While it may appear that Broken Hill sits in the middle of nowhere, we’re at the centre of everything and the middle of everywhere!
Broken Hill City Council is proudly film-friendly and warmly welcomes film makers from across the globe. The City is the engine-room for film-makers who are often filming on the outskirts and the fringes of the City but require a base for accommodation, production space, technology linkup and easy access to transport.
No stranger to the big screen, there have been more than 35 movies filmed in Broken Hill and surrounds including Mad Max 2, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Last Cab To Darwin, Strangerland, A Town Like Alice, Mission Impossible II, the US HBO series The Leftovers and most recently for Network Ten, the mini-series Wake In Fright, nearly 50 years after the seminal feature was shot in the city. Baz Luhrmann also filmed a section of Australia in Broken Hill.
(Photo: Sean Keenan on set of Wake In Fright, Courtesy Channel 10)
Add to this dozens of TV series and countless advertisements. There are far too many to mention, but some of the some of the companies featuring the cinematic gem include Ferrari (Night into Day), Aldi (Santa Crashes Christmas) and AAMI Roadside Assist (Queen of the Desert).
The story of Broken Hill’s love affair with film began as far back as 1936, not longer after silent movies had been replaced by talkies. Filmmaker Charles Chauvel visited what was then a mining village and decided to film his feature movie Uncivilised here. Ever since, Broken Hill has been the location of choice for movie makers who want something a bit different.
Today, Broken Hill is more poised in readiness for the world of film than ever before. It is a city surrounded by big sky and sparse landscape. It’s period architecture, wide streets and “can-do” attitude of residents makes it one of Australia’s easiest City’s for film-makers to work in. Broken Hill is essentially a ready-made film lot, a workshop primed to support the most ambitious of film making endeavours.
According to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert producer Al Clarke: “Broken Hill offers an outstanding range of locations which reinforced our belief that it was possible to shoot economically in remote areas.”
Locusts producer Angus Watts told Filmlink; “... we chose Broken Hill for its iconic vista landscapes, its resources as a film making hub, and logistically it made sense with direct flight access out of Sydney and Adelaide.”
The City is listed in Destination NSW's list of 11 of the most recognised film destinations made famous by classic and new Australian films and number four on the Lonely Planet’s list of films "where the destination is the star", behind Petra, Paris and Tokyo.
Broken Hill City Council has developed a streamlined process for permits and a film-friendly focus for the city and there are minimal film permit charges for working within the City. We can connect you to the people, tools and the knowledge you need. Council also works closely with Screen Broken Hill – the industry-led collaborative that works alongside industry in location scouting, casting and production.
Contact Darrin Manuel at council@brokenhill.nsw.gov.au or check Council's Filming in Broken Hill Policy for more information on filming in the area.