Wind & Sky ProductionsNew Podcast Explores Ice Age Land Bridge Beneath Bass Strait
A new podcast series is bringing to life the Ice Age world of the Bassian Plain, an ancient land bridge that once connected mainland Australia to Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Read More
The Land Bridge
Info
Produced: 2024
Project Type: Digital exhibition with digital stories, short documentary, multimedia elements and education resources.
Film Running Time: 24 minutes
Classification: Exempt from classification.
Funded by: Funded by the Australian Government through the Our Marine Parks grant program.
Links
The Land Bridge, a digital exhibition.
Media release: exploring the deep human history of Bass Strait and its land bridge.
Cultural traditions category page from The Land Bridge digital story. By Wind & Sky Productions. Source image: envato elements.
Home page of The Land Bridge digital story. By Wind & Sky Productions.
Over the waves, on the land and in the sky category page from The Land Bridge digital story.
By Wind & Sky Productions. Source image: Ed Dunens.
Colin Hughes and Buck Brown on Tayaritja/the Furneaux Group of Islands, Bass Strait. Still from the documentary film The Land Bridge. Recorded by Jillian Mundy. Courtesy of Wind & Sky Productions.
Aboriginal Heritage Officer Colin Hughes on Tayaritja/the Furneaux Group of Islands, Bass Strait. Still from the documentary film The Land Bridge. Recorded by Jillian Mundy. Courtesy of Wind & Sky Productions.
Postgraduate student Madeleine Bessell-Koprek examines ancient charcoal grains under the microscope at Australian National University, Ngunnawal Country, Canberra. Still from the documentary film The Land Bridge. By Wind & Sky Productions.
Seabed mapping survey ship about to drop the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) ‘Sirius’ into Bass Strait. Still from the documentary film The Land Bridge. Film by Wind & Sky Productions. Underwater footage courtesy of Beagle Marine Park Mapping Project, NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub.
Conservation biologist Professor Chris Johnson, University of Tasmania, Nipaluna/Hobart, Lutruwita/Tasmania. Still from the documentary film The Land Bridge. By Wind & Sky Productions.
Education resource kits for The Land Bridge digital story . By Wind & Sky Productions. Source images: Simon Haberle and Jillian Mundy.
Introduction to The Land Bridge digital story. By Wind & Sky Productions. Source images: Jary Nemo, and Megan Hotchkiss Davidson.
The Land Bridge Podcast is available from all major streaming platforms and the Land Bridge web site.
The Story
Thousands of years ago, during Australia’s most recent ice age, a land bridge linked Lutruwita/Tasmania and Victoria, as they are known today.
The Land Bridge digital story and documentary film tells the story of the Bass Strait when it was a vast grassy plain people lived on and walked across.
The Land Bridge is a colourful, watchable and informative exploration of the underwater worlds, cultural traditions and above water remains linking us to the deep past landscape of the Bassian Plain.
The Land Bridge digital story project was produced by Wind & Sky Productions and funded by the Australian Government through the Our Marine Parks grant program.
About the Project
The tale of the now-submerged land bridge, then and now, is imaginatively told on a website which features a half hour documentary, a number of highly readable image-rich essays, and other informational material including a timeline.
The project also features education kits for Years 7-8 science and humanities subjects which are aligned to both the Australian Curriculum and the Victorian Curriculum. Future essays and a podcast series is being planned.
The project emphasises First Nations knowledge and creators. First Nations communities consulted with us on the project. Stories and guidance came from the Palawa of Lutruwita/Tasmania, and the Bunurong and the Gunaikurnai of coastal southeastern Victoria. First Nations storytellers, Indigenous knowledge holders and media producers contributed interviews and creative content. Scientists from around Australia also contributed, providing geology, ecology, wildlife and environmental history perspectives. Popular author Adam Courtenay wrote a story on the famous ‘Sydney Cove’ shipwreck.
Behind the scenes, Wind & Sky Productions worked with an Australia-wide team of subject specialists who reviewed scientific content and provided expert advice. Research groups, including the Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) and Geoscience Australia (GA), provided research, advice and people to help with the project.
Partner organisations were Parks Australia, Parks Victoria, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC), the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLAWAC), Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BLCAC), and the Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH).
