A documentary on the life of the late ANZAC and Battle of Crete veteran, Alf Carpenter, has won ‘Best Short Documentary’ at the Mykonos International Film Festival.
Second Generation ANZAC – The Story of Alf Carpenter was produced by Australian charity This Story Australia prior to Alf’s passing in September this year at the age of 105.
In the documentary, Alf spoke of his early life in Wagga Wagga, friendships, marriage and going to war. Alf described his journey through Northern Africa to Greece and on to Heraklion to defend Crete.
Alf’s personal diary entries are also interspersed throughout the documentary. They are narrated by Australia’s favourite contemporary poet, Rupert McCall OAM.
The Founder and Executive Producer at This Story Australia, Jeff Hughes, first decided to document Alf’s life after speaking with Australian author, Deborah Wheeler.
Alf had provided the foreword for her book ‘Silk Clouds and Olive Trees – Tales from the Battle of Crete,’ and she thought his personal stories needed to be preserved in documentary form.
In a statement to The Greek Herald, Deborah says she was “ecstatic” to find out Alf’s documentary had won in the Mykonos International Film Festival.
“It’s mind blowing, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” Deborah says.
“I was ecstatic to think that a conversation with a man I didn’t know on the side of a road could lead me on a journey to writing my book and meeting Alf and later, the documentary.
“Alf was able to see the documentary and he was chuffed… To know we’ve won is the icing on the cake, especially since Alf passed away last year.”
