Sep
3

Wind & Sky’s The Missing a Finalist in 2020 ATOM Awards

3 September 2020

The Wind & Sky Productions short documentary ‘The Missing’ is a finalist in the Best Documentary – History category for the 2020 ATOM Awards.

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Mar
3

Harbour Lights


Info

Commissioned by: Victorian Government

Produced: 2020

Length: 17:51 minutes

The Ladies Harbour Lights Guild, circa 1910. Courtesy of the Mission to Seafarers Victoria.

Victorian Government Architect Jill Garner. Courtesy of Wind & Sky Productions.

Mission to Seafarers Building circa 1920. Courtesy of Mission to Seafarers.

Seafarers at a Mission event circa 1910. Courtesy of the Mission to Seafarers Victoria.

Urban historian Chris McConville. Courtesy Wind & Sky Productions.

Seafarers circa 1910. Courtesy of the Mission to Seafarers Victoria.

Ladies Harbour Lights Guild event in Melbourne circa 1910. Courtesy of the Mission to Seafarers Victoria.

Seafarers, circa 1910. Courtesy of the Mission to Seafarers Victoria.

About The Film

In WW1 Melbourne a pioneering network of women at the Mission to Seafarers called the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild supported sailors who risked their lives at sea.

The documentary ‘Harbour Lights’ tells the remarkable story of the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild and the lives of seafarers in early 20th century Melbourne. It focusses on Melbourne’s iconic Mission to Seafarers building, its connection to the Great War and to a unique community of ships crew and volunteers.

This Wind & Sky Production was produced in collaboration with the Mission to Seafarers Victoria. It was directed by Jary Nemo and written and produced by Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo with executive producers Sue Dight and Gordon MacMillan.

Narrated by Sharon Turley, the film features Jill Garner, Kate Darian-Smith, Chris McConville, Janet Miller and Gordon MacMillan. Music was specifically composed by the incredible Richard Chew. Featuring Melbourne historians, commentators, archivists and architects and rare footage and images of sailing and social life in and around the ports of Melbourne, this film will inform and connect audiences young and old.

Created with the support of the Victorian Government.

Story Background

At the outbreak of World War One shipping was central to the Victorian way of life.

Seafarers from every corner of the world visited Melbourne on merchant ships. They risked their lives bringing goods to what was then the largest port in Australia. Life could be equally difficult in port where exploitation of sailors was rife.

To help protect them from harm the Mission to Seafarers set up a network of support in Australia and around the world. The Mission was first established as a floating chapel in Hobson’s Bay in 1857, but by the early 20th century had established shore-based missions in Williamstown, Port Melbourne, and on the Yarra River in Melbourne.

The Melbourne Mission to Seafarers, which still stands today, was constructed on the Yarra River waterfront in 1917 during the First World War at a time when ships carrying cargo and people were subjected to heightened dangers at sea.

What is little-known about the story is the crucial work of a group of women called the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild who raised significant funds for the Mission’s construction and who volunteered their time to support the global welfare of seafarers from ship to shore.

The inspiration for the film project was the rediscovery in 2007 of a near-forgotten set of dusty old boxes stored under the Mission’s theatre. The boxes were filled with documents and photographs related to the activities of the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild from its foundation in 1906 to its demise in the 1960s.

In recent years a dedicated team of volunteers and staff at the Mission has been gradually digitising, identifying and cataloguing the Guild records. Through their research they discovered that the construction of the current Mission building at 717 Flinders Street, particularly the building of the Memorial Chapel, was paid for in large part by the fundraising efforts of the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild during WW1.

The archives also revealed that the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild model was a homegrown invention, pioneered in Melbourne in 1906 and exported to Missions around the world.

Though the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild disbanded in the 1960s, their legacy is present in the bones of the building they helped construct during the terrible years of the First World War. Their traces can be found in the outdoor garden, designed and planted by members of the Guild, and in the stained glass, decorative work and plaques in the building’s Memorial Chapel, dedicated to the memory of merchant mariners who lost their lives in the Great War.

