By Tanya Steele
A student film ‘A Walk with Kate’ was completed in late March and made use of two stunning locations from Chum Creek and Warburton in a gothic feminist perspective about Ned Kelly’s little sister.
Gaia Mitting wrote and directed the film along with a group of students on her production team who are finishing their honours project and she said they can’t wait to submit their film to festivals.
“It’s honestly surreal, it’s our fourth year and we have been working on it for a year and a half,” she said.
The student crew filmed for three days at Chum Creek and then were up at Warburton for another two days.
The scenes used real horses and horse wrangler Angel Marlow helped the crew with their scenes at the Chum Creek Horse Riding and Huts, Ms Mitting said it went really well.
“It was lovely and the horse we worked with, BB was so calm,” she said.
Ms Mitting grew up in Warburton and said they really wanted to use the rainforest and landscapes from the area.
“The character Kate feels safe and seen in the bush setting,” she said.
Ms Mitting said the Chum Creek location was perfect for what they needed.
“It had the bush and this beautiful historical hut that we shot in and the horses as well,” she said.
There was a large research process involved with the writing of the film and Ms Mitting said she had always found the Kelly women intriguing.
“It’s set and drawn through her memories and she’d going on a memory walk through her life,” she said.
“(Kate) was an incredible woman, she was a horse rider, performer and advocate against capital punishment and a celebrity in her right.”
Ms Mitting even took a trip to Beechworth, Glenrown and the surrounds to really elevate her story.
“It was really good, It took it from a 2D to 3D experience for me, it was quite an emotional experience to see how they lived,” she said.
The crew had a few scares with the weather but overall the filming went well and Ms Mitting said it was really special to show people from the inner city her Warburton roots.
“It was really important and special to me to film here and there is no way it would have happened without my connections here,” she said.
Some supporting roles and extras in the film were from the Healesville and Warburton area and Ms Mitting said it gave the film a real community feel.
The film is currently in editing and production and the Walk with Kate team is crowdfunding to get their film into film festivals later this year.
Ms Mitting said she was excited to be in the final stages.
“Seeing this on screen is really powerful and special to me.”
