The Good Life

The Old Girl seeks to address a number of leading issues in contemporary Australia; the place of women, sexuality, the stewardship of land and reckoning with a colonial past.

For generations women have been sold a narrative of being house-wives and child raisers – it can be a hard doctrine to shake. For Mel, it took 10 years of marriage to realise she’d fallen into a life she didn’t want. This project (albeit with a white picket fence) is about showing other women & girls what’s possible.

More and more women are discovering after years of marriage to men, that they are actually queer. Were they always or is sexuality more fluid? Mel describes starting to date women in her 40’s as fumbling around like a teenager again, an enthralling yet terrifying experience.

One of the best solutions to the climate crisis is regenerative agriculture. In its simplest form it is working with nature to produce food. But it also draws down carbon and puts it back in the soil…

Seeing a woman brave enough to do things differently on-screen, not only affects how others see women, but it also affects how women see themselves. Through this poignant, big- hearted documentary, we are given ‘access all areas’ to a community and a woman that will inspire others to be brave, love hard and change our relationship to Country for a more sustainable future.

It’s our hope that viewers of this story are inspired to think outside their own lives, See past their prejudices and consider new ways of doing things.
That they feel empowered to have difficult conversations with themselves and with others in their community. And that they are educated in the principles of a sustainable future.
The long term aims of this project are primarily focused around the running of a thriving teaching farm established on the property in the Northern Rivers that can address the issues with our current agricultural models, convey the core principles and practices of regenerative agriculture; and provide practical resources for all.
This project also presents a positive role model for women exploring their sexual identities, enabling them to gain a deeper and more complex understanding of gender and sexuality from someone living it in real time.

We have established working relationships with a preliminary group of organizations and expect to continue this outreach work as the project progresses. Working with locals in the area ensures the project has grassroots community support and that benefits can flow back to those communities. We are actively listening to and asking questions of these communities to better understand what we can be doing to support them from the privileged position we find ourselves in making this film.
We are lucky that the Northern Rivers community is receptive to different ways of living and learning, but in order to reach ‘beyond the converted’ we are mindful of ensuring the format of the program has commercial appeal.

Audience share the film project with friends, family and peers.
Viewers reach out to one of our impact partners whether it be Ace’s regenerative farming
school or ‘She Loves Her’ queer support.
Changing personal behaviours and contemplating impacts of food and farming. And farmers
able to see the positive impacts of operating in harmony with land.
That society as a whole be more accepting of modern gender roles – No matter who you are, you shouldn’t have to be courageous just to go out at follow your dreams.
People in the process of exploring their sexual identities, gain a deeper and more complex understanding of gender and sexuality via positive on screen representation, and engage with queer communities and support.