The Worlds Longest Locked Down State, Victoria, Australia.
Why did this Government take such aggressive action in their response to the pandemic?
Battleground Melbourne charts the fall of the World’s Most Liveable City, through the eye’s of those who risked everything to save it.
We've been called every name you can imagine, the media, politicians, and the 'I stand with Dan' crowd have used every baseless slur you can imagine, and probably many you can't, to try and shame us and shut us down.
And Victoria Police went on an 18 month rampage of repression, unlawful arrests, and widespread intimidation in order to silence us.
This feature-length documentary is presented from the perspective of the protestors and their supporters, to address many of the baseless smears and lazy attacks from Government, Police, and Media alike, and ensure that the people of Melbourne who stood up for Human Rights when it mattered most cannot simply be erased from history.
Topher Field is a leading Australian libertarian political commentator, human rights activist, and film maker. Topher has been selected as a finalist in Tropfest and the Austin Film Festival, and is a winner of the ‘Libertarian Activist of the Year’ award.
After being introduced to film and TV as a child, Topher worked his way through the ranks as a camera operator and editor before studying acting, and then migrating to writing and directing. Along the way Topher became a well known Australian Political Commentator, but 12 years as a political commentator, Topher is now best known for his work since March 2020 when his home city of Melbourne began down the path to becoming the most locked down city on earth and descended into shocking scenes of police brutality and government oppression which have been seen around the world.
Topher began speaking out at the first anti-lockdown protest in April 2020 with just 70 people in attendance, and is still fighting today and speaking at protests with in excess of 450,000 people.
For his work standing up for basic human rights, Topher has been harrassed by police in his home, physically assaulted at protests, and finally arrested and charged by the Victorian Government with the trumped up charge of ‘incitement’, a charge intended for use against terrorist masterminds which is now being put to work against political commentators and human rights activists in Victoria.
Topher describes himself as ‘Pro Human, Pro Freedom, Pro Individualism’, is best known for his videos and for his speeches at protests and now for the feature documentary Battleground Melbourne. Topher lives by the motto: “Good people break bad laws”.
Official Website: https://battlegroundmelbourne.com
Running time: 1h 45min
Shooting Format: Black Magic 6k
Rating: M (Adult themes, Drug References, Violence, Course Language)
Movie Credits (due to the political nature of the documentary many credits are ‘Anonymous’):
Director – Topher Field, Producer – Anonymous, Director of Photography – Anonymous, Gaffer – Anonymous, Sound Recordist – Anonymous, Lead Editor – Anonymous, Assistant Editor – Anonymous, Composer – Jared Haschek, Assistant Producer – Carly Soderstrom, Lead Researcher – Millie Fontana, Makeup – Danielle Johnstone, Colourist – Anonymous, Titles – Anonymous, Audio Master – Domenic Pernasilici, Set Carpenter – ‘EJ’.
Interviewees (in order of appearance):
Craig Backman, Topher Field, Millie Fontana, Avi Yemeni, Krystal Mitchell, Jerkuei ‘Jerry’ Anyuon, Anonymous Organiser #1, Tanya Kouzman, Monica Smit, Daniel Turner, Paolo, Hannah Seymour, David Limbrick MP, Emily Coltraine, Markiyan Melnychenko, Anonymous Organiser #2, Rukshan Fernando, Catherine Cummings MP, Caroline McDaid, Aaron Warner, and Stephan Horvat
Battleground Melbourne Press Kit
https://battlegroundmelbourne.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Battleground-Melbourne-Press-Kit.pdf
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tVQi5p18WavEnzmR-g_pdbp8fCRWZBJM
Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/battlegroundmelbourne
