While the Men are Away (2023)
While the men are away fighting in WWII, two Women’s Land Army recruits join an Italian immigrant, her Indigenous domestic, and their draft-dodging farmhand to run the family farm – but can the improbable freedom and kinship they find survive beyond the war?
Seasons & Episode
In 1940s Australia, the men are off fighting in WWII and Frankie finds herself in charge of her farm. She decides to enlist the help of two city dwellers to keep it running.
All hands are needed as an insect infestation threatens the apple crop; Frankie tries to secure pesticide, but runs into a series of obstacles.
The group discovers that their internal baggage is as powerful as the patriarchy at blocking the road to their true selves.
The gang are faced with a profound moral issue that clashes with their attitudes, and realise they will have to let go of the things that no longer serve them to be able to survive.
Outside forces threaten the group's new-found bond, testing their strength and threatening to split them apart.
The group gains insight into a classic coercive tool of the patriarchy and uses it, only to discover that the repercussions for using are brutal.
The group experiences life without friction, getting a taste of what life could be like and, when it comes under threat, realizing that it's worth fighting for.
As the war creeps closer, the group struggles to hold onto their collective dream. They're all forever changed by their time together and the knowledge that they're not alone.