By the 1970s the global counter-culture movement had well and truly reached Australia, seeing young, educated hippies from well-to-do families moving to the Bellingen region to live an alternate lifestyle. Back then, Bellingen was a rundown, quiet country town with business in decline. Then, new ideas, new ways of living and a new status quo began to take control. What some called an influx of hippies, others called an invasion on the conservative lifestyle of farmers, causing a clash of ideals. Compiling countless hours of 8mm footage and historical photos, retired journo Peter Geddes and filmmaker Peter Gailley paint the historical landscape of how modern Bellingen came to be, following the cultural movement that eventually became the backbone of Bellingen’s identity.
"Utilising thousands of digitised frames from Geddes 8mm camera and intercutting the footage with the recollections of personalities from Bellos cultural revolution, the documentary highlights the energised spirit of the hippie movement and the pulsating creativity injected by the alternates..."
Read the full review here: http://screen-space.squarespace.com/reviews/2021/4/22/bellingen-the-promised-land.html