The Dry joins long list of films shot in country Victoria

Victoria’s Wimmera and Mallee regions are about to play a starring role in the new film The Dry. Take a look at what other major films and TV shows have been shot around the bush.

Eric Bana (left) stars in the new film, The Dry, which is being released on New Year’s Day. Parts of the film were shot in the Wimmera and southern Mallee.

COUNTRY Victoria has long been a feature of the silver (and small) screen.

And it is about to be thrust into the spotlight once again with the release of The Dry, the film adaptation of Jane Harper’s best-selling novel, on New Year’s Day.

The Wimmera and southern Mallee has provided the perfect stand-in for the fictional town of Kiewarra and its surrounds for the new movie, directed by Robert Connolly.

Star Eric Bana even temporarily relocated to Warracknabeal to film The Dry early last year.

These are just some of the films and television series that have also filmed on location across country Victoria.

Michael Caton as Darryl Kerrigan in 1997 film.

THE CASTLE (1997)

WHAT better place to start than Bana’s feature film debut? In a movie full of quotable quotes — “this is going straight to the pool room”, “tell him he’s dreamin’” just for starters — who could forget the classic singalong “We’re goin’ to Bonnie Doon!” And so, while most of the iconic Australian film was filmed in Melbourne, some of the scenes were filmed on location at Bonnie Doon, including the holiday home, named “Serenity”. The Kerrigan family’s “castle” was in Strathmore, but last year the weatherboard house was relocated to Beechworth.

Shane Jacobson and Kai the Maremma from the film Oddball.

ODDBALL (2015)

CUTE penguins. Check. Cute dog. Check. A feel-good story based on real life events. Check. There was a lot to love about this Aussie film about a mischievous Maremma dog trained to protect the Middle Island penguin colony — even more so as some of it was shot in the regional city the story originated from. Key sections were filmed in and around Warrnambool, including Liebig St and Flagstaff Hill. Oddball star Shane Jacobson also spent time in Warrnambool in 2008 for the filming of Charlie and Boots alongside Paul Hogan.

ON THE BEACH (1959)

HOLLYWOOD came to Victoria in the late 1950s for this post-apocalyptic science fiction drama. Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire — three of the biggest names from tinseltown’s Golden Age — and pre-Psycho Anthony Perkins starred in the movie, which used locations included Cowes, the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit, Point Lonsdale and Marysville for filming.

Heath Ledger during production of Ned Kelly in Clunes.

Preparing for the filming of Ned Kelly movie at Clunes.

NED KELLY (2003)

THE Aussie bushranger has been brought to life on screen several times, including what is believed to be the very first feature-length film ever produced. The 2003 version starring Heath Ledger used locations including Clunes (which stood in for Jerilderie and Euroa), Ballarat (which doubled for 19th-century Melbourne) and Little River.

ROMULUS, MY FATHER (2007)

ANOTHER film starring Bana, this movie — and adaptation of the memoir by Raimond Gaita — used locations across central Victoria including Carisbrook, Castlemaine and Maldon to help tell the story of a father and son’s bond. The film’s premiere was later held at Castlemaine.

CHARLOTTE’S WEB (2006)

WE CHALLENGE anyone not to end up a bit teary after this film adaptation of the beloved book by EB White. This adaptation — which starred a young Dakota Fanning as Fern and Julia Roberts as the voice of Charlotte the spider — was filmed on location in Greendale.

Katharine Vine, Emily Ford and Hannah Ham during filming of The Dressmaker at Longerenong Homestead.

THE DRESSMAKER (2015)

IT TOOK 15 years for Rosalie Ham’s novel to make the leap from stage to screen. Players from the Laharum Football Club were among the extras used to for the film, which starred Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth and Judy Davis. According to reports, Wimmera sites including Longerenong Homestead, Sailors’ Home Hall at Murra Warra, Jung’s silo, recreation reserve and cemetery and the Murtoa hall were used for filming, as well as Mt Rothwell.

MAD MAX (1979)

CUNDALINI wants his hand back! The film that introduced the world to Max (and Mel Gibson), Goose and Toecutter was reportedly made for less $400,000 but grossed more than $100 million worldwide (at one time it held a Guinness world record for most profitable film) and spawned several sequels. Clunes once again appears, this time as the town of ‘Wee Jerusalem’, while Little River, Wallan and Fairhaven were also used — the latter was the site of Max’s house.

THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER (1982)

BASED on the epic A.B. Paterson poem, the film adaptation starred Tom Burlinson and Sigrid Thornton, as well as Hollywood royalty, Spartacus himself, Kirk Douglas. A farm at Merrijig was the location of Harrison’s Homestead, while other parts of Victorian High Country, around Mansfield, Mt Buller and Mt Stirling, added to the spectacle. You can still go and visit Craig’s Hut, built for the film high atop Mt Stirling. Thornton would go on to film television series All the Rivers Run in Echuca and along the Murray River, and SeaChange in Barwon Heads and St Leonards.

BLUE HEELERS (1994-2006)

THE police from Mount Thomas joined Australians in their loungerooms for more than a decade across more than 500 episodes. Outside the studio, filming took place on location in Williamstown and Werribee, but some exterior shots were also done in Castlemaine.

THE FLYING DOCTORS (1986-1992)

YET another production that found its setting in the Wimmera — if you look closely at Coopers Crossing, the base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service team the show follows, you might recognise the town of Minyip.

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