Big Stories, Small Towns

Big Stories, Small Towns by directors Jeni Lee and Sieh Mchawala is a heartwarming portrait of Port Augusta, "the crossroads of Australia." As described in the short introductory film, the project's aim is to "shine a light on locals who cared for the people around them." The directors accomplished this by making short films about three specific organizations: the local Men's Shed, a typically Australian phenomenon, where the elderly do woodwork; the Wami Kata home for the elderly, which cares for aborigines suffering from dementia; and the local branch of Young Fathers, a group devoted to young fathers of aboriginal origin. These three observational films form the backbone of the website, but the site also gives the community itself an opportunity to speak, through photo series and digital stories. In addition, it presents the history of Port Augusta through a handful of short archive films. Lee and Mchawala's website uses a collection of small stories to create a bigger and broader picture of Australia's fifth largest city.