Life at the End of the Rainbow

At the edge of the Australian desert lies a small town by the name of Rainbow. 1400 kms from Sydney, in the Mallee region of North Western Victoria and with a population of only 521, this is town struggling to survive. Best known for its dust storms and beautiful sunsets, Rainbow was established around the turn of the century, with mainly German settlers. From its inception, Rainbow and its people have struggled to eke out an existence for more than three generations. Like so many other small towns around Australia, Rainbow is fighting for survival. For the past 100 years the Rainbow community has battled on against adversity with varying degrees of success and prosperity. Global economics and government policy are now compounding the difficulties of marginal farming, to the extent that small communities such as these are now facing an increasingly arduous and uncertain future. Interspersed with home movie footage from the 1940s, this gentle and evocative documentary gives an insight into what life is and was once like for the people of Rainbow. In this timelessness snapshot of rural town life, we meet a variety of townsfolk who share with us their perceptions of life on the land. Viewers will identify and relate to the people of Rainbow and their strong sense of community. Although Life at the End of the Rainbow is very Australian in it's look and characters, it resonates universal themes: the struggle against adversity, triumph of ordinary people, a sense of place, and the interrelation of past, present and the future. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)