Today the Mission continues to operate from the same building and has an active staff and volunteer community working in support of the world’s seafarers who visit the port of Melbourne.

In the News

Peter Krausz, Interview with Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo Harbour Lights, Movie Metropolis, WYN 88.9FM, 24 July 2021.

Documentary Drive, ‘MDFF 2021: Shorts to Watch’, 06 July 2021.

Annie McLoughlin, ‘Harbour Lights & The Last Typewriter Shop In Melbourne’, Interview with Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo, Showreel, 3CR Community Radio, 24 June 2021.

Screenings and Events

Winner, Best Documentary Film, Directors Circle Festival of Shorts 2021, 27 November – 4 December 2021.

Official Selection, Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2021, 7-31 July 2021.

Official Selection, Setting Sun Film Festival 2021, 18-26 June 2021.

Official Selection, Carmarthen Bay Film Festival 2021, 18-19 May 2021.

Geelong Wooden Boat Festival: Sunday 8 March 2020, West Lounge Theatre, Geelong Foreshore. Program

Film Launch: Wednesday 26th February 2020, Melbourne Mission to Seafarers.

Viewing the Film

The film is free to show, watch and share online at internet quality at Harbour Lights on YouTube.

To arrange for a high quality screening copy for community screenings and events contact Wind & Sky Productions or Mission to Seafarers Victoria.

Media Contact

For interviews and further information, contact Wind & Sky Productions or Mission to Seafarers Victoria.

Credits

Narrator
Sharon Turley
Featuring (in order of appearance)
Dr Chris McConville, Gordon MacMillan, Janet Miller, Professor Kate Darian-Smith and Jill Garner
With
Raul S Gantalao Jr, Escoto Lemuel, Ben Schroeder, Cinda Manins
And
Ian Fletcher, Yuan Jia, Uma Kothari, Gordon Lansley, William Reed and Cheka Samaranayake
Directed by
Jary Nemo
Written and Produced by
Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo
Music by
Richard Chew
Executive Producers
Sue Dight and Gordon MacMillan
Research advisors
Geraldine Brault, Maria Culka, Professor Kate Darian-Smith, Ros Fletcher, Professor Uma Kothari, Dr Barbara Lemon, Catherine McLay, Dr Chris McConville, Janet Miller, Rick Mitchell, Duncan ‘John’ Perryman, Dr Annette Sheill and Peter Taylor
Archival photographs, music and footage courtesy of
Australian Red Cross Society, Central Highlands Libraries, Internet Archive, National Film and Sound Archive, National Library of Australia, Mackarness Family Personal Archives, Mission to Seafarers Victoria, Public Record Office Victoria, State Library of Victoria and US National Archives
Music
Harbour Lights. Music by Richard Chew. Westering. Music by Richard Chew. Twilight (Crépuscule) by Jules Massenet. Performed by Amelita Galli-Curci. I Love You So, Waltz from The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár. Performed by Elise Stephenson and Harry Macdonough with Orchestra. Harbour Lights 2. Music by Richard Chew. If I Could Fly by Walking Hearts featuring Jennifer Holm. Courtesy of Epidemic Sound.
With thanks to
Peter Barrow, Sarah Bartak, Lin Bender AM, Patty Braumueller, Csilla Csongvay, Emer Diviney, Moira Drew, Ian Fletcher, Ajith Jayasuriya, Ben Jones, Patience Jones, Cinda Manins, Madeleine Martiniello, Georgia Melville, Elisabeth Moglia, Tara Oldfield, Lyn Pasquier, Nigel Porteous, Rev’d Onofre (Inni) Punay, Dr Rosalie Triolo, Ben Schroeder, David Simpson, Cheka Samaranayake, Daria Wray, the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and KPMG.
A special thanks to
The women of the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild 1906 to 1961
Produced in collaboration with
The Mission to Seafarers Victoria
Created with the support of
The Victorian Government
Licensing
This film has been released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license
Acknowledgement of country
Project production and development took place on the lands of the Kulin nation. We acknowledge Traditional Owners and pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.
Production company
A Wind & Sky Production
Copyright with
© Wind & Sky Productions MMXIX

 

 

Dec
12

Event Report: Premiere Screening of ‘The Missing’

On Friday the 29th November 2019 a select audience joined us for the premiere screening of The Missing.

