Documentary to tell Great Ocean Road’s story

A DOCUMENTARY on the making of the Great Ocean Road created with the help of Surf Coast residents will air on SBS tomorrow (Friday, April 24).

The Story of the Road was commissioned last year as part of the road’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

Snippets of the film were shown in the various pop-up cinemas that were placed along the road, and it made its big screen debut at Lorne Theatre on September 19, exactly 100 years after construction on the road began.

The film’s televised airing date on the eve of Anzac Day is also significant.

Lorne Historical Society vice president Peter Spring features in the documentary, having an extensive knowledge of the road’s remarkable origins.

He said there was more to the road’s history than was often understood.

“Now that I’ve been researching it and have gotten to know a bit more about it, it’s disappointing that most people who visit the Great Ocean Road don’t understand that it is a war memorial.”

The construction of the road was seen as a chance to provide jobs for the many servicemen returning from World War I.

Mr Spring said conditions were often difficult, noting there was an area between Lorne and Apollo Bay that was so treacherous in the winter the servicemen dubbed it “The Somme”.

A working group set up to organise celebrations of the road’s 100th anniversary commissioned the documentary and hired Clothesline Content to make it.

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager and member of the working group Liz Price said the circumstances made the film’s airing tomorrow particularly timely.

“This year now it’s more important than ever, because we can’t celebrate Anzac Day as we normally would. So, it’s a great chance for people to reflect on the amazing role our returned servicemen played.

The Story of the Road will air on SBS at 4pm.

At 4:30pm, a live question and answer session involving Peter Spring, filmmakers Jacqueline Tonks and Claire Falkiner, and historian Dr Katti Williams will be streamed on Clothesline Content’s Facebook page – facebook.com/clotheslinecontent.