The Go-Betweens - Right Here uncovers the intensely passionate, creative and fraught relationships behind one of the most loved and influential bands in Australian rock history.

It is a heartfelt story of discovery, uncovering the intensely passionate, creative and fraught relationships that formed one of the most loved and influential bands in Australian rock history. It is also the universal story of a great creative adventure that spanned three decades, through countless successes, failures, romances, break-ups, betrayals, triumphs and tragedies. The Go-Betweens - Right Here is a compelling investigation into the exhilarating, unpredictable and precarious lives of musicians, that reveals the true price paid by them to pursue their art.

The Go-Betweens - Right Here doesn’t assume knowledge of the band or their music, rather it offers an evolving revelation of them that truthfully exposes all the highs, the lows, the joy, the pain, the sorrow and the beauty of being in a cult band and of trying to survive the harsh and brutal realities of an exploitative music industry.

Unflinching, insightful and at times painfully honest, the film tells the story of The Go-Betweens from the inside out, from the people who lived it and from those whose lives were transformed by it.

KRIV STENDERS, THE DIRECTOR, SAID:

"On May 6th 2006, on a Saturday afternoon while preparing a housewarming party, singer/songwriter Grant McLennan died of a heart attack. He was 48 years old. His tragic death also brought an end to one of Australia’s greatest musical partnerships. Grant McLennan and Robert Forster, the founding members of seminal Brisbane band The Go-Betweens, had been close friends and collaborators for 30 years. Their body of work across countless group and solo albums is now recognised around the world as some of the greatest ever created in this country.

They are Australia’s own “Lennon and McCartney” and the legacy they and their fellow band members forged through the late 70s, 80s and into the 2000s has now become the stuff of rock music legend.

This is a story of high drama, conflict and passion and as it unfolds, we discover how relationships - both creative and romantic - are continually tested, challenged, remolded and some cases destroyed. In Robert we reveal a man who finally learns how to survive and reconcile himself with the ephemeral nature of fame and success, whilst in Grant we discover a man with a ferocious talent, who struggles with inner demons and emotions that eventually begin to consume him. And in Lindy Morrison and Amanda Brown - who were both also in romantic relationships with Robert and Grant respectively - we get a profoundly moving insight into their, as yet never told, side of the story, and of their fight to be recognised as musicians in their own right.

My ambition was to make an emotionally immersive documentary that explored the nature of memory, recollection and the past, and how we all remember in our own uniquely personal ways. While the band members guide us through an intimate and cinematic journey into their pasts, running in parallel and woven within these at times provocative and contradictory accounts, are conversations and interviews with various friends, collaborators and contemporaries of the band. These openly candid interviews, along with rare archival photographs, film, music recordings and impressionistic re-enactments combine to create a rich, continually evolving collage of image, sound and emotion. Rather than shooting straight “on camera” interviews as per standard documentary convention, I chose to shoot the interviews as a series of intimate conversations, or dialogues where the subjects talk, exchange and express themselves like characters in a film, dramatically interacting with and reacting to each other. This evolving gallery of characters draws out candid responses that examine, question and reflect how each of them fit into the story of the band and how their relationships formed, developed and in come cases ended.

The cast of characters in this evolving “court of inquiry” includes original band members Peter Milton Walsh, Lindy Morrison, Robert Vickers, Amanda Brown and John Willsteed, as well as artists Steve Kilby, Paul Kelly, Ed Kuepper, Dave Graney and Mick Harvey - musicians who have all collaborated, played with or worked along side the band across their 30 year career. A series of recurring locations that echo or are inspired by imagery and elements from iconic Go-Betweens songs and album covers were used to stage these conversations as a framing device. Some of these exchanges are confessional, some anecdotal, others nostalgic, some candid, some even confrontational. In fact these are performances of a kind, in which stories are told, lies and truths revealed and differing perspectives and opinions argued as they are continually juxtaposed."

"STENDERS HAS MADE AN EMOTIONAL, ROLLING THUNDER OF A FILM, ONE THIS EXTRAORDINARY BAND DESERVES" - The Guardian

For more indie rock (with a bunch of indie luminaries in it ) check https://www.backbeatdocs.com/1234 or more Aussie rock https://www.backbeatdocs.com/radio-birdman-descent-into-the-maelstrom

Director: Kriv Stenders
Producer: Joe Weatherstone

Featuring: Robert Forster, Lindy Morrison, Mark Callaghan, Clinton Walker, Damian Nelson

Running Time: 95 mins