A full list of project credits is included in the Land Bridge web site.
Documentary Film
This documentary takes us on a journey from the Bass Strait seafloor which was once a vast grassy plain on which people, animals and plants lived, to the islands and coastal places of the Bass Strait, once hilltops of a now submerged ice age landscape.
Through the perspectives of marine scientists, wildlife biologists, paleoecologists, Country rangers and cultural custodians, the film explores what we know of the ancient Bassian Plain, how we know it, and how First Peoples remain spiritually connected to those long past times.
Between about 43,000 and about 15,000 years ago, during the last ice age when sea-levels were lower, a land bridge connected Lutruwita/Tasmania to mainland Australia.
The land bridge now lies 60 metres under the notoriously treacherous waters of the Bass Strait off the southeastern Australia coast.
Cultural knowledge and song lines connected to the land bridge are held within First Nations communities.
Today, First Nations custodians and multi-disciplinary teams of researchers are working to understand this deep past.
As the world grapples with climate change, warming oceans, and associated sea level rise, this film reminds us how much we can learn from our deep human story.
Film Information
Title: The Land Bridge
Year Produced: 2024
Runtime: 24 minutes
Country: Australia
Type: Documentary
Genre: Science & Nature, History, First Nations
Production Company: Wind & Sky Productions
Director: Jary Nemo
Producers: Jary Nemo & Lucinda Horrocks
Writer: Jary Nemo
Featuring: Colin J Hughes, Buck (Brendan) Brown, Simon Haberle, Chris Johnson, Fiona Maher, Neville Barrett, Madeleine Bessell-Koprek, Wayne Thorpe, and the voice of Jillian Mundy.
Classification: Exempt from classification. Suitable for viewing by a general audience.
Licensing: This film has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence.
Viewing the Film
The film is freely available to screen and share via the Land Bridge documentary on Vimeo or from the Land Bridge web site documentary page.
How to Screen the Film
If you would like a screening copy to screen or project at a non-commercial community event in a cinema, theatre or hall, please contact us.
Viewing the Digital Story
The digital story, including all content, is freely available at https://thelandbridge.au/.
Podcast
Season 1 of The Land Bridge Podcast is streaming on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and at https://thelandbridge.au/podcasts. Season 2 is currently in development.
Education Resource Kits
The Land Bridge education resources contain ready-to-go classroom activities for teachers of The Australian Curriculum and The Victorian Curriculum years 7 and 8 students.
Divided into separate Science and Humanities resource kits, each resource contains four activities built around the film and digital story content of the Land Bridge project.
Activities link to content from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority.
Resources developed by Lee Kindler and Jan Hagston, drawing on source content created by Lucinda Horrocks and Wind & Sky Productions.
The kits are free to download from the Land Bridge web site.
More about the Bass Strait Land Bridge
After more information? Try visiting the Introduction to the Land Bridge on the project website.
Film Screenings
13 May 2025, Bluestone Arts Space, Footscray, Setting Sun Film Festival.
08 May 2025, Film Screening and Panel Discussion, Star Cinema, Launceston.
12 April 2025, Film Screening and Panel Discussion, Forge Theatre, Bairnsdale.
03 December 2024, Project Launch and Film Premiere, State Cinema, Hobart.
In the News
Amber Wilson, ‘Why don’t koalas live in Tassie? New podcast holds the answers’ , Hobart Mercury, 23 September 2025.
Wind & Sky Productions, ‘New Podcast Explores Ice Age Land Bridge Beneath Bass Strait‘, Get The Word Out, 16 September, 2025.
Lucinda Horrocks interviewed by Paul Verhoeven, Victorian Evenings, ABC Radio Melbourne, 09 July 2025.
Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo interviewed by Mel Bush, Tasmania Saturdays, ABC Radio Hobart, 07 June 2025.
Wind & Sky Productions, ‘Digital exhibition reveals the rich human history under the waves of Bass Strait‘, EIN Presswire, 04 June 2025.
Lucinda Horrocks interviewed by Steven White, Evenings, ABC Radio Hobart, 17 April 2025.
Lucinda Horrocks interviewed by Mim Hook, Breakfast, ABC Gippsland, 12 March 2025.
