"Forty years later"

Back to the Back of Beyond

Film-maker John Heyer recounts to fellow film-maker Pat Jackson his film career, especially his award-winning film from 1954, the Australian classic Back of Beyond. At the same time as the two friends are in conversation the "original" Tom Kruse, outback mailman and the subject of Heyer's film, is retracing his journey of over 40 years before across the inland desert of Australia to bring the mail to the isolated people along the 325 mile stock-route from Queensland to South Australia. Heyer's importance to Austraian cinema is acknowledged and we get to see him as a person away from the camera too as he chats and travels across Europe with his friend.