A MELBOURNE University student’s film has given the community at the small town of Culgoa an opportunity to take the spotlight.
Crew members from FIFO by William Forsyth has been filming scenes in Culgoa’s Kaneira Hotel, at Sea Lake, and Lake Tyrrel.
Owner of the Kaneira Hotel Martin Schoonderwoerd said the community has shown their enthusiasm on being extras for the production.
“We’ve got quite a few people coming over to the hotel to be extras, and all they have to do is sit there and drink a beer,” he said.
“We’re making the most of it, and it’s been great to support some young students to make a short film as well as get more recognition for Culgoa.”
While the Hotel was different from its usual sight for a few days with carefully placed lighting, sound equipment, and cameras, it was business as usual with the pub being open to customers.
“It’s been very customer engaging,” Mr Schoonderwoerd said.
“But there is an area outside quartered off for a scene.”
Director of the film William Forsyth is making FIFO his graduate film while studying at the Victorian College of the Arts as a film and direction student.
He said the community has embraced the crew with open arms and have made making the film a fun and fulfilling process.
“Marty and Leigh, owners of the Kaneira Hotel have been fantastic and so accommodating to us and we’ve had so many locals call in to be extras and give us a hand,” said Forsyth.
“We’re also really grateful the local council (Buloke Shire Council) has given us permits to film, and Parks Victoria being accommodating in what they’re letting us do in Lake Tyrrell.”
The film centres around two FIFO (fly in fly out) miners who are “combating the more transient nature of their lives.”
“Living two weeks on and two weeks off really changes how you approach the world and changes your relationships with people,” Forsyth said.
“The core of the film is centred on a relationship between two of those minors and the way that that affects them.
“One of them is a father and is really worried about his kids growing up without a parent around, and the other one is a little bit more lost with what he wants to do with his life,”
Growing up at Harcourt near Bendigo, Forsyth witnessed many of his friends join the army or become tradespeople or miners which has served as an influence for the film.
“A lot of the inspiration has come from interactions with them over the years, seeing how they’ve changed and seeing how it’s really affected them,” he said.
The film has given Forsyth an opportunity to explore the often unspoken mental health effects of the job.
“Since the film is already about an aspect of Australian culture that’s not really talked about, setting it against the backdrop of such a beautiful area and community that simultaneously feels isolated was important to me,” he said.
Forsyth chose the Kaneira Hotel for being “quintessentially Australian”.
“It fit the vibe perfectly where it’s so quintessentially Australian but not the typical Australia that you would see in a lot of films like having the red desert and the overpowering blue sky,” he said.
Culgoa and surrounding areas were also chosen due to having hosted FIFO sites in the past, with Lake Tyrrell currently being used for salt mining.
“The wetness and the cold and the paleness of the salt lake in Lake Tyrrel really lends itself to a new perspective of the Australian landscape that we don’t see of much at all,” Forsyth said.
Forsyth said he hopes to be able to make films about parts of Australian culture and perspectives that have not received much representation.
“I think we’re a fascinating country and that we’ve got so many different things going on,” he said.
“We’re so large and there’s so many different avenues that haven’t been explored.
“It always frustrates me how dismissive people are of Australian arts and culture when we really have a lot to say.
There’s so much that’s never spoken about and I’d really like to hammer down on that.”
FIFO will be available to watch in November at the Melbourne International Film Festival’s website.
