Hollywoodlands

Historic Tassie town transformed for upcoming period thriller

STAND aside Hollywood — it’s Oatlands’ turn to sparkle under the lights, camera and action.

The historic Midlands town has been transformed into a movie set for the filming of an upcoming period thriller.

The town is a frenzy of activity as about 70 cast and crew from The Nightingale swing into action.

A section of the town’s main street, High St, has been closed to traffic and prop-makers have refashioned roads and shopfronts to early 19th century perfection.

The period thriller, written and directed by Jennifer Kent, is set in Tasmania in the 1820s and is about a convict woman who seeks revenge for the murder of her family.

The cast includes English actor Sam Claflin, from the Hunger Games movies, Irish actor Aisling Franciosi, from

The Fall and Game of Thrones, and Australians Ewen Leslie and Damon Herriman.

Oatlands was selected as a backdrop for the period film because of its authentic heritage buildings, but crew have been at work for a couple of weeks to hide all signs of mod- ernity. Actors are donning bonnets, horses and bullocks are being led down the street and shopfronts are lined with hay and barrels.

Southern Midlands Mayor Tony Bisdee said many truckloads of gravel had been placed on the road to hide the bitumen, electric street lights had been removed and faux stone walls have gone up.

“It’s just a hive of activity here,” Cr Bisdee said.

“The town is looking fantastic, and everyone is showing a lot of pride in their town.”

Cr Bisdee said the cast and crew had booked out all the nearby accommodation and many locals had landed jobs helping out.

He said Oatlands was the perfect backdrop for historic films, with unsightly overhead power lines buried underground in the late 1990s.

“Only a few days ago another film company approached council about filming here,” he said.

Oatlands Stables Restaurant owner Susan Blaxell said her building, though already historic, had been given a transformation and renamed the “general store” for the movie.

“You wouldn’t know it was the same building,” she said.

Ms Blaxell said the preparation in the town had taken a couple of weeks, with incredible attention to detail.

With the action taking place directly in front of her cafe, Ms Blaxell said many actors were coming in to warm up by her fire after filming in the cold.