Return Journey

Directed by

William Sterling

Country

Australia

How it feels

This Australian film follows the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across the desert. It shows the struggles of the explorers as they attempt to cross the continent.

historicalfrustratingmodestlow-budgetgroundedmatter-of-factunpolished

What happens

Return Journey is an Australian film about the Burke and Wills expedition. It was directed by William Sterling and produced by John Sherman. In 1961 filming began with a cast of four and a crew including Sterling and cameraman Gerry Vandenberg. Filming took place near Alice Springs. They had $12,000 in funds. The plan was to film it on 16 mm and blow it up to 35mm. Filming was difficult - there was trouble with the camera, colour stock and sound track. The filmmakers did not have enough money to complete the feature film so it was recut as a documentary. In 1966, when John Sherman died, Colin Bennett claimed he had seen three different versions and said the best was a 30-minute documentary version. However, at that stage the film had not yet been released. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Burke & Wills (1985)
• The Back of Beyond (1954)
• Out Of It (1977)
• Naked Under Capricorn
• Wills & Burke (1985)
• Our Generation (2010)
• New Guinea Patrol (1958)
• Bitter Springs (1950)