See locally filmed wartime series on the big screen ahead of TV debut

Orange residents have the opportunity to have a sneak peek at the first three episodes of the locally filmed wartime drama series While The Men Are Away ahead of its television debut on September 27.

The eight-episode SBS Original was created and produced by local Orange production company Arcadia, and shot at locations across Orange, Millthorpe and Carcoar, including the beautiful heritage estate of “Ammerdown”, the iconic main street of Millthorpe and the idyllic “Rose Orchard”.

An irreverent, wry and witty reimagining of 1940s Australia, While The Men Are Away tells the story of the women left at home during World War II, while the men are fighting on the front lines.

And Orange gets the chance to see it first! Arcadia, in partnership with Orange Open Air, is hosting the Australian premiere of the series under the stars at See Saw Wines on Sunday, 24 September.

The screening will be free of charge and open to anyone over the age of 15. It’s a way to thank the community for their contributions to the series, on-screen and behind the scenes, said producer Lisa Shaunessy.

“It'll be a great night. I really hope everyone will come because there’s been so much support… it wasn't just extras, we had a lot of people who own and have lovingly restored vintage cars, who were on set for days driving their vehicles around for us.

“We shut down the main street of Millthorpe for five days... So there was a lot of support and little pockets of support that you would never think about.

“Ever cafe lent us some space at the back to store things… venues like See Saw, the Union Bank, the Agrestic Grocer opened up for us to do events, they were just all really generous. So many things!”

Since relocating to Orange three years ago, Arcadia have been looking out for opportunities to bring productions to the region, but While the Men Are Away was their first time actually filming in the central west.

“We're always looking to try and bring anything we can out here,” Lisa said. “It's certainly a consideration when we are picking up projects. Obviously, not everything can be shot here, but we do a bunch of post-production here.”

Almost all the post-production for While the Men Are Away was done in Orange as well as post-production on Arcadia’s previous films In Vitro, 2067, and the ACTA Award nominated Sissy.

And Lisa is positive about the future of building a regional film industry.

“So we've done a lot of film work out here and it would be great to build a hub,” Lisa said. “The longer we've been here, we're meeting more and more people who are involved in the film industry in some kind of way… and we definitely have a lot of interest from filmmakers, especially in New South Wales who go, okay, now there is a possibility of shooting regionally.

“During Covid, so many talented people moved out of the city and I think it's really just about how do we start to generate awareness around being able to work together from this whole central west region.

“I know there's a lot of filmmakers in the Blue Mountains and some really significant producers have moved into Portland, so there definitely can be more activity out here.”

While The Men Are Away may not yet have aired, but Arcadia is already busy preparing for its next production.

“We've optioned Maggie Beer and Stephanie Alexander's Tuscan Cookbook, which is a cookbook that they wrote after they ran the cooking school in Tuscany in 1997,” Lisa explained.

“Stephanie also wrote and published journals in the same year, so we've optioned those two books and we're working with Maggie and Stephanie to create a movie about those cooking schools and that time in their lives, which is really exciting!”

While the Arcadia team hope to be heading to Tuscany for some of the filming, they will also be looking for a few locations closer to home

“So if you know anybody that’s got farms that look like the rolling hills of Tuscany please give us a call!”

The Australian premiere of While The Men Are Away will take place under the stars at the See Saw Wines cellar door, 42 Lake Canobolas Road Nashdale, on Sunday, 24 September.

Gates open at 6pm. Arancia will be selling their wood fire pizza and See Saw wines will be available to purchase from the bar.

The screening will commence at 7pm with a short introduction by the creator Alexandra Burke, director Elissa Down (The Black Balloon), head writer and co-creator Kim Wilson (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Deadloch), and producer Lisa Shaunessy.

The first three episodes (26 minutes each) of the series will be shown.

Please BYO chairs and rugs. Strictly No BYO of other food and drink is allowed.

While The Men Are Away, will premiere on SBS on Wednesday, September 27. All eight, thirty-minute episodes will also be available to stream free on SBS On Demand, with double episodes to air at 8.30pm on SBS each Wednesday.