“Faraway Downs,” like the film, is about Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), who inherits the titular ranch in Australia after the death of her husband, where she teams up with a drover (Hugh Jackman) and indigenous Nullah (Brandon Walters). An Australian cattle baron named King Carney (Bryan Brown) wants to wrest the land from her.
The story also deals with the Stolen Generations period, when the children of Indigenous Australians:inside were snatched from their families, and the impact of World War II.
Faraway Downs Director
“Baz Luhrmann”
This is what filmmaker Luhrmann had to say about the alternate series version, “Originally, I was going to take an epic in the style of ‘Gone with the Wind’ and turn it on its head, using the romantic and epic drama to take a look at the role of First Nation people and the painful scar of the Stolen Generations in Australian history. While the film ‘Australia’ lives its own life, there was another version of the story with other layers, nuances and even alternative twists that an episodic format allows to be explored. Made from the same material, audiences can discover ‘Australia’ in new variation in ‘Faraway Down.'”
Luhrmann directed and co-delivered the story with Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood and Richard Flanagan.
Faraway Downs trailer:
Faraway Downs Release Date
November 26, 2023
Faraway Downs cast
Hugh Jackman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Australia
Kidman plays Lady Sarah Ashley and Jackman plays the cattle driver she falls in love with, Drover.
Faraway Downs release on
Hulu and Hotstar Disney+