Canberra becomes the stage in new independent film – Blank Slate City

Posted on 20 October, 2026

Canberra has long been called quiet after dark, or worse. But a new independent film asks what happens when local musicians refuse to accept that reputation.

Blank Slate City, directed by Canberra filmmakers Georgia Arndell and Daan Steffens, turns its lens on the capital’s do-it-yourself music scene and the unusual places where it comes alive.

From the foot of Black Mountain Tower to the Whitlam Echo Chamber, the documentary follows a summer of outdoor gigs that transform familiar Canberra landmarks into temporary music venues. Against wide skies, bushland and concrete, bands play to crowds who gather because someone decided the city is actually heaving with citizens who love music, even in the most unexpected of places.

For Daan, a drummer who grew up in a country town, the shortage of places to perform was familiar. What surprised him was finding the same problem in the national capital. As venues closed and funding remained scarce, Daan helped musos take matters into their own hands.

Through Gutwrench Records, Steffens launched DIY Summer, a run of six shows across 2023 and 2024. The premise was simple – if there was no conventional stage, they would make one.

The film captures the exhilaration and a little bit of musical chaos. The first show erupts beneath Black Mountain Tower as a crowd dances and a police car slowly passes. Later gigs bring growing audiences and fresh scrutiny. A planned fifth show in a row of abandoned houses is called off when excitement gives way to a more difficult question about safety, responsibility and the line between creating a space and invading one.

The finale unfolds at the Whitlam Echo Chamber (an underground overflow drain located beneath Hazel Hawke Avenue in the suburb of Whitlam, if you’re wondering) where sound carries through the tunnel and across the surrounding landscape. When police arrive, the music appears destined to stop. Instead, the officers allow the performance to continue, and the summer ends in applause.

Blank Slate City reaches further back than one summer. Using archival material from the National Film and Sound Archive, it traces Canberra’s DIY music history and revisits initiatives including Mulgara and Lacklustre Records. It shows a creative community that has long responded to a lack of infrastructure and formal support by opening homes, backyards and unlikely corners of the city to live music.

Canberra’s planning and abundance of open space are central to the story. The qualities that have helped create its unfair “boring government town” stereotype also give musicians room to experiment in ways that would be difficult in denser cities.

That freedom is not guaranteed. As the city grows, the documentary asks where young musicians will play if venues disappear and open spaces are lost to development.

Georgie, a videographer and photographer, and Daan, founder of Gutwrench Records, began planning and filming the feature in mid-2024. Georgie brought her cinematic skills, while Daan organised interviews through his music industry connections and the pair edited the film together. It is produced by MusicACT, with footage and in-kind support from the National Film and Sound Archive.

What emerges is both a record of a scene and an argument for seeing Canberra differently. Families, tourists, people walking their dogs and committed local fans all find their way into the growing crowds. More recent DIY Summer events have reached local businesses too, including the National Dinosaur Museum and VinAus in Lyneham.

At its heart, Blank Slate City is a testament to the stubborn optimism of Canberra’s music community and the myriad ways in which the city unmasks its creative heart.

Blank Slate City will screen at the National Film and Sound Archive in Acton on Monday 26 October 2026, from 6.30 pm to 9 pm. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Georgia Arndell and Daan Steffens.