A story of family and estrangement set amid the alien landscape of Australia’s opal mines.

Melina is making the 18-hour bus journey to be with her estranged, ailing father. He’s one of the lost, lonely men who hunt for black opals, deep in the Australian outback. She’s not entirely sure why she’s there, or why she stays, but as Melina is drawn ever further into the community, she discovers that there’s more to these men than she first assumed – and perhaps even more to herself.

A compelling and unique drama, where most of the characters are played by actual opal miners, Strange Colours is the assured, visually gorgeous feature debut from writer/director Alena Lodkina (who explored similar ground in her MIFF 2017 short documentary Lightning Ridge: The Land of Black Opals, which party inspired this film). Developed through the Venice Film Festival's Biennale College, Lodkina has made an effortless transition to feature filmmaking, producing a hypnotic dusky reverie, filled with quiet grace and power, that revels in the unique landscape of the Australian outback.