LOCALLY SHOT TV SERIES HITS THE SCREEN

By Tim Howard

Clarence Valley residents will need to keep their eyes peeled to pick up local scenery and faces in a new television series partially shot in the area, which aired for the first time this week.

Some of the shooting of the television series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart took place in South Grafton, Southgate and Ulmarra early last year.

South Grafton’s iconic Post Office Hotel was converted into the Bluff Hotel and residents took in the conversion of their “local” into a Northern Territory watering hole. Hotel publican Terry Kelly said a few people had reminded him in recent days the show was about to air.

“It was that long ago, I hadn’t given it a thought until a few people brought it up in the last few days,” he said.

“It was quite an eyeopener to see what they had to do for about seven minutes of footage.”

An old timber house on a sugar cane farm near the ferry at Southgate was used for a number of scenes in the seven-hour mini-series.

And the streetscape of

Ulmarra was turned into a Victorian town for the purposes of the drama.

Filming for the show began in October 2021 and continued around NSW and the Northern Territory until late last year.

The show stars Hollywood superstar Sigourney Weaver and Australian acting bigwigs Asher Keddie and Leah Purcell.

The Lost Flowers of whose violent childhood casts a dark shadow over her adult life.

After a family tragedy in which she loses both her abusive father and beloved mother in a mysterious fire, nine-year-old Alice is taken to live with her grandmother June on a flower farm, where she learns that there are secrets within secrets about her and her family’s past.

Alice Hart is an adaption of Aussie author Holly Ringland’s 2018 novel that tells the story of a young girl, Alice Hart,

Set against Australia’s breathtaking, natural landscape, and with native wildflowers and plants providing a way to express the inexpressible, this building to an emotional climax as Alice finds enthralling family drama spans decades, as Alice grows from a child into a woman. Her journey is epic and visceral, herself fighting for her life against a man she loves.

Carey plays the title role, with Frankie Adams, Alexander England, Charlie Vickers), Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Alyla Browne as young Alice.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is produced by Made Up Stories, Amazon Studios and Endeavor Content.

As well as the main stars Alycia Debnam-

The first three shows of the series launched exclusively on Prime Video in Australia on August 4 and a new episode will screen weekly.