The typical Melbourne traffic chaos was countered by a beautiful spring day and the tranquil surroundings of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance.

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Dec
12

The Missing Launch Photo Gallery

On Friday the 29th November a select audience joined us at the tranquil Shrine of Remembrance for the premiere screening of The Missing.

Here are some photographs of the event by Kathie Mayer.

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Nov
29

New Film Tells Story of WW1 Missing

29 November 2019

New short documentary celebrates volunteer heroes of the First World War and its aftermath.

A new film ‘The Missing’ celebrates two unsung Australian humanitarian efforts of WW1 – the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau and post-war Australian Graves Workers.

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Nov
28

The Missing


Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, Chair of History, Flinders University. Still from the film ‘The Missing’, courtesy of Wind & Sky Productions.

The Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau, London, 1918. Courtesy of Australian Red Cross Society.

Dr Bart Ziino, Historian, Deakin University. Still from the film ‘The Missing’. Courtesy of Wind & Sky Productions.

Burial Parties and Relocating to Proper Graves, France, circa 1919. Source: Marcel Pillon photograph collection, ANZAC House, Melbourne.[/caption]

Vera Deakin, daughter of Alfred Deakin, was integral to the operation of the international Missing and Wounded Enquiry Bureau. Image courtesy of Australian War Memorial.

The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival was the first Australian Documentary Festival to go online due to COVID-19

Audience questions at The Missing film launch. Photo by Kathie Mayer.

Panellists Carole Woods, Dr Bart Ziino, Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, Associate Professor Fred Cahir and interviewer Lucinda Horrocks at The Missing film launch. Photo by Kathie Mayer.

When WW1 brought Australians face to face with mass death a Red Cross Information Bureau and post-war graves workers laboured to help families grieve for the missing.

The unprecedented death toll of the First World War generated a burden of grief. Particularly disturbing was the vast number of dead who were “missing” – their bodies never found. This short documentary and online exhibition explores two unsung humanitarian responses to the crisis of the missing of World War 1 – the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau and the post-war work of the Australian Graves Detachment and Graves Services. It tells of a remarkable group of men and women, ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, who laboured to provide comfort and connection to grieving families in distant Australia.

Documentary Film

The short documentary features Professor Melanie Oppenheimer of Flinders University and Dr Bart Ziino of Deakin University, with original compositions by Dr Richard Chew of Federation University. Not to be missed are rarely seen archival images from the Australian Red Cross Heritage Collection and from Anzac House Victorian RSL headquarters.

Skillfully crafted and edited by director Jary Nemo, the eleven minute film is a moving and visually rich reflection on war, grief, commitment and loss, a fitting vehicle to commemorate the centenary of the Great War’s aftermath.

This Wind & Sky Production was directed by Jary Nemo and written and produced by Jary Nemo and Lucinda Horrocks, with executive producer Associate Professor Fred Cahir of Federation University.

Online Exhibition

A companion online exhibition was launched on the Victorian Collections portal in April 2021.

The ‘Missing’ exhibition provides some of the context of the crisis of the missing, the role of the Red Cross and the Graves Workers and the story of the creation of the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne to provide a place for people to mourn.

Curated by Lucinda Horrocks of Wind & Sky Productions the exhibition features contributions by historians Fred Cahir, Carole Woods and Sara Weuffen and essays by volunteers, archivists and family members who share personal journeys of people during the First World War and in its aftermath.

