SYNOPSIS

An entire Australian rural town of 88 people disappears during an annual game of hide and seek. The only person remaining 6 years later - the seeker that was supposed to find them.

CO-DIRECTORS BIO ~ Tom K Goldie & Lachie Pasfield, Newcastle, NSW

Newcastle-based filmmakers Lachie Pasfield and Tom Goldie have been collaborators since meeting during their Media Production studies at the University of Newcastle, where they later completed Honours. United by a lifelong passion for storytelling and cinema, their work blends character-driven plots, dry humour, and bold visual storytelling.

Their debut short as co-directors 'No One Will Hear This' (2024) screened at numerous festivals including Screamfest in Hollywood's iconic Chinese Theatre, Canberra Short Film Festival, and Far South Film Festival, where it won Best Director and Best Actor awards. Their follow-up 'The Seeds of Supervention' (2025) earned the Festival Choice Award at the Very Short Film Festival and the Bega Cheese Award for Best Use of a Regional Location at Far South Film Festival.

With their third film '88 Gone: The True Story of a Hide and Seek Cult' (2026), they explore mockumentary and true crime satire while reaffirming their belief in the importance of original Australian stories and voices on screen.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

With '88 Gone: The True Story of a Hide and Seek Cult', we set out to make a film that takes a completely absurd idea - an entire town going missing during a game of hide and seek - and treats it with total seriousness. We’ve always loved the kind of filmmaking that elevates silliness into something sincere and emotionally resonant, as seen in the works of filmmakers like The Daniels and The Coen Brothers. The project was also inspired by our fascination with modern culture’s obsession with the over-dramatic, Netflix-style true crime format.

At its heart, '88 Gone: The True Story of a Hide and Seek Cult' is both a satire and a love letter to the genre. It pokes fun at our cultural fixation on mystery while aiming to draw audiences in emotionally through it's characters and the strange world around them. By approaching everything completely seriously, we found the dry humour we love most. The kind that comes from honesty and authenticity rather than exaggeration, and is emblematic of Australian and New Zealand comedies.

Making the film as a two-person team tested every aspect of our creativity and resourcefulness, but it also reaffirmed our belief that strong storytelling doesn’t rely on big budgets - it relies on passion and imagination. This film represents our commitment to telling original Australian stories that balance humour and heart, projects that entertain, surprise, and reflect who we are as a culture.