A successful short film treatment submitted to the AFL, VicScreen, and Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) saw Thomson and Callow successful in obtaining a $25,000 production budget and mentorship from industry professionals.
With the goal to celebrate stories, communities and traditions around Aussie Rules, Thomson went to work capturing the essence of a club that strives for much more than the four points on a weekend.
“I’ve always wanted to try and platform Rumba somehow and this was probably the right opportunity to do so,” Thompson said.
“(Rumbalara) gave the go ahead with open arms, and it just happened to coincide with their 30-year anniversary this year so it was a nice bit of timing.
“We went and filmed as many home games as we could and a few away games.
“We did 17 interviews over three days, so a massive thanks to the club for helping co-ordinate those interviews and making the space available in the clubrooms.”
For Yorta Yorta man Thomson, his roots run deep in both club and community as a former player with significant family connections throughout Shepparton.
He’s hoping the impact of the club beyond the field will reach a broader audience.
“I’m part of the Briggs family, I played at the club about 20 years ago,” he said.
“The reason it's titled Invincible Spirit is because it does go back to the invincible spirit of the Cummeragunja football team.
“They were known as the Invincibles back then; they were back-to-back-to-back premiership winners in a time where we as First Nations people had it quite difficult, and in some regards still do.
“I’m familiar with the history of the club, given that my grandfather played in the original Cummeragunja team in the 1920s, as did a lot of the grandparents of some of the players who are still currently playing for the club.
“So I'm hoping people get a depth of the history there, and just that the club is more than sport on the weekends.”
The 15-minute documentary makes its MIFF debut at ACMI on Wednesday, August 12, the first of five screenings before moving to the MIFF online streaming service from August 15-31.
“I hope the community enjoy it and think we’ve done a fair and reasonable job with it,” Thomson said.
“We can’t thank the football-netball club enough.We had board members really getting in there and helping us, coordinating interviews and making spaces available for us.
“We had a pretty small team, but that small team wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for the generosity of the Rumba board, players, and volunteers.”
To find a screening and tickets, head to https://miff.com.au/program/film/invincible-spirit#top
