A Long Way Back
THE STORY OF HAROLD MARTIN
A documentary about 97 year old Harold Martin, a Australian POW survivor from WW2, traveling back to the Burma Thai Death railway to find the grave sites of his fallen mates.
Photographer Samm Blake met Harold in her parents cafe, in the town of Albany, Western Australia. This started a multi-year project of filming, photographing, and performing audio interviews with Harold across the globe as he traced his story.
Two years ago, my father, offered to take Harold to Myanmar (Burma) along with a few close friends. Myanmar had finally opened to tourism and it was his first opportunity to go back to find the grave sites of his fallen mates. I decided to join on the adventure and document it all. This is where my project started and it was an amazing experience to be alongside Harold in Burma and you can see more of project in the short film I have made above.
Samm is very close to securing the funding she needs to finish this project, her IndieGoGo campaign ends today.
Follow Samm on Twitter and Facebook. Images used with permission.
Awesome work Samm. Too often the media use the term "Hero" or "Brave" for mediocre achievement. But these words are too simple for this man and his ilk. Thanks to Harold and his mates for serving our great country. Lest We Forget.