The tension created rarely subsides and in the few moments of relative calm, there is an overriding sense of impending danger. Even the most benign actions seem to carry colossal consequences. Living in peace time, it’s hard to comprehend how the young troops (most of them in their early twenties) could cope with such intense pressure.

The film is very effective at making the audience feel the close proximity to death as the bullets fly and the dread never subsides. We get to know the boys that make up the 1st Australian Task Force and it provides a small window into their lives and reinforces just how normal their existence was before the war.

This informs how it becomes even more tragic that their deaths will leave a permanent absence in the families that were left behind. The battle of Long Tan is remembered as a victory by both sides but does more to reinforce the idea of the futility of war. That so many misfortunate souls lost their lives in a war that had no real positive outcomes is the saddest take away.

Rob Hudson
www.dangerclosemovie.com

Starring an A-list Australian cast including Travis Fimmel (Vikings), Luke Bracey (Point Break, Hacksaw Ridge), Daniel Webber (The Punisher, The Dirt), Nicholas Hamilton (IT), Stephen Peacocke (Hercules, Me Before You), and Richard Roxburgh (Breath, Rake), DANGER CLOSE: THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN is directed by Kriv Stenders (Red Dog), from a script by Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Australia).

One late afternoon in 1966, in the pouring rain, amid the mud and shattered trees of a Vietnamese rubber plantation called Long Tan, Major Harry Smith and his dispersed company of 108 young and mostly inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives. They’re holding off an overwhelming enemy force of 2,500 battle-hardened Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers. This is their untold story.

DANGER CLOSE: THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN is a nail-biting and dramatic exploration of war illustrating heroism, mateship and the sacrifice of battle.

“The Battle of Long Tan is an incredible and inspiring ANZAC story. To see the battle portrayed on screen for the first time is a heart pounding and emotional experience for audiences. The passion and expertise of the filmmaking team has made this movie an instant Australian classic,” said Transmission Films Joint Managing Directors Andrew Mackie and Richard Payten.

“Making this film has been the greatest filmmaking challenge of my career so far and I am so proud and thrilled with the extraordinary work of my dedicated team both behind and in front of the cameras. It is truly an epic movie, made with the kind of ambition, scale and scope that is rarely possible in this country. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to tell this significant and remarkable Australian story and to be finally sharing it with audiences,” said Director Kriv Stenders.

“Making Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan was truly a once in lifetime experience. Every single person involved brought their absolute best work in service of this incredible story. From the heads of departments, actors to the background performers, there was a sense of purpose and satisfaction of knowing we were telling an Australian story that will be around for many years to come,” said Deeper Water Films Producers Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz.

“It has been a long journey for us to realise this film but it has been an even longer journey for audiences waiting to see a contemporary ANZAC story immortalised on screen. Sadly, it has been more than 30 years since our last epic Australian war films; GALLIPOLI in 1981 and THE LIGHTHORSEMEN in 1987. Through this film we wanted to help modernise our ANZAC narrative and create our new ANZAC myths and legends by honouring an entire generation of Vietnam Veterans,” said Producer Martin Walsh.

DANGER CLOSE: THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN was shot on location in South East Queensland, transforming paulownia plantations in Kingaroy and Nerang into the battle ground in South Vietnam.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was proud of Queensland’s film industry but DANGER CLOSE: THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN is special. It created 120 jobs for crew and almost 1500 extras but is important for other reasons.

“The ultimate aim of a home-grown film industry is to tell our own stories. The Battle of Long Tan is one of those – a part of our history that deserves to be told,” said the Premier.

DANGER CLOSE: THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN is releasing in Australian cinemas on August 8, 2019.
www.dangerclosemovie.com

Voices of Remembrance is a musical memorial—presented by the Queensland Government in partnership with Queensland Music Festival (QMF)—commemorating the centenary of the signing of the Armistice that led to the end of the First World War. This momentous event is one of the final anniversaries to be observed during the Anzac Centenary period, 2014–2018.

Specially selected by music director Dr Jonathon Welch AM, founder of The Choir of Hard Knocks, the repertoire includes anthems that reflect on war, peace and the enduring legacy of the Anzac spirit.

In addition to a world premiere by revered Australian composer Gordon Hamilton, musical
highlights of the two-hour concert include favourite songs from the era, Keep the Home Fires Burning and It’s A Long Road to Tipperary, through to contemporary works such as Kristin Berard’s A Mother’s Plea and Eric Bogle’s And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. QMF Artistic Director Katie Noonan said each concert would feature a distinct musical narrative, written specifically for Toowoomba and Cairns locales by award-winning Queensland playwright and director Daniel Evans, a past recipient of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award.

“Voices of Remembrance spotlights the history and legacy of the community during the First World War, and acknowledges the vital role of Indigenous soldiers and the Australian Light Horse, whose actions helped turn the tide of war in favour of the allies,” Ms Noonan said.

“These powerful concerts will help everyone reconnect with moving stories from the First World War, and pay tribute to the peace that came with the signing of the Armistice.”

Toowoomba Anglican College and Preparatory School’s Director of Performing Arts, Nerida Eckert, said she was proud to perform as part of the Toowoomba core choir alongside her husband and members of her local community.

“Voices of Remembrance is a worthy celebration of Australian history and an important event to reflect on the sacrifice of ordinary Australians to provide us with a better quality of life,” Ms Eckert said.