Lucie Cutting, ‘Under Bass Strait’s surface lies a vast land humans once called home‘, ABC News, 02 March 2025.
Lucinda Horrocks, Buck Brown and Chris Johnson interviewed by Lucie Cutting, Tasmania Sundays, ABC Radio Hobart, 25 December 2024.
Credits
- Creative Producers
- Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo
- Production Manager
- Jary Nemo
- Digital Story Content Manager
- Lucinda Horrocks
- Film Producers
- Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo
- Film Writer/Director
- Jary Nemo
- Web Designer
- Jary Nemo
- Education Resource Developers
- Jan Hagston, Lee Kindler
- Digital Story Editors
- Tom Brooker, Heather Horrocks, Lucinda Horrocks
- Digital Story Writers
- Associate Professor Neville Barrett, Kiah Berglund, Madeleine Bessell-Koprek, Adam Courtenay, Dr Stefani Crabtree, Dr Matthew Fielding, Dean Greeno, Professor Simon Haberle, Dr Stephen Harris, Dr David Hocking, Lucinda Horrocks, Noah Jim, Professor Chris Johnson, Fiona Maher, Dr Matt McDowell, Dr Jacquomo Monk, Professor Patrick Nunn, Amy Mulchay, Joanna Serret, Neville Rosengren, Wayne Thorpe, Professor Sean Ulm, Mathew Wheatley, Alice Wise
- Film and Audio Interviewees
- Associate Professor Neville Barrett, Madeleine Bessell-Koprek, Buck Brown, Adam Courtenay, Dr Stefani Crabtree, Aunty Gail Kunwarra Dawson, Dr Matthew Fielding, maikutena Vicki-Laine Greene, Aunty Lola Greeno, Uncle Rex Greeno, Professor Simon Haberle, Colin J Hughes, Professor Chris Johnson, Fiona Maher, Dr Robin Sim, Mort Summers, Aunty Dyan Summers, Wayne Thorpe, Ms Tasma Walton
- Interviewers
- Lucinda Horrocks, Jillian Mundy, Justin Stankovic
- Audio Recordists
- Lucinda Horrocks, Jary Nemo, Jillian Mundy, Justin Stankovic
- Audio Producers
- Lucinda Horrocks, Jary Nemo
- Film Camera, Sound and Editing
- Jary Nemo
- Film Additional Camera and Sound Recorded by
- Jillian Mundy, Justin Stankovic
- Film Prerecorded Content Provided by
- Troy Melville, Simon Haberle, Beagle Marine Park Mapping Project, NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub (with thanks to Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) “Sirius” and the Autonomous Robotics Group, University of Sydney), Parks Victoria, NOAA.
- Project Advisors:
- Cultural Advisors
- Tony Brown, Uncle Shane Clarke, Zoe Cozens, Julian Dunn, Dr Shannon Faulkhead, Dean Greeno, Hank Horton, Dr Caroline Hubschmann, Fiona Maher, Grattan Mullett, Uncle Russell Mullett, Jillian Mundy, Andry Sculthorpe, Wayne Thorpe, Ane Van Der Walt, Sarah Wilcox
- Science Advisors
- Associate Professor Neville Barrett, Tristan Derham, Dr Stefani Crabtree, Dr Matthew Fielding, Professor Simon Haberle, Dr Stephen Harris, Dr David Hocking, Associate Professor Daniel Ierodiaconou, Professor Chris Johnson, Professor David Kennedy, Professor Ian McNiven, Dr Jacquomo Monk, Professor Patrick Nunn, Neville Rosengren, Dr Robin Sim, Professor Sean Ulm
- Humanities and Education Advisors
- Jenni Burden, Professor Fred Cahir, Jane Lennon, Rick Mitchell, Dr Peter Taylor, Dr Rebe Taylor
- Parks and Museums Advisors
- Lynden Costin, Dermot Henry, Dr Mark Norman, Kate Phillips, Bill Playne, Mark Rodrigue
- Reviewers
- Phil Bell, Natalie Bool, Dr Mick Brown, Professor Fred Cahir, Dr Andrew Caroll, Dr Stephen Carey, Associate Professor Graeme Coulson, Zoe Cozens, Associate Professor Peter Dahlhaus, Julian Dunn, Professor Peter Gell, Harriet Goodrich, Dr Caroline Hubschmann, Fiona Maher, Rick Mitchell, Grattan Mullett, Jillian Mundy, Rachel Nanson, Professor Ian McNiven, Dr Scott Nichol, Adjunct Associate Professor Nicholas Reid, Neville Rosengren, Andry Sculthorpe, Dr Robin Sim, Tessa Smith, Dr Rebe Taylor, Wayne Thorpe, Professor Sean Ulm, Ane Van Der Walt, Tim Ziegler
- Writer Mentor
- Adam Courtenay
- Produced by
- Wind & Sky Productions Pty Ltd
- Commissioners on behalf of Parks Australia
- Natalie Bool, Daniel Murphy, Andy Warmbrunn
- Digital Story Still Images by
