After months on the film festival circuit, travelling from the outback to London with "my baby girl on my hip", Thirroul filmmaker Mara Jean Quinn is looking forward to the local screening of her debut feature, Andamooka, at Warrawong's Gala Cinema on Saturday, August 2.
"Andamooka is about Alex, a city woman whose life falls apart just before she turns 30, so she goes on a roadtrip to the outback to spend her birthday with her best friend in the tiny opal mining town of Andamooka," Mara said.
The coming-of-age road movie was produced "on the smell of an oily rag” and shot by three people driving one old Hilux over 7000km in 2019.
All up, Mara’s debut took five years, and by the time it was almost done, she was heavily pregnant – still working, taking a call from a trailer editor, when she went into labour.
Art mirrors life in the outback
The adventures in Andamooka are based on a true stories.
"It was inspired by a break-up that really shattered me," Mara said. "I was working in a job that was getting me down, I had a strong urge to go to the desert – hence, I wrote a film about the journey I wanted to take.
"So I did go to the desert, with a few savings, a script, two friends, our swags, and a bunch of film gear.
"We shot the film for two months across 7000km. Due to having the constraints of a microbudget and meeting amazing real characters along the way, we ended up diverting far from the original script and just meeting the basic plot points to make it make sense."
Mara not only played the lead role, she also directed the project.
"So in a way I was experiencing what 'Alex' was experiencing, only I wasn't solo and was spending time with lots of different people that aren't in the film, and was managing a somewhat stressful project.
"The best friend that Alex is going to meet up with is really one of my best friends and she really was living in Andamooka at the time. We tried to create a more naive and innocent character, and show her encountering Indigenous culture for the first time whilst confronting her Whiteness; alongside her own grieving and growth journey."
A 'mind-blowing, heart-opening, soul-exploding journey'
Even though she's been acting in films since the age of 16, making her own was a huge learning curve in terms of camera technique, storytelling and working with actors.
"I loved quitting my job, leaving Sydney and getting out into the beauty and vastness of the outback,” Mara said.
“I loved the cultural immersion into the world's of different Aboriginal people. I loved being under the bright milky way every night and waking up to a new adventure everyday. I loved meeting people and working with them creatively. I loved sharing the whole mind-blowing, heart-opening, soul-exploding journey with the cinematographer Danni Ogilvie and sound recordist Anthea Hilton.
“Countless people helped us on the road from local shopkeepers, to other travellers, to locals we stayed with, and of course, all the real characters we met along the way who wanted to be featured in the film."
The biggest challenge came later
After the fun of filming, Mara was stuck, with no money and no idea what to do next.
“This process was lonely and dark at times. It really wore me down,” she said.
Eventually, she realised that to finish the film, she had to put everything in, give up her income and work on it full-time. “It was really tough to keep going at a project that I didn't know would have any legs, slogging away on my own, whilst my friends were busy buying houses and having babies. It felt like it would never end.”
In the end, Andamooka came together with the help of many professionals who chipped in for free or at heavily discounted rates. These included Danni and Anthea, editor Nicole Thorn, trailer editor Rachel Dunn, assistant editor Phoebe Taylor, colourist Justin Tran, sound supervisor Andy Wright (an Oscar winner) and his juniors, Megan Howieson and Will Carroll, composers Alex Markwell (Delta Riggs) and Aiden and Dave McMillan, and actor Aaron Pedersen who came on board in post as a producer.
Success on the circuit
Since Andamooka premiered at CinefestOz in Margaret River last September, it’s toured around the country to nine film festivals, including Darwin, SXSW Sydney, and Capricorn in Yeppoon. “I also got over to London earlier this year, thanks to an amazing arts philanthropist friend in Thirroul,” Mara said. “I was able to attend the international premiere at the London Australian Film Festival, with my 10-month-old.”
Later this year the film will screen in Barcelona, and possibly also Rio de Janeiro. It’s touched a chord with many, something Mara is proud to share.
“I never knew if anyone would like the film, and I carried a lot of shame around it all for a while,” she said. “I think because I played the lead role and wrote/directed/produced it, I was worried I would come across an egomaniac. I had to remind myself that I am an artist, acting is one of my crafts, and making an 82-minute film allowed me to share so much of my soul, as artists need to do.
“After every screening I've had countless audience members approach me saying it was their story too or just how much they related to it. It seems to touch people in both a light and silly way but also in a deeper, more painful way. Having created something that speaks to people, is as much success as I can ask for."
How luck of the draw inspired a career
Mara grew up in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. "My career path, weirdly enough, was sparked because my Mum won drama lessons in a raffle when I was nine. As an adult I studied acting, writing, film and TV and visual art. I have always worked in the arts, and as a filmmaker for about eight years."
When she first moved to Thirroul eight years ago, Mara fell in love with the community, meeting people through Flame Tree Co-op and Franks Wild Years. She left in 2019 then returned in 2023 to start a family, finding the town still abuzz with its famously creative vibe.
"I find it so inspiring,” Mara said. "I love that I bump into other filmmakers and artists when I'm just grabbing a few things from IGA.
"Though, I often find the wealth in the area confronting. As an artist, I just don't have the money that others do. Being an artist in a poor area, you feel more normal, but Thirroul is just too good a lifestyle.”
Mixing motherhood and movies
Asked how she's juggling parenting and work today, Mara replied: "Well, there's barely any income, as this project just keeps costing me money. So it's not exactly fruitful. Luckily I am blessed with a wonderful partner who works full time at SBS and pays our bills. (Thanks John.)
"I battle with wanting to be a super dedicated Mum, whilst also having creative hunger and career aspirations. If anyone has any tips, I'm all ears."
Another screenplay inspired by real life is now in the works – her next film is about becoming a mother.
“I want to place a lens on the absolute metamorphosis that is pregnancy, birth and postpartum, in a way that has not been done in cinema before.”
Andamooka will screen at the Gala Cinema in Warrawong on Saturday, August 2. Book tickets here. There will be a Q&A in association with Screen Illawarra. Watch the trailer here
