Stardust + The Mission

Stardust tells the story of Col Brain: a professional trumpet/cornet player and bandmaster. Before Col died, he stored all of his life’s possessions into a wooden dresser and locked it up, never to be opened again. Told through the eyes of his grandson, award winning ABC presenter and performer Joel Carnegie – herein lies the discovery of a time capsule of a musical life, in a heartwarming quest to uncover what Col wanted us to know about the world, by the things he left behind.

The Mission tells the story of Allan McDonald: a “Fighting Gunditjmara” man from South-West Victoria, who was one of Australia’s first Indigenous soldiers to enlist for war. Allan fought at some of WWI’s most famous campaigns, including Gallipoli and Beersheba – only to be denied a soldier’s settlement on his ultimate return to Australia, and forced from his land at the Lake Condah Mission. Allan’s great-great nephew, award winning Gunditjmara man Tom Molyneux shares this story of war, love and loss.

These two stories are connected through a shared investigation - to trace the stories from our family ancestors to uncover who we are today.