- Ed Dunens, Jillian Mundy, Jack and Jude, Envato Elements, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Dean Greeno, Simon Haberle, Demelza Wall, Mark Antos, Melissa Nicholls, Patrick Kavenagh, Museums Victoria, Parks Victoria, Parks Australia, Madeleine Bessell-Koprek, Dr Mary Gillham Archives, Stephen Harris, David Paul, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a number of scientific and amateur photographers and organisations credited in-text who have released their photographs via Creative Commons, for which we thank them.
- Film and Digital Story Maps, Map Illustrations and Map Animations by
- Wind & Sky Productions, Geosciences Australia, Megan Hotchkiss Davidson of Sandia National Laboratories (courtesy of CABAH), Deakin University Marine Mapping Group courtesy of David Kennedy and Daniel Ierodiaconou, Parks Australia, Patrick Nunn, Stefani A. Crabtree, Devin A. White, Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Frédérik Saltré, Alan N. Williams, Robin J. Beaman, Michael I. Bird & Sean Ulm, Clare Ainsworth, Matthew Flinders maps courtesy of National Library of Australia, Google Maps, Wayne Thorpe, Google Earth drawing on the following data: Google, Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO, Data LDEO-Columbia, NSF, NOAA, Landsat / Copernicus, Beagle Marine Park Mapping Project, NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub, Neville Rosengren.
- Stock Media Sources
- Pond5, BlackBoxGuild, Envato Elements Pty Ltd, Adobe Stock Images stock.adobe.com
- Creative Commons and Public Domain Archival Media Sources
- Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, Atlas of Living Australia, iNaturalist, Seamap Australia, National Library of Australia, CSIRO, NOAA, Museums Victoria, State Library of Victoria
- Film Music
- Look to the Sky. Artist/Composer Piotr Pacyna. Publisher: Lynne Publishing (PRS). SRCO (Sound Recording Copyright Owner): Piotr Pacyna. All rights reserved
- Funded by
- This project was funded by the Australian Government through the Our Marine Parks grant program.
- Additional Funding Support
- The writer mentor program was supported by the Australian Government through the Regional Arts Fund
- Cultural Partners
- Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC), Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLAWAC), Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BLCAC)
- Research Partners
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Parks Victoria
- With Special Thanks to
- Mark Rodrigue, for inventing this project up and asking us to make it.
- Additional Thanks to
- Jon Addison, Professor John Arnould, Dr Robin Beaman, Professor Jonathan Benjamin, Aunty Caroline Briggs, Andrew Davies, Tristan Derham, Brett Mitchell, Catherine Young, Dan Turnbull, Daniel Miller, Dr Stefania Ondei, Danielle O Leary, Dee Dzelalija, Dejan Stojanovic, Genevieve Newton, Jason King, Jessica Riley, Jessica Shapiro, Katherine Mullett, Kobi Sainty, Nathan Wright, Paul Hedge, Vica Bayley, Dr Ben Shaw, Dr Cathy Byrne, Dr Conni Lord, Dr David Tutchener, Ross Crates, Professor David Kennedy, Professor Greg Lehman, Professor Lynette Russell, Cora Trevarthen, Andrew Vance, Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, Australian National University, Australian Museums and Galleries Association Victoria, Biodiversity Maintenance Australia, Boon Wurrung Foundation, Deakin University, Federation University Australia, Flinders University, Geography Teachers Association of Victoria, Geoscience Australia, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), James Cook University, IMAS Marine Predators Hub, Melbourne University, Monash University, Museums Victoria, National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub, National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub, University of Tasmania, University of Wollongong, Santa Fe Institute, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, University of the Sunshine Coast and Utah State University.
