A documentary of a simple life

BALLARAT-born documentary maker Jordan Osmond’s new film, The New Peasants, will premiere at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival tonight (Friday 25 July).

It will begin a tour of eastern Australian states and New Zealand from 1 August, with a screening scheduled for the Palace Regent Cinemas in Ballarat on 2 August.

The New Peasants offers a close-up look at the life of Meg, Patrick, Zephyr and Woody, a family that for 20 years has been moving away from modern industrial culture towards a radically simple and sustainable way of life.

According to the documentary’s production company, Happen Films, it has been 15 years since the family has eaten food from a supermarket or owned a car.

The Daylesford household lives intentionally below the poverty line and meets 80 per cent of its needs without using money.

Osmond, who now lives in Smeaton, will be present at most screenings on the tour and will participate in question-and-answer sessions along with the family.

The founder and director of Food is Free, Lou Ridsdale, will act as compere.

Osmond said the film grew from what he described as a unique opportunity – the fact that he was living on the same property as the family.

“Usually when I’m shooting a film it happens over the course of a very specific timeframe, usually a few days to a few weeks, where the days are long and full in order to capture as much as possible in the limited time available,” he said.

“I shot The New Peasants over the course of three months, with many of the scenes I filmed resulting from either Meg, Patrick, or Woody knocking on my door saying, ‘I’m doing this, want to film it?’

“This allowed me to capture the natural rhythms and daily happenings of the family, along with the seasonal changes of the property and homesteading activities.”

The Ballarat screening will take place from 3pm to 5.30pm and tickets are available from events.humanitix.com/the-new-peasants-ballarat-film-screening-q-and-a.