The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey

‘The Ghan’ is an innovative three-hour documentary that takes the viewer on an immersive, visually stunning journey on Australia’s most iconic passenger train.

In Australia’s first ‘Slow TV’ documentary, ‘The Ghan’ doesn’t just travel through the heart of Australia, from Adelaide to Darwin; ‘The Ghan’ explores the part it played in the foundation of modern multicultural Australia.

Using graphics and archival imagery, ‘The Ghan’ reveals the story of how the construction of the transcontinental Ghan line, the subsequent development of central Australia and the growth of Port Augusta, Alice Springs and Darwin are due to the contributions of local Aboriginal surveyors and early immigrants – European navvies, Afghan cameleers and Chinese coolies.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of vast landscapes shot from multiple fixed-rig cameras rigged on The Ghan, as well as from the air by a chopper and from the ground as this one-kilometre-long hulking train powers through Australia’s epic Red Centre.

The storylines reflect the history of The Ghan – from the establishment of Australia’s first mosque in Maree in the 1860s to the protests against Chinese workers, which helped the political push for the White Australia policy in 1901, and the bombing of Darwin in 1942 and how the rail route between Adelaide and Darwin became central to the allies’ defence strategy against the Japanese.

At its core, ‘The Ghan’ is an immersive experience, predominantly visual and sensual, taking viewers from suburban Adelaide through the Red Centre and into the lush tropical Top End. Along the route, ‘The Ghan’ sprinkles surprising stories about the people who built a track that took 127 years to complete across 2979 kilometres of desert land.

  Documentary

clock2 1 episode; 180 minutes

calendar TBC

flyer Flyer

  Rights-Holder: Flame Media


FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
THE GHAN: AUSTRALIA’S GREATEST TRAIN JOURNEY