S32.E14 ∙ Episode #32.14

A look at how chewing gum impacts our culture, threatens our health, erodes our economic stability and damages the environment.

When 'The Ghan' arrived in Darwin on the afternoon of Tuesday February 3 2004, it was a moment of great significance for the people of the NT, and indeed all Australians. It marked the completion of the first transcontinental rail journey from south to north. It meant that long-held dreams had come alive and that new dreams and new hopes were created. Mark Bowling was aboard 'The Ghan' and he reported on this unique journey for Territory Stateline.

In the midst of the world's biggest fruit and vegetable garden, the so called 'Mar del plástico', lies the Andalusian village of San Agustín. There a mysterious virus threatens the harvest, bacteria attacks the plants and the authorities are after the illegal workforce in the greenhouses. Two families, a village tavern and a lot of vegetables. One extraordinary harvest season in nine chapters.

A Palestinian poet and an Italian journalist meet five Palestinians and Syrians in Milan who entered Europe via the Italian island of Lampedusa after fleeing the war in Syria. They decide to help them complete their journey to Sweden, and hopefully avoid getting themselves arrested as traffickers, by faking a wedding. With a Palestinian friend dressed up as the bride and a dozen or so Italian and Syrian friends as wedding guests, they cross halfway over Europe on a four-day journey of three thousand kilometres.

On the tiny island of Tanna in the South Pacific, a cult religion believes that an American deity named John Frum will one day bring them an abundance of gifts and lead them to salvation. This film chronicles one man's attempt to fulfill this strange prophecy.