Dancing with the Devil

The biggest bushfire to ever hit Australia not only destroyed a hundred homes and a million hectares of bush (at 4138 square miles, an area bigger than Puerto Rico and almost the size of Delaware), it left fractured communities scattered in its wake, too. Dancing With The Devil meets the volunteer firefighters, the rural dreamers and ‘tree changers’ united by the fateful events on the fringes of Sydney during Australia’s ‘Black Summer.’ As a series of blazes merged together, a desperate ill-fated attempt to slow the ‘main’ fire by ‘backburning’ was carried out. What led to some communities being drawn together and others breaking at the seams?

In this 60 minute documentary, director Bill Code (The Lake of Scars, 2022) and writers/producers Bill and Sarah Allely (Brain on Nature podcast) explore what it means to be a resilient community in the face of untold natural disaster, supported by Mike Tilbrook's original score and the gripping news photography of Nick Moir (main picture, above).

Released locally and screened in town halls and galleries in Windsor, Colo Heights, St Albans and beyond in late 2024, Dancing With The Devil will also have a long-term screening space at the Dyarrubin gallery in Windsor, following a limited theatrical release in Feb/March 2025. Further distribution details will be released in early 2025. The film was funded with the support of a Black Summer Bushfire Recovery grant via Hawkesbury City Council's arts and culture team.

The Lake of Scars

A critically-acclaimed feature documentary on reconciliation and the environment. The Lake of Scars is available to watch on SBS On Demand and DocPlay in Australia.

This post is from 2022:

Huge news this week which we couldn't be more proud of; The Lake of Scars has been officially selected to show at the Antenna Festival in Sydney in 2022. It's the only Australian film selected to compete this year.

‘“A deeply moving, evocative and beautiful insight into how a battle to preserve timeless Indigenous culture found hope in a remarkable act of black and white conciliation.”

- Paul Daley, author and Guardian journalist.

Tickets are available here.

This film on environment, history, and allyship has been six years in the making and features a fantastic array of people; there's Dja Dja Wurrung elder Uncle Jack Charles telling the story, the passionate farmer and horticulturalist Paul Haw, Yung Balug elder Gary Wyrker Myrker Murray and daughter Ngarra Murray (both closely involved in production) and Jida Gulpilil, son of late and legendary actor David. Jida also produced a stirring score with acclaimed producer David Bridie.

Directed by Bill Code and produced by Bill and Christian Pazzaglia, the film will show twice in Sydney. Once on Sat 5th February at the Dendy in Newtown, and once on Sunday 13th February at the Palace Verona in Paddington.

Tickets are available here.

We hope you enjoy the film!

In a corner of Australia exists a place of astounding natural beauty, archaeological significance, and age-old culture. But the Indigenous scarred trees and artefacts found here are at risk – until an unlikely intergenerational partnership comes forth to save the site for future generations. The Lake of Scars tells a story of allyship, environmentalism and cultural rebirth; a picture of what reconciliation between Aboriginal and European Australians might look like. But is that idea harder than it seems?

Megablaze: Dancing With The Devil

Exciting news: Wedge-Tail Pictures' new documentary on the impact of the 2019/20 Gospers Mountain 'megafire' is close to release.

The biggest bushfire to ever hit Australia not only destroyed a hundred homes and a million hectares of bush (at 4138 square miles, an area bigger than Puerto Rico and almost the size of Delaware), it left fractured communities scattered in its wake, too. Dancing With The Devil meets the volunteer firefighters, the rural dreamers and ‘tree changers’ united by the fateful events on the fringes of Sydney during Australia’s ‘Black Summer.’ As a series of blazes merged together, a desperate ill-fated attempt to slow the ‘main’ fire by ‘backburning’ was carried out. What led to some communities being drawn together and others breaking at the seams?

Photo: Nick Moir, Nine Newspapers

Megablaze: Dancing With The Devil is directed by Bill Code, produced and written by Bill Code and Sarah Allely.

Supported by Hawkesbury Council and the Bushfire Recovery Grants program, Dancing With The Devil spends time with the

Illustrated with nail-biting mobile phone footage and the striking work of embedded news photographer Nick Moir and composer Mike Tilbrook, DancingW ith The Devil is a study of resilience in an age of climate uncertainty with some brave, charming, and unforgettable characters. Dancing With The Devil is director Bill Code’s follow up piece to2019’s critically-lauded The Lake of Scars, which received four stars in The Australian (David Stratton) and Sun Herald newspapers.

As the world’s attention fell on Australia, the communities of Bilpin, Colo Heights, Kurrajong and St Albans faced their worst nightmares; the slow encroachment of fires burning largely uncontrolled in a tinder dry wilderness. But since the fires, how have they pulled through? What lasting damage was wrought on relationships, and what has helped people cope? With impressive access to the volunteer firefighters who battled flames for months, Dancing With The Devil sits with those who lit the ‘backburns gone wrong’, as they process feelings of blame and the weight of being shunned by neighbours. At the same time, it takes stock of the pain of those who lost loved ones and lifelong dreams. With climatic events getting ever harder to predict, Dancing With The Devil is an aid to those seeking to build resilience in the face of almost unimaginable scenarios.