South West filmmaker wins big at Australia Youth Film Festival for Wheatbelt documentary

A young filmmaker hailing from Margaret River and Busselton has been recognised on the national stage for a documentary film highlighting water scarcity in the Wheatbelt.

Alastair Bruce received the Sony best cinematography award at the 2026 Australia Youth Film Festival for his documentary film, Where the Rain Goes.

Set across Western Australia’s vast Wheatbelt, the documentary examines the challenge of changing rainfall conditions and follows research into a biodegradable spray grown from bacteria that is being explored as a way of reducing rainwater evaporation and directing more water towards crop seeds.

The film also asks the question of whether the spray could be applied across the millions of hectares of farmland on which regional communities depend.

Bruce said Where the Rain Goes formed part of a Bright Lights documentary series, produced alongside Murdoch University’s communications team, which aims to translate complex scientific research into engaging and understandable short films.

“We have the technology to tell these stories in our own way, and to film full documentaries from start to finish, all in house,” he said.

“I thought, ‘well, why make boring corporate videos when we can make something actually interesting and compelling’, and try to approach it in a way that makes the research understandable to anyone, not just the stakeholders and those funding the research, but journalists and people in our community.

“They can walk away at least getting a brief understanding of what each project entails.”

While Bruce said he doesn’t come from a science background, his upbringing in Margaret River and Busselton allowed him to develop a passion for the arts and see the challenges farmers face.

“Growing up in the South West, surrounded by farming families, I saw firsthand just how much impact we have on the environment, but also the impact of the hardworking scientists and conservationists who have dedicated their lives to protecting it,” he said.

“I found filmmaking and that just sort of clicked. I grew up in Margaret River and also Busselton and my Dad was a musician, so I got to see the creative arts side of the community.

“When I started this position at Murdoch, I was just hearing all these incredible stories and I was able to combine this love for nature and the environment, and use that with filmmaking to try and help researchers.”

Through Where the Rain Goes, Bruce brings audiences into the fields, laboratories and conversations behind agricultural research, using documentary filmmaking to show the people working through questions that can otherwise be difficult to communicate outside scientific and farming communities.

Australia Youth Film Festival founder Ryan Chow said the work was picked the winner for the way it brings together filmmaking, science and the regional Australian experience.

“Where the Rain Goes takes subjects that can often feel highly technical — water, agricultural research and environmental change — and uses strong visual storytelling to help audiences connect with the people and communities living with these questions everyday,” he said.

“From the comments that we’ve received from our judges, it’s all about how much he’s demonstrated his immense visual instinct, but it’s also how Alastair really conveyed his message behind the film through to something that an audience could really understand and also enjoy at the same time.”

The festival received more than 1200 entries from young Australians nationwide in 2026, with 74 young filmmakers and creators selected as nominees for its main national program.

Where the Rain Goes can be found on YouTube via the Murdoch University Bright Lights documentary series.