I first heard about the subject of my film, Neil Waters, in 2021 when the national newspaper headlines were flooded with stories of a 'salt of the earth', outspoken man, who claimed he had irrefutable trail-cam evidence of the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger).

Although outspoken, I was fascinated by his confidence and belief in what he was doing. A trained horticulturist, his comments about his own method of collecting evidence versus the more conservative and rigid academic approach, also piqued my interest.

Having visited Neil twice, in 2022 and in 2024, I found a subject who was incredibly warm, intelligent, passionate and articulate. Neil shared a huge amount of his own personal story, and his commentary on nature conservation and modern attempts to create gene-edited animals that have become extinct, also became important themes in our story.

This is a story not just about one man's search for an elusive animal that many believe to be only recently extinct, but also a character story about resilience and purpose, a road trip adventure, and a lesson to be learnt about our tragic neglect of flora and fauna in this country.

Jonathon Buckland (Director)