The exhibition features the stories of: Vera Deakin, determined head of the overseas Wounded and Missing Inquiry Bureau; Winifred Brotherton, dedicated volunteer bureau clerk who travelled from Castlemaine to London to be of use; Stanley Addison, Red Cross ‘searcher’ who looked in hospitals and battlegrounds for missing and wounded soldiers; Emma Tout, grieving mother at home of a son whose body was never found; Frank Cahir, the seasoned Gallipoli veteran who volunteered for extra duty to photograph war graves; and Will McBeath, young army recruit who was too late to fight and instead became a war graves worker, digging up graves and reburying people he knew.

Visit https://victoriancollections.net.au/stories/the-missing to view the free exhibition.

Screenings and Events

Directors Circle Festival of Shorts 2021, Erie, Pennysylvania, United States, 29 November – 4 December 2021.

Online Exhibition Launch 19 April 2021, Victorian Collections.

Ogeechee International History Film Festival 2021, February 26-March 5 2021.

Setting Sun Film Festival 2020 (postponed due to COVID), 4-13 February 2021.

Veterans Film Festival 2020, 30 November – December 31 2020.

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2020 30 June 2020- 15 July 2020.

Film Launch: Friday 29th November 2019, Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance.

Awards and Nominations

Honourable Mention, Social Concern Category, GSF Awards-Global Short Film Awards, 2022.

Silver Award, Spotlight Documentary Film Awards 2021.

Nominee, Documentary Award, Directors Circle Festival of Shorts 2021.

Shortlisted, 2021 Victorian Premier’s History Award, and Commendation, Digital Storytelling Award, 2021 Victorian Community History Awards.

Finalist, Best Documentary – History, 2020 ATOM Awards

Viewing the Film

The film is free to show, watch and share online at internet quality at The Missing on YouTube.

To arrange for a high quality screening copy for community screenings and events contact Wind & Sky Productions.

Viewing the Exhibition

The exhibition is free to watch, show and share online on the portal Victorian Collections.

In the News

Frank Cahir saw more of the horror of war than most, and knew its cost‘, Caleb Cluff, The Courier, 27 September 2021.

Interview with Lucinda Horrocks, Heather Horrocks and Fred Cahir, Saturday Breakfast with Matt Tribe, ABC Radio Victoria, 24 April 2021.

‘ANZAC Exhibition’, Sam Mills, WIN News Ballarat, 23 April 2021.

The Missing: the inspiring Australians who went looking for the war dead, Peter Litras, Federation University News, 19 April 2021.

‘What did you do after the war?’ The Missing is short but packs a punch, David Stephens, Honest History, 14 January 2020.

The untold story of the ‘searchers’ who tracked down missing World War I soldiers, Elise Kinsella, ABC News Online, 30 Nov 2019.

PM daughters’ hunt for wartime missing, Yaz Dedovic, Flinders University News, 29 November 2019.

After the war: Remembering those who chose to stay behind, Peter Litras, Federation University News, 13 November 2019.

About the ‘Ordinary People in Extraordinary Circumstances’ Project

The ‘Ordinary People in Extraordinary Circumstances: The Missing’ film and digital gallery project was supported by the Victorian Government and was a project partnership of Federation University, Wind & Sky Productions, Australian Red Cross and RSL Ballarat.

Media contact

For interviews and further information, contact Wind & Sky Productions.

