I can't wait to start work on a short film about the last Tasmanian Tiger. I suspect this project will be emotionally difficult. I cried when I read about the death of the Tiger in Hobart Zoo. Still, this makes me all the more committed to the project.
I want to research the 1930s, and invent a beautiful, bleak visual world drawing on art deco zoo architecture. The tiger will be looked after by the daughter of the zookeeper in Hobart. She was involved with the tiger in real life but prevented from taking a bigger part by her gender. I want to find out more about this story. Perhaps she will wear gaudy 'flapper' clothing as she goes about her work at the zoo. Perhaps she will hide the cubs of a tiger, so that there is some hope for the species at the end of the film. She may have a little baby which she hides in a drawer, for one of the workers, because there is no such thing as childcare.
The research will be challenging, but I can't wait to get started. I want to travel to Tasmania to see their tiger exhibits, and to see the wilderness where the tiger may still hide.