Terrey Hills local, Josh Van Zwieten, has driven to Uluru with a group of friends to raise money for Gotcha4Life, a not-for-profit foundation working to prevent suicide.
“It’s wild to know how you can have what seems to be a loving, close-knit family, and then one day, someone takes their own life,” Josh begins.
“I truly believe in those split seconds after, they regret the decision.”
That thought took the Northern Beaches local and five other friends on a road trip to Uluru to raise funds for mental health. The journey, the idea for which came in 2019, has been documented in the film The Drive.
“There is something called Shitbox Rally that raises money for cancer research projects. But there is a long waiting list to get in. Then the idea of filming it came into play, and we wanted to do things our way,” Josh explains.
Just like in Shitbox Rally, the friends decided to drive cars worth less than $1,500.
They planned to leave in April 2020, but COVID happened, borders closed, and they had to postpone it. By the time they could go, the original team had dissolved.
Josh and the film director, Sam Harvey, put a new team together and drove to Uluru in October this year.
“With the film – even with its name, The Drive – we try to get people to understand they have their hands on the steering wheel of their own life. A lot of people are on autopilot, but you can take control,” Josh says.
“Seeing that suicide is so common these days is the saddest thing to me. We look at people next to us laughing and having a good time, but for all we know, they are not doing well. I hate that that is the kind of reality we live in.”
The profits from the film will be donated to Gotcha4Life, a local not-for-profit organisation working towards zero suicide deaths with the mantra, ‘we know we are all stronger, together’.
The five-day drive from Sydney to Uluru, filled with random encounters in which people opened up to the filmmakers about their struggles with mental health, has proven the importance of togetherness to Josh and his mates.
“I think the biggest underlying theme in the film is community. What we hope people will take from the film is a feeling of communication and vulnerability. What’s the saying? ‘You can go fast by yourself, but you can go further with a team’.
“Having a community around you will take you much farther, and it’s going to liberate you a lot more versus trying to do it all by yourself.”
“I painted my car in chalk paint so anyone could write on it, and it became a good catalyst for conversation. Hearing people talk about their struggles and how open and vulnerable they were was beautiful. It gave us the platform to share some of our experiences and talk about things holding us back.”
Due to the recent floods, the team had to take an alternative route and ended up meeting the now famous Nedd Brockman.
The 23-years-old ran from Perth to Bondi Beach over 46 days and raised $1.85 million for people experiencing homelessness.
“It was cool to see him and his crew and get some insight into what the past month had been for them.”
Josh and his team plan to pitch The Drive, currently in postproduction, to streaming platforms in the coming months.
“If we can’t get it onto a streaming platform, we will do showcases around Sydney to raise funds, and we plan to go back to all those places where we filmed.”
Updates about the film will be posted on their Instagram account @thedrivemovieau. If this story has brought up any issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
by Patricia Alonso