Aussie filmmaker tackles mental health in debut film
Self-taught filmmaker Leila McDougall brings rural mental health struggles to light through a powerful drama screening soon in Adelaide.
Leila McDougall never intended to become a filmmaker. With no background in acting or film production, the rural mental health advocate found herself at the helm of a feature film production on her farm in Tatyoon, Victoria, bringing a cast and crew of 60 people to her property for a seven-week shoot.
“Had I known how hard it was going to be, I probably would never have started,” McDougall said.
Yet her persistence resulted in the award-winning Just A Farmer, a heartbreaking but beautiful story that captures what life is like for farmers in Australia.
The compelling film delves into their often-overlooked lives, revealing their resilience, sacrifices and pivotal role in sustaining our nation’s food security.
With much of South Australia currently in a prolonged drought, it is a particularly important film to help people understand the challenges of farm life, as well as being a conversation starter about the mental health challenges faced by farmers.
Just A Farmer emerged from McDougall’s longstanding commitment to mental health advocacy.
Together with her husband, she has run a non-profit called Live Rural for over a decade, organising Mellow In The Yellow events on their canola farm to raise funds for mental health initiatives in their local community.
“I’ve grown up surrounded by poor mental health,” McDougall said.
“My dad was very good at managing his bipolar. He’s probably a very good role model in that area.”
Personal experience further fuelled her dedication to the cause – her husband’s uncle took his own life.
“Seeing the lack of good mental health in our farming communities and the way that people deal with it, we thought, how can we better prepare our community for the hard times and help them navigate it?”
When COVID prevented the couple from holding their usual community events, McDougall took a bold step.
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“We’re possibly preaching to the converted with what we do. We’re telling other farmers about mental health … so, it was like, how can we reach a wider audience?”
She decided the answer was a movie, and despite having no formal training, she drew on her lifelong passion for film.
“Being dyslexic, I didn’t read books growing up; films are how I learned a lot about the world,” she said.
The story “swirled around” in her head for about a year before she wrote the script in a burst of inspiration.
When she took it to producers, no one would take it on or back her as an inexperienced unknown, so she and her husband, Sean, put in their own funding.
AFI-award winning actor Simon Lyndon came on as the director, and cinematographer Gavin Head also joined the project.
While it was never McDougall’s intention to get in front of the camera, Lyndon persuaded her to take on a leading role as Alison, alongside seasoned actors Robert Taylor as her father-in-law Owen, Joel Jackson as Alec, Susan Prior as Kathryn, Trevor Jamieson as Pat and Damien Walshe-Howling as Oliver.
Creating a feature film from scratch proved monumentally challenging.
The seven-week shoot transformed their farm into a busy production hub with dozens of crew and cast members on-site daily.
“It was absolute chaos,” McDougall said.
“My poor husband was filming through the day and then farming at night.
“I’d be filming all day and then scheduling and getting things ready for the next day, and then also helping with cooking.
“I’m probably not really good at practising what I preach – there were times where I just felt like I had a massive weight on me.
“I now understand that concept, that weight on your shoulders, because I actually felt it.”
After the shoot, McDougall immersed herself in every aspect of production: sitting in with the editor and the director, working with the sound team and composer, and handling distribution.
Her determination stemmed partly from industry scepticism.
“Being a first-time filmmaker, no one really believed that I could do it,” she said.
“I had to learn everything and just adapt – sink or swim, and I wasn’t going to sink!”
When the film was completed, McDougall opted for community screenings rather than immediately pursuing streaming platforms.
“We’ve just noticed that’s where the biggest impact is,” she said.
“It would be easy just to put it on a streaming platform and off it goes, but that’s not necessarily what’s going to have the impact.”
These screenings have become transformative events, with mental health professionals from local communities attending and helping audience members identify support networks close to home.
“It’s better if they [the audience] know who is in their community,” McDougall said.
The State Government in partnership with Primary Producers SA will host a special screening of the film on April 9 at the Capri Theatre in Goodwood.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring McDougall and other special guests, diving into the film’s themes of resilience, mental health and the tight-knit nature of farming communities.
Screenings held across Australia have revealed the film’s power to foster meaningful dialogue.
“It’s quite a magical experience,” McDougall said.
“[The audience] goes on this journey with the family and becomes quite vulnerable – after the film, the conversations that come out are deeper than any conversations I’ve ever seen in in a public forum.”
While Just A Farmer tells a story set in rural Australia, McDougall emphasised its wider relevance.
“It’s a universal story told through the lens of a farming family,” she said.
“The mental health messages and the things that are happening there are universal.
“It’s not just what farmers go through; it’s what everyone would go through if it happened to their family.”
McDougall hopes audiences will take away a renewed appreciation for community connection and encourage people to have tough conversations, including those about mental health.
“Because sometimes that conversation can be the difference between someone being here and not,” she said.
“If you notice something, just be brave enough to talk.”
Just A Farmer screens at the Capri Theatre on Wednesday, 9 April at 6.30pm.
All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Rural Business Support Relief Fund to support mental health and wellbeing programs for rural families experiencing tough times.
The event is funded through the State Government’s Connecting Communities Program, part of a broader drought support package.
For more information and tickets, visit the Rural Business Support website.
