“Destined for cinema”: Narrabri showcased in Flickerfest film

Narrabri has been placed firmly in the cinematic spotlight as it hits the big screen in a short film that features in a national festival.

‘Giants’, which was produced by Narrabri’s Steven Rees and filmed at his parent’s property, ‘Murrumbilla’, is among Australian and international films to form part of the offering at Flickerfest, the nation’s largest short film festival.

Flickerfest is being showcased at The Crossing Theatre this Thursday evening.

‘Giants’ was shot around the Narrabri region over 18 months from 2018 during the worst period of the drought, featuring Lyn and Rod Rees’ property ‘Murrumbilla’, the adjoining property also named ‘Murrumbilla’, which is the home of Bones and Jenny Falkiner, and the 50th Galloping Gully Polocrosse Club carnival.

The film was inspired by Mr Rees, a Narrabri High School councillor, who co-produced the film and his conversations with ex-Armidale School buddy director Eddy Bell.

Mr Bell travelled to Narrabri firstly to shoot the Galloping Gully 50th anniversary on one weekend, which turned into a professional crew returning over nine times to capture the harsh reality of a farming family facing an unrelenting drought and in going on this journey with the locals of Narrabri the award-winning short film ‘Giants’ was made.

‘Giants’ took home both the Flickerfest 2022 Academy qualifying Panasonic LUMIX Award for Best Australian Short Film (Academy Qualifying) and the AVID Award for Best Original Music, ‘Giants’.

The film is the first for Mr Rees who offered up the suggestion of the film including the devastating drought being experienced in the North West.

“I suggested if they came here to Galloping Gully there would be heaps of horses and dust. It was very last minute. They came up with the script and the idea,” Mr Rees said of Mr Bell and other crew members.

“They turned it into a reality.

“The crew came multiple times for the filming. At one point, there were 17 people to feed.”

For some of the Sydney-based crew members, it was their first time witnessing the heartbreak of the drought first-hand. However, for the Rees family, hosting the visiting crews served as a brief distraction from the drought’s devastation.

Mr Rees praised the crew for the long hours it takes to develop a film, saying he didn’t realise the enormity of the process.

This Thursday’s screening in Narrabri is a moment of pride for Mr Rees, seeing his work on the big screen in his hometown.

“I’m so stoked that it got to Flickerfest. That is where it belongs,” he said.

“It was destined for cinema,” Mr Rees said of the film.

‘Giants’ has sparked a keen interest in Mr Rees, who has expressed interest in doing another film.

“It was a real buzz,” he said.

The 31st Flickerfest International Short Film Festival, including the screening of Giants, will be held across two sessions at The Crossing Theatre, Narrabri, on Thursday, July 28.

Narrabri is one of the regional centres to be chosen to host the festival, which is described by organisers as a ‘kaleidoscope carnival of short films’.

The Best of Australian Shorts will screen at 5.30pm and will be followed by The Best of International Shorts at 8pm.