Thanks to funding from Screen Australia, Lightning Ridge could be hitting the screens once again, this time in a recently announced feature film titled Lightning Ridge. 

Screen Australia announced the project this week as one of 23 feature films and six television dramas that will share over $810,000 of story development funding. 

The thriller/crime film has been written by Wiradjuri author Tara June Winch, who despite living in France and growing up near Wollongong, spent a lot of time seeing family in Lightning Ridge. 

Her books have captured regional Australia through different storylines, with her second novel The Yield winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award, and later being optioned for screen. 

According to the synopsis, the film will be set back in the nineties:

‘There are places we go to disappear… other places disappear ourselves. In 1992, young Aboriginal woman Marlee arrives in Lightning Ridge, population unknown, with her daughter Lily in tow to solve the mystery of her sister’s disappearance. Serg, a migrant dreams of leaving. Marlee’s hunt for revenge and Serg’s quest for a ticket out entangle them in a criminal underworld of opal mining, where a gemstone is worth more than morals. For both to escape, they must pay debts neither know they owe.’  

The funding will be used towards story development, rather than the actual making of the films and TV series. 

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be supporting such a diverse array of TV drama and feature film projects in this latest development slate,” Screen Australia Head of Development Bobby Romia said. 

“All of these projects are driven by teams deeply connected to the content they’re creating, opening up new avenues for creative expression whilst championing new voices to tell their unique stories.”

The unique backdrop of Lightning Ridge has already been an inspiration and background in other films, including Strange Colours (2017) and Lightning Ridge (2017), as well as a location for tv show Outback Opal Hunters. 

While the black opal industry has already formed a strong basis for the town’s tourism industry, its new home on the screen has also given tourism numbers a boost. 

Shows like Outback Opal Hunters have even inspired many people to make the move to the mining town. 

No timeline has been announced for the film.