Vacant possession

Following her mother’s death, Tessa returns to Australia and to her family home, a sun bleached weatherboard adjacent to Botany Bay. She confronts the collected debris of memory; the fears, the tears and the spectre of the father who forced her flee. Tessa’s home is close to that of an Aboriginal family she knew as a child. During her 20 year absence the nation has changed but not that house. In confronting her father, both the real and the remembered amidst the remains of the old home, the past and present collide in a maelstrom of unexpected ramifications. A brooding and atmospheric piece of cinema, Margot Nash’s first feature is an ambitious drama addressing hearth and place, rememberance and regret in a contemporary setting. Starring Pamela Rabe, John Stanton, Toni Scanlon, Linden Wilkinson, Rita Bruce and Olivia Patten.