On February 15, 1942, British-led forces surrendered to the Japanese following the Fall of Singapore, and 130,000 Allied troops became prisoners of war. 15,000 of them were Australians.

When the Empire of Japan formally surrendered on August 15, 1945, only two-thirds of these Australian POWs returned home.

Under a Bamboo Sky is a new Australian documentary made using new technology to bring to life the story of Australian soldiers held prisoner by the Japanese in WWII.

Using their own words, their own voices, the documentary weaves the recollections of more than 60 former POWs together with newly colourised archival material and new location footage to deliver a moving and intimate first-hand account of their experience.

Among the POWs featured are Alan Pope, who has descendants in Stuart Town, and Cyril Gilbert, whose son lives in Orange (see page 7).

While much of this story has been told before in traditional documentary formats, director Serge Ou said they wanted to create a more immersive experience for audiences to hear, see and feel these men’s experiences.

“Many people have heard the stories of the building of the Thai-Burma Railway – the hard labour, starvation, cholera, malaria, dysentery, and so much more,” he explained.

“These POWs’ experience has many chapters, each worse than the last. We wanted to tell that story, but elevate the experience for the audience.”

Using audio recordings from several oral history projects recorded between 1999 and 2004, Under a Bamboo Sky uses new technology to colourise and bring to life old photographs, enhancing the film's impact.

“We are very used to seeing older people reflect on their experience, but we wanted to put you inside the experience, live that experience, so it was really important to depict the speaker as they were at that age,” Serge said.

“Using technology now available, we could bring those portraits to life, so they almost feel like they are living and breathing again, and they are in the story. And we can see them not as old diggers who marched on ANZAC Day, but as the young men they were.”

It is only in the final frames of the film that you see one of the speakers, Allan Herd, as he was at the age he filmed the interview, 50 years after liberation.

Under a Bamboo Sky, follows the years-long journey of captured POWs through four countries: From Singapore’s Changi Barracks, to building the Thai Burma Railway, sent into factories and down coal mines in Japan, and then returning home to families, wives and sweethearts after years away.

Odeon 5 Cinemas in Orange is presenting two special screenings of Under a Bamboo Sky, at 3pm on Saturday, April 18, and 1:30pm on Sunday, April 19.