Rob Munday
With a narrative based around a real-life drug epidemic sweeping through Australia’s sheep shearing community, Man is a hard-hitting drama about the lengths some people will go to when trying to keep up with an ever-changing industry. Featuring some hugely impressive production values, Richard Hughes and Dave Christison’s 19-minute short is a cinematic insight into a world not often captured in fiction.
With Australian shear sheds hitting the news in recent times, Man feels like a relevant subject to be covering on film at the moment. Whilst the short may focus on a specific problem troubling one of Australia’s oldest industries, it’s the universal theme of what it means to be a man that makes it relatable to those of us outside of Australia. Eager to find out why they decided to base their latest project around these themes, Short of the Week spoke to Hughes and Christison about the inception of their narrative:
“The idea for the film came to fruition while I was shooting a documentary in the Australian High Country on Mountain Men. While getting to know a few of these cowboys and shearers, it became clear that the hardworking industry of shearing wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Yes it was strenuous work with long hours but it was also evident that some of these men were abusing drugs, in particular crystal meth. It was justified to me that these men could shear more sheep in a week on the gear than being completely straight. The wool industry was Australia’s first industry putting it on the trade map, to see a drug like Meth hitting these rural communities is quite tragic and relevant.”
Although, the unique subject is the main draw with Man, it’s backed up with some ambitious photography that feels like it could easily be taken directly from a segment of a feature film. Shot on an Arri Alexi with Cookei5 lenses by Director of Photography Brad Francis, the filmmakers admit their love of the Australian landscapes meant they couldn’t miss the “opportunity to go wide and show off the land”. Shot in the sheep shearing capital of Australia – a small town called Wagin in outback Western Australia – the production took 8-days with a cast/crew of around 20.
At almost 20-minutes in duration, Man isn’t really a film you put on if you want a quick laugh or an instant thrill. It’s a film that demands attention, a film that feels important and a film that showcases the talents of the confident filmmaking crew behind it. Hughes and Christison are currently developing the script for their next project – if you enjoyed Man be sure to keep up with what they do next by following their page on Facebook.