- Companion website:
- The Land Bridge
- Acknowledgements:
- Project production and development took place on the lands of the Wadawurrung, Palawa, Gunaikurnai, Bunurong and Ngunnawal. The producers acknowledge the First Peoples of the land bridge and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of Country. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea, culture, and community and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
- This is an Australian Government funded project through the Our Marine Parks grant program.
- Copyright with:
- Wind & Sky Productions and listed individual authors and creators ©2024
Exploring the deep human history of Bass Strait and its Land Bridge
A new digital exhibition The Land Bridge (https://thelandbridge.au/) tells us about Bass Strait when it was a vast grassy plain people walked across and lived on.
Read More
Visualising Victoria’s Groundwater (VVG)
Info
Client: Federation University Australia
Produced: 2014
Length: 10.36 minutes
Visualising Victoria’s Groundwater (VVG) is a web-based system which collates scientific data on Victoria’s groundwater from many sources in real time and represents it visually on a map. Developed by the Geology department and the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI) at Federation University Australia, the VVG project is not only a revolutionary way to explore groundwater data, it is an innovative and collaborative approach to public data sharing which responds to user needs yet respects the custodians of data. In an era where big data, open public data and high-speed broadband is transforming the way we use and access information, this project has inspired a rethink in policy and research circles on what is possible and provides a practical model of how data custodians can work together. The simple act of representing complex data on a map has sparked spin-off projects in many different disciplines, from history to fire management, and has led to new uses and applications the original planners did not think possible. The project proves that people with passion for their science and its data can work together to achieve great things.
Please Share
The film is free to share, watch, copy, distribute and embed for non-commercial purposes under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND conditions. If you would like to embed the film in your web site, visit the YouTube version of the film and follow the embed instructions under the ‘share’ tab.
Credits
- Produced by:
- Jary Nemo and Lucinda Horrocks
- Production Company:
- Wind & Sky Productions
- Directed and edited by:
- Jary Nemo
- Executive Producer:
- Helen Thompson
- Featuring:
- Peter Dahlhaus, Helen Thompson, Andrew MacLeod, Brett Miller, Brendan Cossens, Matthew Currell and Kirsten McKenna
- Camera and Sound:
- Jary Nemo
- Research and Interviews:
- Lucinda Horrocks
- With thanks to:
- The Department of Environment and Primary Industries Victoria, Goulburn-Murray Water, Norm Suckling, Kirsten McKenna, Hayley Collins and the staff at the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation, Federation University Australia.
- VVG would not be possible without the support of:
- The Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation and the School of Science, Information Technology and Engineering at Federation University Australia, the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation, the Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre at Australian National University, Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Victoria, the Geological Survey of Canada at Natural Resources Canada, the National Geoscience Information Infrastructure – Minerals Down Under Flagship at CSIRO, the Victorian eResearch Strategic Initiative, Goulburn-Murray Water, Thiess Services Pty Ltd, Senversa Pty Ltd, the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, the Groundwater Systems Research Group at the Queensland University of Technology and the Victorian Mineral Water Committee.
- Commissioned by:
- Federation University Australia.
- Distribution License:
- Free to distribute online under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 conditions, all other use requires permission.
- Copyright with:
- © Federation University Australia and Wind & Sky Productions Pty Ltd 2014.
 "Pin It")
What's New
New Podcast Explores Ice Age Land Bridge Beneath Bass Strait
A new podcast series is bringing to life the Ice Age world of the Bassian Plain.
Wind & Sky Launches the Land Bridge Project
It’s been a long time in the making, but we are delighted to announce the launch of our most recent production, The Land Bridge.
Exploring the deep human history of Bass Strait and its Land Bridge
A new digital exhibition tells us about Bass Strait when it was a vast grassy plain people walked across and lived on.
Lucinda Horrocks wins commendation for ‘Discovering an Archive’
Wind & Sky Productions producer Lucinda Horrocks wins a commendation for her writing.