Finding Paradise

A washed-up musician chases after the new sound in a post-apocalyptic wilderness.

Finding Paradise is a film in the spirit of diesel-punk, made on a junkyard budget and set to the music of EWAH & The Vision of Paradise’ sophomore album, The Warning Birds.

Lost in a barren place equipped with only arcane tools and a wardrobe scrounged from the scrap heap, a lone musician tries to make sense of this inhospitable wilderness, in search of drinkable water and a safe haven – paradise - to start new life.
At odds with the extreme landscape and weather, the lone explorer reflects on their life in the old world. She wrestles with anxieties about an unborn child, the horrors of the old world and the alien nature of this new world.
She finds purpose in seeking to understand this place with hand-built gadgets and makeshift testing equipment. A deeper quest, her ongoing search for the “new sound” hangs over from her old life. It both drives her onward and drives her into desperation. She is visited by ghosts, played by The Vision of Paradise who silently guide in times of crisis.
Yet the further she travels into the strange wild land, the more hopeless the search becomes. To truly find paradise, she must reconcile with this strange place on its own terms.
Shot during winter in remote locations of lutruwita/Tasmania, Australia, the feature was made on a micro-budget with a micro-crew of four, including lead actor EWAH, who co-directed, scripted and produced the film. Co-directors and writers Joseph Shrimpton and Tess Campbell also took this all hands on deck approach. Elements such as technical props were made by Shrimpton with the assistance of tech wiz Dylan Sheridan. Campbell also plays the role of the dream baby, a liminal body, floating in darkness that preoccupies the explorer’s thoughts and dreams.
Like making this ambitious project, the explorer’s mission seems an impossible task beset with obstacles. But perhaps, as she chases after the new sound she might at least come close to finding paradise.

The Warning Birds is released by Part Time Records and music publishing through Gaga Music.
This project was assisted through Arts Tasmania and Screen Tasmania by the Minister for the Arts.

Filmed on location in lutruwita/Tasmania.
And at Moonah Arts Centre studio on muwinina country.