Midnight Oil have had a long and fascinating career, equal parts controversial and influential, and it’s that story that will be told by a new documentary entitled Backburning when it releases next year.
The film has been financed by Screen Australia in a new round of funding, The Music reports, and is set to begin filming in the latter part of the year, to coincide with the band’s Australian tour dates in October as part of their ‘The Great Circle’ world tour.
Backburning will be written and directed by Paul Clarke, whose previous work includes 2012’s Abba: Bang-A-Boomerang and 2015’s The Sound Of Alberts, and will be produced by Martin Fabinyi and Carolina Sorensen, and executive-produced by Ron Saunders and Mikael Borglund.
Screen Australia announced that the film plans to focus on our country as much as the band itself, as befits a political act like Midnight Oil, and “will look at a changing nation through the eyes of the rock band”.
“It will tell the story of Midnight Oil who, with their uncompromising attitudes, brought political awareness to their music and influenced a whole generation, making them one of the most revered, hated and storied musical acts in Australian history”.
Interest in the band is at a peak in 2017 following the announcement of the band’s first world tour in over 15 years, which sold out almost instantly and sent ticket resale prices sky high.
As well as a new doco, fans can also get stuck into a career-spanning box set so big, it comes in its own water tank.
