unlikely allies on a mission to protect polar bears from international commercial trade.

“The film has a very unexpected twist, that Hollywood screenwriters would envy, and uncovers a disturbing truth: those entrusted with safeguarding the species may be entangled in their continued commercialisation,” Beard said.

“It raises urgent and confronting questions about what ‘conservation’ actually means when protection and exploitation become indistinguishable.”

Beard is thrilled to share Trade Secret with a local audience at the Bangalow Film Festival after a remarkable journey on the international film festival circuit.

The film opened the prestigious Wildscreen Industry Summit in Bristol in 2025 and won the Golden Panda for Best Production and Best Independent Film, awards widely regarded as the equivalent of an Oscar in wildlife filmmaking. Since then, it has amassed an impressive list of awards and official selections at more than 20 festivals worldwide, including the Audience Award at the Climate Film Festival New York, which was opened by Dr Sylvia Earle, who described it as “a life-changing film”.

Beard said the window to achieve full protection for polar bears from commercial trade and trophy hunting is narrowing.

“In 2028, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species will vote on whether to uplist the polar bear to the highest level of protection, or to continue permitting the commercial trade in their fur, body parts and trophy hunting,” she said.

While documentarians have always made films to raise awareness, change minds and inspire action, Beard said the formal concepts of “impact filmmaking” and “impact campaigns” only began gaining traction in Australia around 2008, when Documentary Australia (originally the Documentary Australia Foundation) was established to champion and support impact-driven films.

Around the same time, GoodPitch was introduced to Australia, creating a unique convergence of philanthropy, policy experts and filmmakers.

“It was one of the first models where funding was available for both the film’s production and its impact campaign simultaneously,” Beard said.

As an impact producer, Beard’s role is to design and execute strategic campaigns that translate a film’s storytelling into measurable, real-world change.

Beard grew up in Sydney devouring National Geographic magazines and originally dreamed of becoming a photographer. After completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in film and photography at the NSW College of Fine Arts, followed by a Graduate Diploma of Film Production at Griffith University, and spending time living overseas, she met several documentary filmmakers who helped shape her career path.

She began her career working on the television series The Adventures of the Quest, inspired by the films of Jacques Cousteau. She has since worked on a range of productions, including the acclaimed documentary Ocean with David Attenborough.

“I was brought on by Minderoo Pictures after the film was made to develop and produce the Australian impact campaign, so my role was about ensuring the film’s message translated into action here,” she said.

“We are now in our second year of the campaign and working in the Pacific region. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Sir David Attenborough, but to work with a film that carries his voice and vision, and to be entrusted with making sure that message lands here in Australia, has been one of the genuine privileges of my career.”

Beard believes that at its heart, documentary filmmaking is about giving voice to the voiceless. “For me, that has most often meant the natural world,” she said.

“But beyond individual stories, I love the genre’s capacity to function simultaneously as social and/or environmental commentary, educational tool and an advocacy tool,” she said. “Great documentaries challenge the way people think, hold power to account and ignite lasting social change.”

Trade Secret is one of five films competing for the first Green Frame Nature Documentary Award at the Bangalow Film Festival. It screens at 5.30pm on 19 June at Bangalow A&I Hall.

For more information and tickets, visit bangalowfilmfestival.com.au