Leanne Farmiloe, owner with her husband of the Bowerbird of Montville, was one of the five courageous women who wrote, directed and produced her first feature film for the Maleny Film Festival. She tells the Hinterland Times some of the highs and lows of her amazing journey.
- Montville resident and film-maker, Leanne Farmiloe
From the moment I started writing the story, the characters jumped to life and I wrote the first draft in two days. (Maleny Film Society facilitators) Scott Roberts and Rebecca Belfield helped me over the following months with suggestions on how to develop the story and eventually I had a script to work with.
There is a saying “never work with children or animals” and I guess I didn’t follow that advice – my story called not only for a child in one of the lead roles, but it also needed a cow, a dog and a dingo! I cast my eight year-old daughter Rose as the little girl in the film, and she has proved a ‘natural’. By the end of the filming she was reminding me what was happening next!
The lead role of Henry Perryman was never an issue for me – local Mark Roderick is the head of the Fire Brigade and to me was the essence of Henry. I asked him if he would be interested in taking the role, and he was happy to have a go. He was a pleasure to work with, totally unflappable – which I really tested out some days!
A young boy from Mapleton Primary School, Alex McCallum, stepped into the role of the young aboriginal boy Rose befriends by the river. He had a very professional approach to the filming and did a great job.
One of the hardest things I had to sort out was who would act the roles of the Gubbi Gubbi men in my film. I met Bridgette Davis, a descendant of the local Gubbi Gubbi tribe,who was so helpful – she organised two of her brothers, Paul and Quintien Waia, and her son Kieran to act in my film.They did a fantastic job and were a lot of fun to work with.
I also needed many challenging props – a working wood stove was one, and an old chest another. With the help of generous local businesses – the Flaxton Barn and Geordie Lane Antiques, I crossed these more difficult requirements off my list.
One of my goals in making this film was to find locations that would showcase the scenery of this amazing place we live. Although the film is set in Maleny, because of logistics I filmed in Montville, Beerwah, Conondale and Tanawha, which all typify the beauty of the Blackall Ranges and the Sunshine Coast in general. I believe that cameraman, Adam Finney has done a great job of capturing the haunting beauty of the Australian bush. His flatmate Angus Holliday was to join us too, with his excellent editing skills.
I have been so fortunate with the cast and crew, all of whom have worked beyond the call of duty to get this very low budget, almost feature length film together. Support from local businesses has been amazing, I have experienced a lot of generosity.
(Editor’s note: Leanne has also written and recorded the music for her film - another steep learning curve but it ensures that The Clearing will be an intriguing film not to be missed at the Maleny Film Festival on January 23-24 at the Maleny Community Centre).
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