The Oarsmen

This story explores themes of peace, repatriation, rehabilitation and resilience through the sport of rowing. The diggers of WW1 had to rely on only to their own tenacity and resilience to survive an uncertain post war world. These men rowed into war at Gallipoli and then rowed into peace at Henley. The story navigates themes of dispossession, displacement, PTSD, physical wounds leading to the ‘great silence’ that descended on the veterans after the Great War. The innovative therapeutic concepts of occupation and recovery through teamwork, camaraderie and active sports competition were lost for nearly 100 years until the revival of the Invictus and Warrior Games.

The Oarsmen is about the ‘peace’ and our collective need to re-examine our approach to peace; assess the cost and enduring human legacy of the survivors. As survivors, many are physically and psychologically traumatised through much more severe and extraordinary experience of death and destruction than many others. I would like the film to engage as a robust discussion between the military, the government and society in evaluating how we measure a peaceful world and its cost.

Raise awareness of mental health and promote the issues of PTSD that afflict servicemen and women. To highlight the role of teamwork and sport in the healing process for those afflicted by war and trauma as they reintegrate back into society.

The Australian Defence Force Rowing Club collaborated in filming the historical recreations.

To understand the different types of psychological trauma that returned servicemen and women experience and the advancement of progressive treatments.
To be informed about this truly inspiring piece of Australian history that resonates just as much today through initiatives such as the Invictus or Warrior Games.
To illustrate how sport, teamwork and resilience can assist people suffering mental health issues and PTSD.