Lucky Miles

There are those who have made their mark on Australian history by blundering up on to beaches on the basis of bad advice; others have secured their place in legend by wandering around hopelessly lost in the desert. An Indonesian fishing boat abandons a group of Iraqi and Cambodian men on a remote part of the Western Australian coast. Told there is a bus over the dunes, the men are abandoned to a desert the size of Poland. While most are quickly rounded up, three men with little in common but their history of misfortune, elude capture and begin an epic but confused journey. They are searching for sanctuary, family, a way home or the myriad of other things that have always drawn people to such an unlikely place as Australia. Pursued by an army reservist unit more concerned with having a kick of the footy than with preserving the integrity of our borders, our three protagonists wander deeper into the desert, searching desperately among the harsh beauty of the Pilbara for a compassionate western democracy. Or at least a bus to Perth. Based on several true stories, Lucky Miles is the feature debut from Adelaide-born Michael James Rowland, who has been a filmmaker to watch since his Russian space film, Flying Over Mother. Celebrate the start of the festival with this wryly insightful take on one of Australia’s most contentious political issues.