Baz Luhrmann's 2008 movie 'Australia' catapulted the north Queensland town of Bowen onto the international stage. The film is now being re-imagined as a miniseries, and locals hope it'll help 'Bowenwood' reach even greater audiences.
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00:00 It's been 16 years since Hollywood came to the tropics.
00:06 I love being here in Bowen. I'll never forget it. My family will never forget it.
00:10 My son wants us to live here full time.
00:12 Baz Luhrmann's wartime epic Australia transformed Bowen's waterfront into 1940s Darwin.
00:19 Locals were cast as extras and the film's stars, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, attracted the eyes of the world.
00:27 To walk around the little village they had built, to covering the roads with red dirt and coming down on a Sunday afternoon
00:35 and watching a hundred head of longhorn cows being trained how to run around the town down your main street, it was unbelievable.
00:44 Ben DeLuca owns the local cinema and was responsible for showing the day's rushes to the cast and crew.
00:51 They'd say, "Oh, how did you get up at four o'clock every day and go put them on?"
00:57 I'd say, "It was great fun, you know? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
01:02 While the Hollywood production left an indelible mark on this coastal town,
01:06 locals are excited by the prospect of a second chance to showcase Bowen to the world.
01:12 It's probably a whole new generation that can come and have a look where the movie was made.
01:16 Mel Jokheim still treasures her time with the stars who visited her pie shop.
01:21 They've become like a family, living with them for six months.
01:25 Far Away Downs premieres this weekend.
01:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]