Draft:Ruth Hessey

Ruth Naomi Hessey (December 16, 1959 - April 1, 2023) was an award-winning documentary filmmaker, environmental educator, author and national film critic, on the Australian media scene.

Her documentary Waste Not (2011), about recycling and sustainability, won Best Documentary Film at St Kilda Film Festival and Best Cinematography at WOW Film Festival. It was purchased by hundreds of schools, universities and local councils internationally and by companies such as Fujitsu and National Australia Bank as a staff engagement resource. The film has subsequently been translated into Spanish, Turkish and Chinese and is distributed by Ronin Films.

Following this success, the documentary became the cornerstone of a web-based interactive educational resource and ongoing schools-based initiatives to encourage children's involvement with waste management and recycling; for which Hessey was Project Director. This was part-funded by the Pratt Foundation and Myer Foundation and City of Sydney. According to IF Magazine, the importance of this educational drive was noted by the Chairman of Clean Up Australia, Ian Kiernan AO, "Good, clear, interactive information about recycling is not just about environmental benefits...The economics are becoming urgent, as we see dwindling resources and the spread of plastic pollution."

Environmental activist and campaigner
Ruth Hessey made the documentary Waste Not while campaigning as Communications Director at the Total Environment Centre in Sydney, Australia.

While at T.E.C, Hessey was also Creative Director of a “trashion” initiative, Mash It Up!, bringing schoolchildren from several schools together to make fashion out of recycled or discarded material. These post-apocalyptic catwalk shows of waste couture culminated at the WASTE NOT - Mash It Up! Launch at Sydney Olympic Park during the annual Youth Eco Summit on September 4th 2018. Prizes were donated by Harris Farm, G-Star Raw, Billy Blue Design, the Replas plastic recycling company, and Allerton swimwear.

Journalist and national film critic
Ruth Hessey was a national film critic on the Australian national radio and a reviewer for leading newspapers for almost two decades. She was national film critic on Radio National at the Australian Broadcasting Company exploring the place and identity of Australian cinema in national and international culture. She also wrote many articles for The Sydney Morning Herald from 1984 to 1994 and was film critic on The Age newspaper, Australia, from 1992 to 2000.

Author and editor
Ruth Hessey co-wrote The Dealer Is the Devil, a book about the history of Australian Aboriginal Art and how non-indigenous art dealers have worked with Australian First Nation's artists. It provides "background and details to the many complicated ways that Aboriginal art has been made, bought and sold over the years...how auction houses and arts centres work or don’t work, how newspaper articles can influence events – it is a gripping tale."

Ruth Hessey also edited a collection of short stories for Allen & Unwin, Screwed: Tales of Love and Sex.

Radio Broadcaster
For several years Ruth Hessey produced and presented shows on Sydney’s Eastside Radio, 89.7 FM. These included Monday Drive as host and Breaking Waves as producer. Hessey helped create shows that championed environmental protection and physiological and neurological diversity.

Death
Ruth Hessey was hit by a car while walking near her home in Bronte, Sydney, on the 31st of March 2023 and died in St Vincent’s Hospital the next day. A funeral service was held at Christ Church St. Laurence in George Street, Sydney on 18th of April, 2023.