Australia's highest peak is a snowy volcano that rears out of the southern ocean like a great white whale. Five times it tried to kill the first team that attempted it. But back they sailed to try again.

Interview with Producer/Director Michael Dillon

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

It's a great untold Australian Story. Few people know that Australia's highest mountain is actually a volcano, deep in the wild southern ocean, and fewer people know of the dramatic life-threatening attempts to climb it. As a young man, I grew up with this story because I knew some of the people involved. One of them helped kick-start my filming career so I felt I just had to make this film.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

You don't have to watch it. Someone said that the music score is so good that you could sit there blindfolded and still be glad you came. I love filmmaking as it combines all of the arts with music being a crucial one. But seriously, you strive to get everything right to reward the audience for taking that long and difficult step from their lounge chair to a cinema. I knew the story, well told, would intrigue everyone, and I love the storytellers, all in their seventies or eighties, and all so eloquent and loveable on screen. And all so delightfully humorous as well.

The Great White Whale - King Penguins Heard Island

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

This is a tale of courage. 10 men, one of whom couldn't swim, set off on a 3-month voyage through the roughest seas in the world in a small yacht, just to get to the Island that had almost killed some of their group two years earlier. Their journey inspired a generation of young Australian adventures and led to the idea that Australia should have a sail training ship so young Australians could themselves have the chance to have a character-forming adventure at sea.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

The film was crafted from interviews I did with the original expeditioners. One of the expeditioners sang the story too, as befits the epic saga that it was. His self-composed melodies were wonderful so I asked Paul Jarman to enlarge them instrumentally and compose additional music. and this process took place as my favourite editor Mike Balson and I worked the story down to about 100 minutes and made sure that it would keep the audience's attention at that length.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Trial screenings have been very positive. At various stages of development, we tested the waters at International Mountain and Adventure Film Festivals. Last December we submitted an almost finished version to the International Mountain Film Festival in Bilbao Spain and were surprised to find it won the Grand Prize and Best Director Prize. It has also just won awards at an equivalent Film Festival in Italy.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I know this film tells an amazing story in itself but I am truly surprised that a dialogue-heavy film, full of colloquial and sometimes obscure English, has captivated via distracting subtitles, foreign audiences.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

This film has come out of nowhere. No government agencies were involved so it has no inbuilt profile or promotional leg-up to begin with. We are grateful to MDFF for selecting it and we hope the screening or screenings there will spread the word about it. And I thank you for offering to include it on your platform.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

Distributors, journalists, and film festival directors.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I would simply like this amazing Australian Story to be widely known, and for people who take the trouble to come and watch it to be very glad they did.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Did you know that Kosciuscko isn't Australia's highest mountain?

Would you like to add anything else?

Just a thank you for having this site.

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

The next year will all be about marketing it and showing it ourselves if we don't get a distributor. A familiar road trodden by so many of us.

Interview: May 2024

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

The Great White Whale

Length: 1:44:00

Director: Michael Dillon

Producer: Michael Dillon

About the director and producer:

MICHAEL DILLON has been filming and directing Adventure Documentaries for over 50 years. He worked as a filmmaker for Sir Edmund Hillary for 25 years and filmed three Everest Expeditions including a climb of it from Sea Level. Films he has produced include Hillary-Ocean to Sky, A Fare to Remember - The Great Taxi Adventure and Everest - Sea to Summit. He was recently awarded the Grand Prize by the International Federation of Mountain Film Festivals for Lifetime Achievement, the first awardee ever from the Southern Hemisphere.

Looking for: distributors, film festival directors, buyers

Website: Michael Dillon

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

Cinema Nova July 20
Luna SX Fremantle August 8th and 19th
Orana Cinema Busselton WA August 12
Orana Cinema Albany WA August 14th
Luna Leederville Perth August 15th and 20th
State Cinema Hobart August 25th