Credits

Acknowledgements:
Project production and development took place on the lands of the Wathaurung, Boon Wurrung Wurundjeri and Kaurna peoples. We would like to acknowledge these Traditional Owners and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future.
Federation University Research Project Chief Investigator:
Fred Cahir
Creative Producers:
Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo
Produced in collaboration with:
Federation University Australia, Australian Red Cross Society and RSL Ballarat
Created with the support of:
the Victorian Government
Research Advisors:
Fred Cahir, Moira Drew, Katrina Nicolson, Linda North, Melanie Oppenheimer, Sara Weuffen, Carole Woods and Bart Ziino
With Thanks to:
Gillian Anderson, John Cahir, Sandy Cahir, Julie Cotter, Joanna Day, Alan Douglass, David Fitzroy, Leigh Gilburt, Sam Henson, Andrew Hope, Heather Horrocks, Maurie Keating, John MacDonald, Georgia Melville, Kristine Morgan, Brendan Nelson, Paula Nicholson, Fred Pratt, Lynne Redman, Matt Smith, Alex Tascas, Kristen Thornton, Sharon Turley, Creative Victoria, Deakin University, Flinders University, the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Historical Society Victoria.

Film Credits

Featuring:
Bart Ziino and Melanie Oppenheimer
Film Directed by:
Jary Nemo
Film Written and Produced by:
Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo
Executive Producer on behalf of Federation University:
Fred Cahir
Music by:
Richard Chew
Research Advisors:
Fred Cahir, Moira Drew, Katrina Nicolson, Linda North, Melanie Oppenheimer, Sara Weuffen, Carole Woods and Bart Ziino
Archival photographs and footage courtesy of:
Anzac House RSL Victoria, Australian Red Cross Society, Australian War Memorial, Central Highlands Libraries, Deakin University Library, Family of Stanley Addison, Museums Victoria, State Library of New South Wales, State Library of South Australia, State Library of Victoria, University of Melbourne Archives and US National Archives
Music:
Sun Rim: Music by Richard Chew and Ian Dixon. The Windhover: Music by Richard Chew. Solo Violin; Stephen Morris. A View of the Sky: Composer Richard Chew. Produced by Richard Chew and Tom Robinson.
With Thanks to:
Gillian Anderson, John Cahir, Sandy Cahir, Julie Cotter, Joanna Day, Alan Douglass, David Fitzroy, Leigh Gilburt, Sam Henson, Andrew Hope, Heather Horrocks, Maurie Keating, John MacDonald, Georgia Melville, Kristine Morgan, Brendan Nelson, Paula Nicholson, Fred Pratt, Lynne Redman, Matt Smith, Alex Tascas, Kristen Thornton, Sharon Turley, Creative Victoria, Deakin University, Flinders University, the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Historical Society Victoria.
Produced in collaboration with:
Federation University Australia, Australian Red Cross Society and RSL Ballarat
Created with the support of:
the Victorian Government
Licensing:
Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International.
Production Company:
Wind & Sky Productions
Copyright with:
Wind & Sky Productions ©2019.

Digital Gallery Credits

Curator:
Lucinda Horrocks
Commissioning Editor on behalf of Federation University:
Fred Cahir
Victorian Collections Project Officers:
Ash Robertson, Georgia Melville and Lynda Bernard
Essay Authors:
Fred Cahir, Jo Caminiti, Lucinda Horrocks, Linda North, Kate Spinks, Sara Weuffen, and Carole Woods.
Digital Essay Photographs and Items Courtesy of:
Anzac House RSL Victoria, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Australian Red Cross Society, Australian War Memorial, Ballaarat Mechanics Institute, Central Highlands Libraries, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Deakin University Library, Imperial War Museum, Tracey Hind (Flickr), Larry Koester (Flickr), Melbourne University Archives, Museums Victoria, National Archives of Australia, National Library of Australia, Private collection of the Cahir family, Private collection of the Harrison and McBeath families, Private Collection of the Family of Stanley Addison, Private Collection of the White Family, State Library of New South Wales, State Library of South Australia, Shrine of Remembrance, State Library of Victoria, University of Melbourne Archives, National Library of Australia, Wernervc (Wikimedia Commons)

 

 

Apr
14

‘Memories of War’ Project Now Accepting FedUni Student Submissions

The Memories of War project is now accepting FedUni student contributions. Submissions will be open until August 2015.

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Jan
14

‘Memories of War’ project is underway

Wind & Sky Productions is delighted to announce the launch of the ‘Memories of War’ project web site.

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