Project Detail

Letters from Australia

Synopsis

An immersive 360 film, based on letters home written by two Cornish Boys from west Cornwall, who emigrated to Australia in 1864. The recently discovered letters, which provide the inspiration, overarching visual motif and compelling lyrics of the piece, cry out with homesickness, loneliness and separation, and the everyday challenges and triumphs of their pioneering life in an evolving nation. The boys had their mining and farming skills to fall back on; they also brought their culture too, particularly their deep chapel faith.
The Cornish Diaspora of the 19th century saw 250,000 people leave Cornwall, fleeing poverty and seeking opportunities across the globe. Approximately 10% of the population of South Australia, and over 3% of Australia as a whole, has significant Cornish ancestry and the settlement of the areas within of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are sometimes referred to as ‘Little Cornwall’.
Official Selection Cornwall Film Festival 2024 - Festival World premiere
Official Selection Adelaide Fringe 2025 - Festival International premiere

Visit Film Website

Details

Year: 2024
Type of film: XR / Immersive
Running time: 20 min
Format: 360 immersive full dome production
Director: Dave Hotchkiss
Producer: Dave Hotchkiss, Nick Hart
Executive Producer: Martin Eddy, Dave Hotchkiss, Nick Hart, Miles Sloman
Editor: Dave Hotchkiss
Screenwriter: Nick Hart
Director of Photography: Dave Hotchkiss
Production Designer: Dave Hotchkiss
Sound: Nick Hart
Composer: Nick Hart
Principal cast: Bec Applebee, Steve Jacobs, Miles Sloman, Martin Eddy
Musicians: Elowen Waters, Richard Trethewey, Neal Jolly, Nick Hart, Liam H

Genre

Experimental Music Drama Dance

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Dave Hotchkiss

Visit Website

Page updates

This page was last updated on 30th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

A landmark feature documentary about astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command the Space Shuttle. Eileen’s incredible journey starts with her smalltown beginnings, sees her smash through many glass ceilings, and culminates in four dramatic space shuttle missions, the last being possibly the most dangerous and most important of them all. At its heart the film is the moving human drama of one family, where a mother’s extraordinary career takes us straight to the big philosophical question of what is the level of acceptable risk in human endeavour? This film celebrates Commander Collins’ trailblazing NASA career which opened the way for women to become spacecraft pilots and commanders, and proved a perfect riposte to a previous generation of male astronauts who thought there was no place for women to lead the way in space. Official Selection DOC NYC 2024 - World premiere Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 - European premiere

Woman Director

Broken English

Director: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard

Year:

The layered structure on which BROKEN ENGLISH rests is the fictional ‘Ministry of Not Forgetting’ (led by Tilda Swinton and her trusty interviewer George MacKay), who take Marianne Faithful on a journey into a rich and event-filled past. Images, clips and interviews are interspersed with musical responses by Beth Orton, Courtney Love and Nick Cave, creating an inventive and soulful portrait of cultural icon Marianne Faithfull. Official Selection Venice Film Festival 2025 - World premiere Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2025 - Documentary Special Presentation

Biography Music Woman Director

I Saw the Face of God in the Jet Wash

Director: Mark Jenkin

Year: 2025

Between film screenings across the world, Mark Jenkin muses on cinematic influences, ponders cultural history and reflects upon home. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2025 - World premiere Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2025 - European premiere

Biography Experimental