WALK WITH US - A KOKODA DOCUMENTARY CROWD FUND
Walk With Us is a documentary that follows a group of men from different walks of life as they come together for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to conquer the iconic Kokoda Trail and raise awareness about the battles of men's mental health.
Together they will train, prepare and conquer the infamous trail in the footsteps of the Diggers that came before them.
WATCH THE PREVIEW HERE:
It is our mission to create a film to inspire those going through trying times by exploring the values of the Australian Diggers of Kokoda; courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice.
We will explore these words and what they can mean to people in their own private mental health battles. We aim to set an example by showing not only the challenges and struggles of the physical journey, but also pulling back the curtain and showing the vulnerable sides of each man. Our goal is to show strength through vulnerability and inspire those who need it to reach out and seek help.
This film aims to reach those who might need help and to show that, no matter what you are going through, there will always be someone to pull you up and help you along whatever journey you are facing.
The logistics of bringing this film to life require a community of support. All camera and audio equipment must be battery-powered and carried with us through Kokoda’s harsh terrain.
We will be shooting across eight days with seven different cameras. These cameras will be running all day and sometimes during the night. This means the power supply needed to keep our cameras and microphones charged is astronomical. We are anticipating needing over 150 various batteries alone, most of which are very expensive and very heavy.
Your donation will allow us to acquire the equipment we need and ensure it's maintained throughout the entire process. It will also allow us to employ local porters (descendants from the Fuzzy Wuzzies who aided the Diggers during the war) and inject much-needed funds into their local economies, communities and families.
Our cast and crew are not being paid to do this. We are making no money from what is donated. Each team member has funded their own travel arrangements. Your funds are purely to make the production of this film possible.
There are already some great documentaries about walking the trail. However, we want to take the exploration further by showing both the physical journey of walking the trail and the journey within. We want to make a film that goes deeper into the mental and emotional battle of walking Kokoda.
To film this, and to do so in true, raw and honest detail, we will be attaching a camera and a wireless microphone to our main cast to capture every moment of their journey. We will also have two cinematographers accompanying us with cinema-style cameras to document Kokoda as no film has before.
This will allow us to capture every moment of our journey; the highs and the lows, plus the smaller, private moments most films can’t capture.
We aren’t looking to dramatise or fake anything for entertainment value.
We actually need closer to $50,000! However, $20,000 is the minimum required for the equipment to make this film possible.
One V-lock battery costs around $450. We estimate we need at least 20 of them to keep our cameras and microphones powered across eight days (equating to $9,000 in batteries alone).
We also need over 100 Go Pro batteries to keep the cast cameras running all day, plus a large SD card - per day, per camera, not to mention five waterproof microphones which are also super expensive.
We also need to consider waterproof bags for each item, insurance, transit and the fee for porters to travel with us across 96kms of some of the world's harshest terrain.
It will take an army to make this film which is why anything you can donate is immensely appreciated.