A SHORT film shot in Shepparton and produced by Goulburn Valley production company, Bush Lit Productions, has been released.
Bush Lit Productions founder, Andrew Furphy, has put online for free viewing his latest short film, Furphy – The Water Cart and the Word.
Andrew is the great-grandson of John Furphy, the inventor of the Furphy Water Cart and whose brother was Australian writer Joseph Furphy, famously known as Tom Collins.
Andrew was the fourth-generation Furphy to head the J Furphy and Sons metal fabrication business, which was established in 1864. His passion for Australian literary heritage and his own family history saw a recent push into film making.
The film, starring local talents, links three young men at the beginning of World War One to the origins of a ‘Furphy’, and the relationship between tall stories told in a time of limited communications and the part the Furphy Water Cart played in circulating unofficial news.
Andrew’s granddaughter, Harriet Furphy, narrates the historical journey of the word ‘Furphy’, which is now mostly used by politicians and the media, which some might say is appropriate.
The film was adapted from the book of the same name, written by Andrew and Emeritus Professor of English at La Trobe University, John Barnes.
The premiere of the dramatised documentary film was put on hold when COVID-19 cancelled the Shepparton Festival earlier in the year.
With no events or gatherings in the near foreseeable future, Andrew and his production team believe now would be a perfect time to release this truly Australian story.
To watch the film, go to www.bushlitproductions.com.au/furphy-the-water-cart-and-the-word
