Free screenings recount phenomenal weather event

THE impacts of the freak cool climate cyclone that swept through Blackwood and the wider region five years ago make for gripping viewing.

A new documentary, Windfall, captures those impacts, and following the success of its premiere screening in Blackwood the film is about to screen free of charge at both Ballan and Bacchus Marsh libraries on Thursday 24 July.

As part of the tour supported by Moorabool Shire Council, the film will first be presented at a private screening for Moorabool Shire’s councillors and executive team before continuing with the public screenings in the libraries.

The film has been created through a collaboration between local volunteers, community members and professional filmmakers, with its director Bendan Hehir based in Blackwood.

The town’s Jinny Coyle is also a member of the film’s production and marketing team and said the response from audiences at initial screenings – including one in Trentham – has exceeded all expectations.

“We have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback and enthusiasm from the community,” she said.

“Every screening has generated wonderful conversations, with people sharing their own memories of the storm and its aftermath.

A scene from Windfall, the new documentary that records the impacts of the cyclonic weather event in the Wombat Forest and wider Blackwood area. Photo: Brendan Hehir.

“We’ll continue sharing Windfall with local audiences wherever there’s interest, because every screening sparks new conversations and new memories.”

Audience member Fiona Ross, whose local property was damaged during the storm, summed up the feelings of many who have attended the screenings to date.

“Compelling, moving and beautifully put together,” Ross said.

“I had high expectations based on all the feedback I’d heard, and it is every bit as good as people have been saying.”

As the Windfall Local Screening Tour continues this month, the team that created it, including Hehir and Coyle, is also looking well beyond the region.

Windfall has been submitted to the 2026 Byron Bay International Film Festival and there are plans to enter a number of other Australian film festivals in 2027, including the St Kilda Film Festival, Castlemaine Documentary Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival.

On Thursday 24 July it’s set to screen at Bacchus Marsh’s Lerderderg Library from 3.30pm to 4.30pm, and at the Ballan Library from 6pm to 7pm.