Winton’s Vision Splendid film festival a draw for travel-ready Queenslanders
Demand for local tourism is driving visitors to the outback and movies under the stars.
When the movie starts at the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in Winton, patrons settle into their canvas deckchairs and gaze up to the canopy of Banjo Paterson’s “everlasting stars”.
That’s the special experience of the outdoor Royal Theatre, which is bringing moviegoers to far-flung Winton, even during the pandemic.
The festival began on Friday night and bookings are up 30 per cent on previous years, organisers say.
The increase is due to Queenslanders setting out to explore what their state has to offer when the border is closed.
“There are people travelling, because they can’t go interstate,” said festival director Mark Melrose. “They’ve hit the road and come out west, and it’s really great to see. People are looking for things to do, so it’s benefited us from that point of view.”
The nine-day program opened with Kriv Stenders’s film Slim & I, about country music legends Slim Dusty and his wife, Joy McKean.
The historic Royal Theatre can seat up to 400 people but capacity has been reduced to 200 in line with social distancing.
Daytime screenings, which usually attract 40 people, have been moved to the Winton Shire Town Hall to accommodate up to 150.
The Vision Splendid festival started in 2014 to capitalise on the region’s attractiveness as a film location. Films made there include Nick Cave’s The Proposition, Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road and the ABC TV drama Total Control, featuring Deborah Mailman and Rachel Griffiths.
Talks are under way about developing a film studio in the town.
Winton Shire Council tourism and events manager, John Elliott, said in other years the festival had attracted 20 per cent of its audience from interstate and 5 per cent from overseas.
This year, with the closed border, the town is expecting visitors from the state’s southeast who want to see the festival, the birthplace of Waltzing Matilda and Qantas, and the region’s dinosaur fossils.
More than 1300km northwest of Brisbane, Winton is not the easiest place to get to, but Melrose said that was part of the appeal.
“It helps us, the uniqueness of where it is, and that experience of sitting on those chairs under the stars, watching a film,” he said.
“It’s just one of those phenomenal experiences, and one of the main reasons for people to come out here.”
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