As a young filmmaker sat and watched a grown man cry over video footage of the brother he'd lost 30 years ago, he knew he'd stumbled on to something special.
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It was 2017, and budding film student Lochie Hookway, from Burnie in Tasmania, had just flown over from the mainland to start filming a short documentary about Sisters Beach, in Tasmania's north west, legend Kirk Dicker.
"It was this weirdly connected thing," he said.
"One of the days I was filming at Kirk's house. Mike Dicker, Kirk's dad, was there, and he was playing - it was this never-before-seen archival footage.
"It was about his brother Tony, surrounding his unsuccessful rowing journey across the Bass Strait.
"This footage was the lead up ... but it was never shown because Tony actually died."
Tony Dicker was the first person to navigate Tasmania solo in a little kayak back in 1982. About four years later he decided to row across the Bass Strait - practice for a solo trip around the world.
Hookway said Mike had not been supportive of Tony's first trip, but had decided to come alongside his brother for his second big journey after seeing the success of his first.
"He really wanted to be there for him so he started documenting the training," he said.
"It was all filmed on 8mm film, and then he never touched it after Tony died."
Hookway said he'd been so captivated by the obvious love between the brothers that he'd wanted to make a movie out of it.
"I just felt like this story needed to be told," he said.
"Mike was beside himself. He was so emotional, and that's why it was so powerful."
IN OTHER NEWS:
A year or so later, Hookway got to work on what would soon become a 16 minute biopic of the "forgotten" story of Tony Dicker.
He said the film, Row, had taken about five days and $20,000 to film, and had become his final project for his film degree at Swinburne University.
"It was tricky ... Biopics really are a fictionalisation. I didn't want to tell this story inaccurately or insensitively," he said.
"Mike actually gave me free rein and I did as much research as I could. But this story isn't so much about the logistics of how (Tony) died, it's more about the relationship between the brothers.
"I would love to make this a feature length film one day, I've just got to find somebody with the funding."
Row is showing now as part of the Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival.
Watch it online for free at https://breath-of-fresh-air.com.au/films/stories-of-tasmania/ until May 30.