The Narrabundah College corridor that features in Canberra dark comedy Snatchers. Photo: Snatchers.
It turns out it doesn’t take much to transform one of the main indoor corridors of the Narrabundah College into a drab, rundown hospital space.
While staff and students are excited about the ACT Government’s plans to build a new $31.9 million Design, Arts, Technology and Science facility by 2027, they were keen to immortalise at least one part of the 50-year-old campus.
And what better way than by letting it star in a Canberra-made dark comedy?
A digital render of the Narrabundah College redevelopment. Photo: ACT Government.
It’s how Snatchers – a new feature film by husband-and-wife duo Craig Alexander and Shelly Higgs – ended up shooting for two weeks inside the school during the holidays, capturing a feature of Narrabundah generations of Inner Southsiders will recognise.
“There’s this amazing extended corridor that is just looking rundown that features quite prominently in the film,” Alexander says.
“To capture that on film was one of their biggest goals.”
Snatchers, created and co-directed by Alexander and Higgs – who met as drama students at Wagga’s Charles Sturt University – screened for several nights at Tuggeranong’s Limelight Cinemas in early December, following its debut at the Raindance Film Festival in London.
The film, shot almost entirely in Canberra with a 90 to 95 per cent local cast and crew, is a reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Body Snatcher.
According to the synopsis, it follows two underpaid orderlies in a dystopian Australia who pinch what they think is the perfect black-market score: a healthy corpse known only as Jane Doe.
But when she wakes up mid-procedure, everything unravels in what Alexander describes as “a darkly comic mess of greed, fear and survival”.
“Dark comedy is the kind of genre I really like,” he says.
“We want to laugh at dark things – it’s a very Australian way of approaching things.”
The film dips into themes of “exploitation” and “late-stage capitalism” along its 80-minute run time, but Alexander says it was ultimately about fun – a point hammered home by his favourite scene.
“A musical number where they steal the corpse – the scene you’ll also see in the trailer, where they’re dancing with the ambulance. We probably had the most fun there.”
Most of the shoot took place inside a converted warehouse on Fyshwick’s Dairy Road, formerly an events space HQ34 but recently bought by the Grainger Gallery.
Several Narrabundah College students performed as extras in the film. Photo: Snatchers.
But Narrabundah College became the film’s second home. The school opened its doors for the production, allowed full access over the school holidays and even involved students as extras and art department helpers.
“Everything was shot in Canberra with … about 90 to 95 per cent Canberra cast and crew, which we’re pretty proud of,” Alexander says.
“The only way you can make these indie-budget films is with that support.”
Canberra has seen bursts of big screen activity in recent years. Netflix crews filmed a Charlize Theron thriller at Ginninderra Falls earlier this year (once they’d asked the ACT Government to let a little more water out of Lake Ginninderra); the streamer’s Kangaroo Valley documentary was shot in Namadgi; and in 2021, Civic hosted a Liam Neeson car chase for Blacklight.
Co-writer Craig Alexander’s favourite scene involved Canberra street dance studio Project Beats. Photo: Snatchers.
But Alexander says a sustained industry remains tough to build.
“It is incredibly difficult … because there’s not a sustainable film industry here. Everyone who wants to make a career out of it is still forced to go to the major metropolitan centres.”
He’s optimistic about new initiatives, including funding support from not-for-profit organisation Screen Canberra and studio spaces being developed by the Academy of Interactive Entertainment in Watson.
Then there are broader national changes, like new Federal Government quotas requiring commercial broadcasters to air 55 per cent Australian content on their primary channels from 6 am to midnight – up to 1460 hours a year.
Alexander calls the move “a huge step forward for the Australian industry”, but adds it will be a challenge to see how audiences react to more and more generative AI in their entertainment.
“The whole landscape is changing dramatically.”
Snatchers is headed for iTunes, YouTube and 9NOW in 2026. Photo: Snatchers.
After its run in cinemas, a digital release for Snatchers is planned for iTunes, YouTube and 9Now in the new year.
Audience response has been suitably varied: “Some really great reviews, some mediocre reviews and some people despise it – but that’s art.”
Alexander says he and his wife are already plotting their next projects – including a limited comedy-drama series – “like Succession for normal people” – and a subversive Christmas horror.
For now, though, Narrabundah’s staff and students are just happy for their claim to fame.
