Chance to get a drop on film props when Nightingale shoot winds up

SMALL towns across Tasmania are enjoying a taste of stardom as a highly-anticipated movie is filmed in the state.

Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania CEO Scott Gadd in the props shed for the film The Nightingale at the Showgrounds. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

SMALL towns across Tasmania are enjoying a taste of stardom as a highly-anticipated movie is filmed in the state.

The period thriller, The Nightingale, is taking advantage of Tasmania’s rugged scenery and colonial towns as backdrops.

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The feature film has also transformed the Hobart Showground into its headquarters, which is abuzz with the film’s administration staff, props and costumes.

Nightingale star Sam Claflin in a scene from the film My Cousin Rachel.

Purpose-built props and antique items, ranging from possum skins to rustic furniture, will be sold when filming winds up.

The film, written and directed by Jennifer Kent, is set in Tasmania in the 1820s and follows the story of a 21-year-old female convict who witnesses the murder of her family.

Seeking justice, she take an Aboriginal tracker through the wilderness to a bid to exact revenge.

Kent’s debut feature film was the psychological thriller The Babadook. Starring Tasmania’s own Essie Davis, it premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win a swag of AACTA awards.

One of The Nightingale’s main actors, The Hunger Games and Me Before You star Sam Claflin, has posted stunning Tasmanian scenes on his Instagram account.

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Sam Claflin in a scene from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. Picture: ROADSHOW FILMS

Last week some of the Nightingale action took place in the Central Highlands, around the lakeside town of Miena.

Great Lakes Hotel owner Kaylee Hattinger said “they were the best group of people”.

Ms Hattinger said they booked accommodation throughout the area.

“They booked with us and ate with us — they really looked after the community, it was awesome,” she said.

Claflin with Emilia Clarke in the tearjerker Me Before You.

The State Government has forecast the crew will spend $3.6 million in the state during the filming period, which began late March and continues for another couple of weeks. The Government has invested $200,000 in the film.

Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania chief executive Scott Gadd said it was the first time the showground had been used as a movie headquarters.

“The producer’s view is that more and more film companies will look to Tasmania because of the unique light here,” he said.

The Nightingale film props sale is on June 2-3, starting 8am.