“It is a wonderful experience to perform with high calibre conductors, soloists and musicians alongside my fellow choristers.”

Community choirs all over Queensland have been rehearsing the Voices of Remembrance concert repertoire in their own communities and will showcase their work with performances at pop-up events, community gatherings or formal concerts in the lead up to, or in conjunction with, their Remembrance Day services.

Many groups from across the state have embraced this opportunity, with groups from Mount Isa, across to Charters Towers and down to Cunnamulla and Scenic Rim already confirming their local performance details.

The free Voices of Remembrance concerts in Toowoomba and Cairns are part of a broad and inclusive suite of Armistice Centenary commemorations across the state to ensure the Anzac legacy is preserved for future generations.

Voices of Remembrance, Toowoomba
Friday, 9 November 2018
7pm – Empire Theatre, Toowoomba
www.qld.gov.au/remembranceday

Voices of Remembrance, Cairns
Saturday, 10 November 2018
7pm – Munro Martin Parklands, Cairns
www.qld.gov.au/remembranceday

From the touching account of a hopeful mother in search for news of her missing son, to a wife’s plea to have her husband return home, discover first-hand the real relationships shaken by the trials of war.

Combined with compelling accounts from Brisbane poets and performers who served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), these deeply moving stories unfold in a filmic and multi-sensory journey exploring the human impact of the war that changed the world irrevocably.

Marking the 100th anniversary of the first Anzac Day Parade in Brisbane, encounter loyalty to country and family, unimaginable loss, and the endurance of love in Facing World War One.

Facing World War One Exhibition
22 April – 28 August 2016
Museum of Brisbane
http://www.museumofbrisbane.com.au

Official Australian war artists, including Will Dyson, George W Lambert, Arthur Streeton, Fred Leist and Septimus Power, were assigned the task of creating a visual record of Australia’s armed forces in action. Other artists, including Napier Waller and Roy de Maistre, volunteered for the Australian Imperial Force.

Mad through the darkness also presents, for the first time in a century, a selection of works by Evelyn Chapman, the first female Australian artist to visit Europe’s First World War battlefields.

Alongside works created around the time of ‘the war to end all wars’ will be Sidney Nolan’s monumental 1957-58 painting The galaxy, depicting soldiers swimming at Anzac Cove as exploding shells light up the vast expanse of inky darkness.

Mad through the darkness Exhibition
Art Gallery of NSW
25 April – 11 October 2015
www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

Visitors will discover what Australians saw when they went to the cinema during the First World War as ACMI’s Gallery 2 is transformed into a picture palace showing fascinating shorts, advertisements, newsreels, propaganda and feature films produced locally and internationally during the War. The exhibition features a screening room and ‘foyer’ area complete with ticket box and ‘ghostly’ cinema worker responding by phone to ticket and film inquiries. The foyer will also contain images of the stars of the day and revealing information about “Lost films” – Australian films made during the War era that no longer survive.

A 63-minute screening program of war and non-war related material incorporates an assortment of film excerpts shown in Australia between 1914 and 1918, each introduced by inter-titles. Music and audio atmosphere tracks have been carefully composed and selected to transport audiences to the cinema-going experience of the early 20thcentury.

One in three Australian men between the ages of 18 and 45 enlisted to fight, so people on the home front felt deeply connected to seeing images of the War. On any given Saturday night in Melbourne 100 years ago, 65,000 people were attending the cinema. Tickets were cheap and programs varied – from Australian and international features, to short comedies, drama serials, ‘scenics’ (or travelogues), ‘industrials’ (documentaries about manufacturing) and ‘war pictures’, which were newsreel and information films about the activities of troops and the progress of the War.

When the War began, Australian filmmakers rushed to align themselves with the government, creating dramas specifically aimed at increasing recruitment, such as Alfred Rolfe’s The Hero of the Dardanelles (1915), which tells the story of Gallipoli and features the iconic Anzac Cove landing scene shot at Sydney’s Tamarama Beach. As the years passed and more lives were lost, war-weary audiences grew sceptical of cinema propaganda and a new genre of home-grown comedies emerged.

For Russell Briggs, ACMI’s Head of Exhibitions & Collections, War Pictures offers a glimpse into how Australians lived a century ago, using the popular films of the day as its focal point.

“We wanted to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War by recreating the ambience of everyday life during wartime. With their friends and family fighting half a world away, people back home had a personal stake in seeing depictions of the War on screen, but they were also looking to Hollywood and the young Australian movie business for entertainment and escape. War Pictures takes you to a cinema palace during these turbulent years and gives you a real taste of what it was like to live in Australia during the Great War,” said Briggs.

The exhibition has been produced with the generous support of NFSA. Michael Loebenstein, NFSA’s CEO said: “The moving image is a very powerful medium – it is humanity’s audiovisual memory. As we approach the Anzac Centenary, we hope that this footage will help audiences understand what life was like in Australia during the First World War. They illustrate the hardships and struggles, but also the news and entertainment that helped people keep up their spirits. We’re excited to showcase these materials in partnership with ACMI.” said Loebenstein.

War Pictures: Australians at the Cinema 1914-1918 Exhibition
10 March 2015 – 26 July 2015
Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne
www.acmi.net.au/war-pictures