New Midnight Oil doco to premiere this year
Nearly two years after their final tour, a new documentary detailing Midnight Oil’s incredible story is set to premiere this year.
Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line will premiere on the opening night of the Sydney Film Festival on 5 June at the State Theatre, and will feature unheard interviews with every band member, as well as unseen live and studio footage.
“We are thrilled to present Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line as the opening film for this year’s Sydney Film Festival,” said Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley.
“This documentary not only chronicles the formidable journey of one of Australia’s most influential bands but also captures the spirit of an era that reshaped our cultural and political landscapes. It’s a fitting tribute to their legacy and a profound reflection on their impact that continues to inspire audiences around the world.”
Oils drummer Rob Hirst added: “With strong management, a tough crew and a sabre-tooth lawyer, bands can often dwell in a kind of mobile Faraday cage – the lightning striking all around, while the musicians remain high and dry in a studio, on a stage or wedged inside a Tarago. Thus it was for Midnight Oil: rarely were we able to focus on the horizon and see the ‘Big Picture’, if there was such a thing.
“So a film such as The Hardest Line is as much a revelation as a chronicle. Perhaps at last we can frame the last 50 years, make some collective sense of it, wrap it in a box marked ‘the Luckiest Band Ever.’”
Pic by Andrzej Liguz
The news comes after frontman Peter Garrett hinted at the documentary during a recent appearance on The Plug podcast while promoting his second solo album, The True North.
In the episode, Garrett confirmed the film has been in the works “for some time”, adding that there still may be more new music to come from the Aussie icons on the back of 2022’s Resist.
“… There’s quite a bit of music sitting there, which at some stage people will get to. I mean, people have been doing their own thing, which is pretty much the pattern, you know? You finish an Oils thing and everyone goes, ‘Great, now I’m gonna go and do something else.’ Which is what people have done and I don’t think we’re focused on it… the answer is, watch this space.”
Listen to the full episode here.
The full 2024 Sydney Film Festival program will be revealed on Wednesday 8 May.
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Neil Griffiths is the editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
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