Tim Winton

A pair of teenagers in Western Australia looking to escape the monotony of life in a small town take up surfing lessons from a guy named Sando.

Seventeen talented Australian directors from diverse artistic disciplines each create a chapter of the hauntingly beautiful novel by multi award-winning author Tim Winton. The linking and overlapping stories explore the extraordinary turning points in ordinary people’s lives in a stunning portrait of a small coastal community. As characters face second thoughts and regret, relationships irretrievably alter, resolves are made or broken, and lives change direction forever.

Perched on the edge of the continental shelf, 300km from the Australian mainland lies Scott Reef. This ancient coral atoll, isolated for millions of years from other reef systems and mainland influences, has developed its own sub populations of unique species. Formed more than 15 million years ago Scott Reef is home to more than 1200 species including endangered seas snakes, green turtles and spectacular corals. Endangered pygmy whales and other rare cetaceans stop at Scott Reef on their annual migrations to feed on the abundant krill. It is one of only a few spots along the west coast of Australia where krill can be found in sufficient quantities to replenish the needs of these large creatures. But Scott Reef is under threat.

THE EDGE OF THE WORLD gives a unique insight into the work of Tim Winton, one of Australia’s finest authors. By 1998, when this film was made, Winton had already won the Miles Franklin Award twice (for Shallows, 1984 and Cloudstreet, 1992) and been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for The Riders (1995). In THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, shot partly on the magnificent coast and hinterland of Australia’s north-west, Winton talks frankly about his work, his influences and what drives him.

A pair of teenagers in Western Australia looking to escape the monotony of life in a small town take up surfing lessons from a guy named Sando.