Follow the Rain- why fungi are critical to life

Hi, we are Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak of Planet Fungi. For over a decade, we have been documenting fungi in photographs and videos across Asia and Australia.

You may have seen our time-lapses of fungi growing in David Attenborough's Planet Earth 2 or featured in the Netflix documentary Fantastic Fungi. Or perhaps you recognise some of Stephen's macro photographs from international nature journals.

You can check out what we do on Instagram and YouTube - @Planet_Fungi.

We document fungi because humans are only just starting to understand how important fungi are to life on our planet and how critical they are in protecting us from the impacts of climate change. We realise now that without fungi, the world as we know it would not exist - forests would not exist, and we would not exist. Now the push is on to document as many species as possible, as fast as possible. Raising awareness about fungi is critical to achieving that goal.

Stephen and Catherine are driven to share the story of the Kingdom of Fungi - the exquisite beauty, the weird and wonderful forms, and the role these forever fascinating organisms have on our Earth.

We are in final post-production on our new documentary – an Australian fungi safari called Follow the Rain. It is due for release in early 2024.

In one of the wettest years on record in Australia, we followed in the path of the rain to document the fungi that emerged, some of them rare, some very transient and some new to science.

We educate by blending the amazing footage of our time-lapses of fungi growing with a fungi adventure where we meet people in ancient and wild landscapes, who explain the science of fungi.

Some of the adventures in the documentary are a journey into the world of zombie hunting, unearthing the hidden trading deals between fungi and trees, following a 10-year investigation to name a new species, and revealing the fungal life of a desert. We also go behind the scenes into our world of fungi photography and time-lapse, sharing what we discover along the way.

We self-funded our film shoot and editing. Then 280 generous individuals and organisations donated nearly $33,000 via Go Fund Me, Documentary Australia and direct philanthropy to fund the big ticket items of post-production. This has enabled the composing and production of the music score, sound mix, colour grade and graphics. Now we are seeking your help for the final push of raising the final $10,000 to make as much impact with this documentary as we can.

We will work with fungi scientists, Government and NGOs, in Australia and internationally, to screen the documentary, and engage audiences in supporting fungi science initiatives, fungi conservation and participate in fungi citizen science.

1. Policy change – Follow the Rain will contribute to the work of the international 3Fs campaign – Fauna Flora and Funga. Fungi are recognized as critical to life on this planet, however they represent just 0.2 % of our global conservation priorities. 2. Raise awareness about the lack of funding for fungi science and the gaps that need to be filled.

3. Inspire individuals to participate in citizen science.

4. Inspire government and individuals to conserve and nurture habitat of fungi.

By sharing the stunning beauty of fungi, and how important it is to Life on the Earth, we hope to bring more attention to this magnificent Kingdom of Life.

Anything you can spare for this crowdfunding campaign will help us achieve this mission.