<br />
The Longing (2003) was the final short film completed by award winning Australian director Alex Frayne. The documentary was independently financed and filmed entirely in Braidwood, New South Wales. The team behind the film (Sputnik Films) includes award winning cinematographer Nick Matthews and Australian Film Institute award winning sound designer Tom Heuzenroeder.<br />
The Longing premiered at the 1st Adelaide Film Festival[1] and has been televised numerous times on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS TV). The film has been televised in the US, Canada and Germany.[2] The film's foreign sales agent is the US based Big Short Films.[3] The film mirrored real situations experienced by many farmers struggling with what has become known as "the worst drought of the century."<br />
Many farmers, faced with bank foreclosure, were driven from their properties. These properties had been handed down from generation to generation through good times and bad. These farmers were then faced with the alienating prospect of urban life and 'confinement' in large cities in Australia. Suicide rates leapt during the drought, and rural crisis facilities were flooded with men dealing with depression, despair and broken families.<br />
The Longing addresses these conflicts in a docu-drama setting, and offers a hopeful ending to those still suffering at the hands of a severe drought.<br />
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