Georgina Savage

Abandoned mine shafts fracture the red horizon of desolate outback town, White Cliffs. (Population: 103). The locals are all cheers and chinwags, grateful for any passer by to disturb their routine, but stay a little while longer and cracks in the veneer appear.

United by the desire for Opal, and divided by its increasing scarcity, the people of White Cliffs find solace in their subterranean search. They’re all mining for meaning amongst the booze, machinery, freedom and isolation…

“But of course, the Opal’s gone.”


(Outback Road, Photography by Georgina Savage)

Synopsis:

White Cliffs is a feature documentary by Georgina Savage. It's an obscure portrait of a remote, outback Opal-mining town, painted through the experiences, beliefs and hopes of a cross section of the community. What was once the most bountiful land of Opal in the world is now home to ghosts of the frontier. Men and women toil in unbearable summers on the mine-ridded fields, digging for the precious stone and forsaking all else: family, intimacy and financial security. This film explores the lives of nine individuals who have made White Cliffs their home. Some live there permanently by choice, some pop in for a mid year adventure, some are running from their past and some have accepted their complacent fate. Many hold tight the comforts of a tiny town: a wave, lunch at the sports club, a beer at the pub. But underneath this harmonious image is a place racked with divisions, absurdity and mysticism, as White Cliffs time allows for morbid acceptance and mundane fervour.



(Barry, entering his mine. Photography by Georgina Savage)


(Marleen and pup, Photography by Georgina Savage)


(Blower, Photography by Georgina Savage)


Our Story:

We had a car, the Australian outback and six weeks to find a film. Beyond that we had nothing that remotely resembled a plan. With my best friend, Max, by my side we headed off into the unknown. My Dad had mentioned White Cliffs in passing. With little else to go on, we made tracks for the tiny Opal mining town somewhere near the border of NSW, QLD and SA. In three days we were there. A week later, after a 48 hour journey, our cinematographer Penny Prangnell arrived to capture this incredible place. 


(Max cooking).

The extreme living circumstances of a town as remote as White Cliffs (in summer temperatures can be upward of 50 degrees), encouraged me to explore the affect of isolation and the environment on the psyche of the townsfolk. The seductive allure of the outback landscape had a hold on these people. It drew them into the depths of its barren expanses. What we discovered was far more enthralling than what appears at the surface…


(Ray and Shadow, Photography by Georgina Savage)



Please show us your support by helping to fund this unique Australian outback story. 

The film itself is 95% complete. Everyone who helped make this film was volunteering their time and energy and we managed to make this with our own savings. We were in our final year of studying film at Swinburne University and made the most of the incredible access to equipment and support. There were large expenses that we borrowed money for in order to get the film made, and now we'd really like to pay people back! There are also future expenses that will guarantee that our film makes it out of the edit and onto screens.  The following break down of our expenses lets you know where your money will be going:



Production Costs: 

$2000  (Includes catering and petrol, spare batteries)

We have put in our own money for most of the production costs, but petrol in the outback can get to over $2.50 per litre! We drove a looonnnng way to get out there, and this is one cost we'd like to reimburse. 

Post Production Costs:  

Colour Grading, Artwork and Design: $5500

The very talented and proficient artists of John Fish studios - http://www.iamjohnfish.com/ - have come on board to finish the film. They are in charge of colour grading, a long arduous task in which each frame is analysed and coloured to make it look shmick. They are also the creatives behind our beautiful poster design, DVD and EPK artwork. 

Sound Design:  $450

Hugh Palmer is our dedicated sound designer who has gone to enormous effort to get our sound up to scratch. Filming in such a remote and sometimes chaotic environment has made his task quite difficult!


Film Pathway Costs:

Film Festival Submissions: $1000

Film festivals charge an entry fee, often upward of $60. This fee does not guarantee the film will be shown within the festival, it only guarantees that the people organising the festival will watch the film and consider it. I would like to send this film to as many film festivals as possible.

DVD Printing and Postage: $200

This is to get DVD's out to the film festivals!

Website: $200

www.whitecliffsdocumentary.com is live now! It is a place to follow updates of the film's progress and find out about upcoming screenings. Eventually you will also be able to buy DVD's from there. 



This all adds up to $9350


If you could help us with the first $8000, we'll be eternally grateful.


After a year of hard work all we want is to get this quirky, absurd and beautiful film out into the world!