It was Tasmania’s “absolute remoteness” that inspired filmmaker Zak Hilditch to set his latest zombie horror flick, We Bury The Dead, on the island. However, this same characteristic eventually forced him to abandon filming in the state and opt for the more cost-effective Western Australia. The movie, led by Star Wars actor Daisy Ridley, features her as Ava, a woman who joins a “body retrieval unit” traveling to a decimated Tasmania in search of her husband.
Hilditch revealed to ABC Radio Hobart that while he initially wanted to shoot the movie on-site in Tasmania, logistical and financial constraints made it unfeasible. “As hard as it is for [Ava] to travel from the north to the south of the island, it’s actually that hard to bring all the bells and whistles and the crazy circus that is a film to a place like Tassie,” he explained.
Funding Challenges and Missed Opportunities
The Tasmanian government was unable to provide funding for the film, whereas the Western Australian government could. A spokesperson from Screen Tasmania noted that while they received an application for funding, it was withdrawn before an assessment could be made. This situation has been seen as a missed opportunity for Tasmania’s arts sector, which currently receives the lowest amount of government funding among Australian states.
Adding to the disappointment, the only confirmed screenings of the film in Tasmania will occur at a single cinema, limiting opportunities for locals to experience it on the big screen.
Creative Inspirations and Setting
The film unfolds in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment in Tasmania, leading to corpses showing signs of life. The trailer features grainy CCTV footage depicting Hobart and the Tasman Bridge being destroyed in a massive explosion. Hilditch mentioned that early script versions were set in America or New Zealand, but he eventually chose Tasmania, a location he had visited and found stunningly remote and visually striking.
Despite the logistical challenges, Hilditch and his team made every effort to replicate the Tasmanian landscape in Albany, a city about 400 kilometers south of Perth in Western Australia. “The amazing thing has been people who have no idea about any of that, when they see the finished film, they just assume we did actually shoot it all in Tassie,” Hilditch stated.
Impact on Tasmania’s Film Industry
Last year, Tasmania’s arts minister Madeleine Ogilvie was warned by her department that the sector was “nationally uncompetitive” due to a lack of investment. A briefing to Ms. Ogilvie highlighted that support for the state’s arts and screen sector was “by far the lowest in Australia in both per capita and actual terms.”
Tasmanian filmmaker Briony Kidd expressed her disappointment, noting that it was not surprising the film could not be produced locally. “It’s always disappointing for Tasmanian filmmakers and the production community here when something could have been shot here and isn’t — because that’s an opportunity that they could have had,” she remarked.
Courtney Tembry, founder of the Hobart Horror Society, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that Tasmania has a strong creative community engaged in horror genre films. “It really did feel like a missed opportunity,” she said.
Critical Reception and Future Prospects
We Bury The Dead was released in cinemas across North America on January 2 and in Australia and New Zealand from February 5. The only confirmed theatrical release in Tasmania is at Village Cinemas Eastlands in Hobart from February 12. The film’s distributor, Umbrella Entertainment, is attempting to secure additional screenings in Hobart.
While Ms. Tembry was pleased the movie would be shown in Hobart, she lamented the lack of screenings in other parts of the state. The film has received a positive reception, with 87 percent of critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes giving it favorable reviews.
“It’s always a nice win to see the critics giving us a big thumbs up,” Hilditch commented, reflecting on the film’s journey and its eventual success.
