People’s Republic of Mallacoota Series Premiere Tues 5 April on ABC TV

In a remote part of Victoria, a deeply divided bushfire- ravaged community realises it can’t rely on outsiders to make things better. Harnessing its spirit of self-reliance, the town unites to take charge of its own recovery.

Can the traumatised survivors of a bushfire-ravaged coastal community seize control of their own destiny, overcome their differences, and save their town from dying? People’s Republic of Mallacoota, a 6 x 30minute character-led observational documentary series, chronicles what happens when the citizens of a divided, disenfranchised and bushfire-ravaged Australian community roll up their sleeves, take charge of their own future, and seek to rebuild their town.

Armageddon arrived in Mallacoota on New Year’s Eve 2019. The iconic images of its residents and tourists huddled on the foreshore as a 200km-long fire front bore down upon them made the remote Victorian coastal community the international face of environmental catastrophe. As the Royal Australian Navy evacuated thousands of people trapped on Mallacoota’s beaches, the whole world witnessed Australia’s first climate-change refugees.

Weeks later, those traumatised evacuees returned to a community devastated by bushfire only to be hit by the double whammy of Covid-19. With Mallacoota’s economy in ruins, its environment scorched, and many of its residents homeless.

People’s Republic of Mallacoota tells the story of a regional community with a strong streak of self-reliance and deep distrust of outsiders, that kickstarts a grassroots revolution to save their town.

People’s Republic of Mallacoota follows an ensemble cast of resolute, charismatic, and forthright regional Australians as they fight to rebuild their lives, rehabilitate their environment, and re-invent their community. And they’re in a race against a time to make sure the horrors of the last bushfire season never happen again.

Production credit: People’s Republic of Mallacoota is a Renegade Films Production for the ABC. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria. Producers Joe Connor, Lucy Maclaren, and Ken Connor. Director Tony Jackson. Executive Producers Joe Connor and Ken Connor. ABC Documentary Manager Stephen Oliver. Head of Factual and Culture Jennifer Collins.

Airdate: Tuesday 5 April 2022 at 8.00pm on ABC TV.

Season 1 Episode 1