SYNOPSIS

Will Swan is a Djiringanj man of the Yuin Nation on the far south coast of Australia's eastern seaboard. He and his wife Bec, daughter Kaya, and son Jerry are fishing at their local lake, cooking their catch over an open fire the traditional way.

City couple Harriet and Max Cook arrive with their son Joel, setting up their picnic at a careful distance from the Swan family. But when Joel is drawn to the warmth of the fire, he strikes up an instant bond with Jerry — and the two boys slip away together on an adventure.

When Harriet and Max discover Joel is gone, panic sets in. With no choice but to approach the Swan family, they make hesitant, awkward contact — outsiders suddenly dependent on people they had kept at arm's length. Out of their depth and far from everything familiar, they must confront not just their fear for Joel's safety, but the assumptions and distance they brought with them.

What begins as a family day out becomes an unexpected reckoning - one that will change the Cooks forever.

DIRECTOR BIO

Yuin Djirringanj Elder Warren Foster Snr is the founder of traditional dance troupe the Gulaga Dancers. He is a Co-Director and Co-Writer on LOST. Warren was given the lyrebird as his totem after his elders recognised that his path would include singing, dancing and performance. Warren has performed lead roles in two feature-length screen projects and has also featured on TV in Sydney Weekender and River Cottage Australia. As a Director Warren co-directed documentary "Yuwinj Dhari-Bulwal- Yuin Stand Strong", which won the Best Use of a Regional Location Award at the Far South Film Festival 2021. In 2024. Warren organised and was the main co-ordinator for Yuin Birriga Bunaan and was also the Indigenous Artistic Director for the Cobargo Folk Festival.

Jane Gordon is a Teacher/Actor/Writer/Director. She has written three full-length feature films: "The Elephant Whisperer", "The Story of Pat Thompson", and "Collision", written for and about the disadvantaged youth she worked with in Bega. After further development of ‘Collision,’ it has been retitled "Cool Burn". She is Co-Writer and Co-Director on LOST, with Warren Foster Snr.
Jane has also just published the first three books in her series of children’s books titled ‘Charley the Cheeky Echidna Series.: ‘Charley Goes Out,’ ‘Charley Meets a New Friend,’ and ‘Charley Learns to Swim.’

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

Warren:
The reason why we came up with this film concept is to help people’s awareness and to bring together two cultures that wouldn’t normally mingle. The film brings two families and two cultures together.
I wanted to create and direct this film because it’s important getting our stories out and connecting with people in that way. We need to tell our own stories and make films with our stories in it because then we are in control of the narrative that gets told.
We filmed this on country with an all Far South Coast crew and cast, involving our local communities, indigenous and non-indigenous.

Jane:
What motivated me to embark on this film journey originally was my work with disadvantaged youth on the streets of Bega. In getting to know them I connected with their families, their lives and found myself writing my third feature film script hoping to fund a Youth Centre.
Some of the youth involved were indigenous, and I needed a collaborator. Warren Foster Snr and I then worked on developing the film together. He too recognised that it was time for both black and white to walk together into the future, side by side.
Our concept was, ‘Listening is connecting.’ So based on that we wrote this short film titled, ‘LOST.’ We felt this story, brought to life by a cross-cultural cast and crew, expressed the vision we had hoped for.
Hopefully, the experience of creating this short film will give us the courage to continue with the feature.