A major Australian movie filmed on the outskirts of Ararat in Victoria is set to make its big screen debut this month.
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Just a Farmer is an Australian drama that portrays the resilience of the farmer and the farming community.
It was written and produced by former teacher Leila McDougall.
The feature-length movie, filmed mainly on McDougall's farm, Rosevale at Tatyoon, near Ararat is set to open at cinemas around the country on Thursday, March 21. 2024.
Just a Farmer is a cinematic journey that amplifies rural communities' often-overlooked voices.
The relationship between the farmer and the land often defies understanding by the layperson, but this relationship binds them to the soil in an inexplicable way through rain, hail, and shine.
It can also be the silent challenge they face alone, but this film aims to dispel the myth they must suffer alone.
Physical farm injuries make the headlines, but we rarely discuss the farmer's challenges and emotional and mental well-being.
When Australia faced a global pandemic in 2020, one farmer, Ararat's Leila McDougall, identified an additional isolation facing the farmer.
Life on the farm didn't change much, but the opportunity to socialise did.
Mellow in the Yellow is an annual event run by Ms. McDougall and her husband, where farmers gather in the canola crop once a year to talk and share.
"We couldn't hold that event due to lockdown, so we were losing ways to connect."
"I thought there had to be other ways to send a message and give voice to the farmer," she said.
Ms McDougall decided on a project that would show rather than tell people about being a farmer.
She wrote a movie script.
With no experience in movie making and no outside funding, she was driven to break this new ground and create a platform for greater understanding for the farmer.
Movie-making became a family project.
"People say I'm lucky to have the support of my husband for this project, but I don't just have his support, although I do, it is much more.
"Sean and I are partners in everything we do, and it was the same with making Just a Farmer.
"We did this together," she said.
In addition to her major roles in writing and producing a big-screen movie, she plays Alison, the lead role as a newly widowed farming mother of two who is forced to forge a new path for her family while struggling to pick up the pieces of her life.
"I thought it was easier to teach a farmer to act than to teach an actor to be a farmer," she said, "so I took an acting class."
She wanted to show that connection to the land and the farmer's authenticity and wanted moviegoers to see that and not see the actor.
Ms McDougall's husband was always on set and in charge of filming authentic farming life.
"A farmer can spot something that isn't authentic a mile away, and we didn't want to lose them by not being genuine and honest.
"I wanted the language and the actions to be authentic.
"Often we see movies with an actor playing an Australian, and we say, we don't sound like that!
"I didn't want that said about this movie," she said.
"But in saying that, we have been fortunate to have some of the finest Australian actors in the cast, Joel Jackson, Robert Taylor, and Damian Walshe-Howling.
"I think the combination of new faces on the screen alongside well-known actors will be refreshing," she said.
Ms McDougall said she wanted to build a relationship between the farmer and the public across all demographics.
"Our farm became the movie set, our shearers were our shearers, and the farm work scenes were all actual farm work on our property," she said.
The McDougalls's daughter Vivien plays her daughter in the movie Sally.
"Again, I wanted the authenticity of the mother-daughter relationship.
She said securing Australian Director Simon Lyndon to direct the film was a significant coup and he put his heart and soul into it, staying with us on the farm to get a feel for what he would bring to the screen,
"Just a Farmer is more than a movie; it is a heartfelt journey to melt the scars etched on our hearts," he said.
"The film delves into the unspoken nuances of life, the stillness of sunrise over paddocks, the dedication of those feeding our communities, and the laughter and tears."
He continued, "It is a call to inspire conversations and break the silence around mental health."
Using the power of storytelling to illuminate the silent struggles within Australian farming communities was essential to the project,
"I wanted to show the lack of comprehensive medical support in rural areas and inspire a collective action to ensure no farmer faces these challenges alone."
The film celebrates the resilience of farmers' wives and community support against the backdrop of rural Victoria.
It has been a long time since an undertaking like this has been attempted in movies, perhaps since Paul Hogan and Crocodile Dundee and the Man from Snowy River.
