By documenting a specific microcosm of a farming family on Australia’s south- east coast, OYSTER presents its audience with a story, a landscape, an environment and characters who face practical, ethical and personal decisions about things that matter to them – feeding their family, getting the boys to school, running the farm, looking after the lake, keeping their crop of oysters healthy and figuring out whether harvesting new crops will protect their livelihood.

This local story goes to the heart of matters of global urgency – climate, sustainability, farming, the health, livelihood and education of rural communities, and the challenges and uncertainties that come with farming a luxury product.

Observational in style, OYSTER stands back to watch and witness. The film’s director Kim Beamish likes to sit as close to his characters as he can so as to become really intimate with the world they are experiencing. This intimacy invites the audience in, as if they are almost becoming a character too, a part of what is going on, and a part of the character’s experience.