Welcome to Atlantium, the Nation Formed in a Backyard | Short Film Showcase
The purpose of Atlantium is to give people a vision of how a globalized world could properly function, in which everyone has the possibility of realizing the fullness of their personal potential.
What do you do if you don't like the country you were born in? Micro nations are countries that have declared independence from their host nation. They aren't recognized by the risk.
His Imperial Majesty George II, the Emperor of Atlantium, welcomes you to [Music] Atlantium. Atlantium is a global sovereign state, and it also happens to be the smallest country in Australia. Our headquarters in New South Wales is 76 square kilometers in extent. Putting that in context, we are about twice the size of Vatican City and half the size of Monaco. Over there in the center of Atlantium is Constitution Hill, and off to the right is Flagstaff Hill. Beyond those farthest trees is another country: Australia.
Atlantium was founded on the 27th of November, 1981, by me and my two cousins, Jeffrey and Claire. The Atlantium territory at that time was a corner of my mother's backyard. It then grew over the next few years to encompass some of my university friends. They were quite taken by the idea, and they became the first new citizens from outside my immediate family. The government started expanding, and we started codifying and documenting our activities a lot more widely. The internet came along, and we had an explosion of interest, which has never really stopped.
My name is Ed Collingham. My main role is flagbearer in front of the vehicle in parades, and also bodyguard and general aide-de-camp, because there's a lot to do for Emperors prior to formal engagements. Good enough, we've had a fair amount of international media coverage over the years, and typically the stories take a fairly light-hearted tone. But they do provide me with a vehicle for getting out a serious message to the people interviewing me.
From time to time, we support assisted suicide, marriage equality, abortion rights, and unrestricted international freedom of movement. The world that Atlantium wants to see is one where people can realize the fullness of their personal potential. We have an excess of 3,000 citizens in around 100 countries, everywhere from Morocco to Abaan to Zimbabwe. We say, "Throw open the borders! Our economy will benefit, our society will benefit, and humanity's future will benefit."
People are usually approved as citizens through a simple online process, but on rare occasions, I do induct citizens [Music] personally. Atlantium has its own coins, banknotes, and monetary system. We even have our own national anthem, the Auroran Hymn. It's an excerpt from the third movement of Sa's Symphony Number Three in C, which everybody knows: da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da.
We have our own postal system. Atlantian stamps are not officially accepted into the Australian postal system. We did have an issue back in the early 1980s when some mail was returned to us by an official representative. There was a bit of a standoff on my mother's front veranda. I refused to take it back; my mother took it back out of embarrassment.
My parents raised me with the idea that in this country, with the right amount of intelligence and application, you can really achieve anything. They also taught me that if you didn't like the way the world was, you should actively do something about it. And 35 years later, Atlantium has grown into a global organization where my vision is now shared by thousands of people around the world. Not many people have that opportunity in life.
If, through Atlantium, I can contribute in some small way to that hope for a bright future of humanity, then I will go to my grave a happy [Music] [Music] [Music] man [Music].