There are 570,000 distinct ways to be Tasmanian. Here are some of our stories of making the impossible possible, of overcoming obstacles, of determination, grit, invention, imagination and extraordinary outcomes – all in a hauntingly beautiful natural environment.
This is my story, Curly Haslam-Coates, Wine Educator
We learned a lot in our hundreds of interviews. We learned that if we were not honest about this place, its history, and its culture our most important audience—Tasmanians—would not see themselves in the story. It is non-traditional, in place-branding and economic development, to begin a promotional video with evocations of isolation and devastation, of feeling forgotten, of feeling misunderstood and underestimated. There is so much that is special about Tasmania. It is extraordinary: this place, these people, and what they do. But why is it like that? Tasmanians told us not to forget the struggle and hardship of the past and present. It is through working together to overcome these struggles and hardships, to reckon with our past, that we build what we most love about this place. The best way to tell this Tasmanian story is through Tasmanians themselves. In our short film you meet respected elders and young people, inventors and entrepreneurs, advocates and activists, all of them doing things a bit differently. They were generous with their time and candid about their own stories. Through them, you can feel what it's like to live, create, work, and cooperate here in Tasmania. In order of appearance in the film: Rodney Gibbins, Joan Evans, Bill McHenry, Terrapin Puppet Theatre, Rodney Croome, Robert Clifford, Jemma Blair, Natalie Potter & Emily Versluys, Carleeta Thomas, Julian von Bibra, Luca Brasi, Seana Gall, Ana Pimenta, Ethan Bligh, David Shering, Curly Haslam-Coates, Joanna Smart, and Jeanette James. Creative agency: The20 Cinematographer: Joshua Lamont ACS Assistant Camera: Ross Giblin www.tasmanian.com.au