Synopsis

Embarking on an adventure to get to know her long-gone grandfather, filmmaker Hannah Ariotti uncovers a remarkable heroic figure through a catalogue of astonishing larger than life anecdotes.  

In the process, she asks the question: will we ever see this forgotten era of medicinal resourcefulness return to the people of remote Australia.

The medical exploits of Dr Louis Charles Ariotti in the rural township of Charleville would be too outrageous to believe if they weren’t told first hand.

With a uniquely rural cadence, patients, family and friends recount being rescued from snake bites and chainsaw decapitations, gunshots and donkey attacks, burst river banks and burst appendix, and being run over in the driveway by their own father.

These are bygone tales of the Wild Wild West, where every medical emergency requires a resourcefulness and innovation rarely found east of the range. The awe and gratitude of the community is palpable as all acknowledge: getting open heart surgery without leaving town is pretty rock and roll. 

Each chapter explores a specific procedure — often off-book and improvised — and is illustrated with a refreshing contemporary visual style that serves to be both informative, and deeply entertaining.

In the end, we’re left with a revelation of the true character of the man who is widely considered the father of rural medicine: Lou Ariotti, a compassionate, bright, larrikin Italian boy who dedicated most of his life to the hardy outback communities of Western Queensland.

Is there a doctor in today’s outback landscape who can fill his giant shoes?