While the Men are Away

4.0
2023

Production

Logo for Arcadia
Logo for Red Arrow Studios International
Logo for Screen Australia
Logo for Screen NSW

While the men are away fighting in WWII, two Women’s Land Army recruits join an Italian immigrant, her Indigenous domestic, and their draft-dodging farmhand to run the family farm – but can the improbable freedom and kinship they find survive beyond the war?

Trailers & Videos

Thumbnail for video: While The Men Are Away | Trailer | Coming Wednesday, 27 September on SBS and SBS On Demand

While The Men Are Away | Trailer | Coming Wednesday, 27 September on SBS and SBS On Demand

Seasons

8 Episodes • Premiered 2023

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 1: Get Behind The Girl He Left Behind!

1. Get Behind The Girl He Left Behind!

In 1940s Australia, the men are off fighting in WWII and Frankie finds herself in charge of her farm. She decides to enlist the help of two city dwellers to keep it running.

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 2: Furrowing the Führer's Brow

2. Furrowing the Führer's Brow

All hands are needed as an insect infestation threatens the apple crop; Frankie tries to secure pesticide, but runs into a series of obstacles.

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 3: God Speed the Plough and the Woman Who Drives It!

3. God Speed the Plough and the Woman Who Drives It!

The group discovers that their internal baggage is as powerful as the patriarchy at blocking the road to their true selves.

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 4: She Talked! This Happened!

4. She Talked! This Happened!

The gang are faced with a profound moral issue that clashes with their attitudes, and realise they will have to let go of the things that no longer serve them to be able to survive.

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 5: Come And Join The Victory Harvest!

5. Come And Join The Victory Harvest!

Outside forces threaten the group's new-found bond, testing their strength and threatening to split them apart.

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 6: Catch Him With His Panzers Down!

6. Catch Him With His Panzers Down!

The group gains insight into a classic coercive tool of the patriarchy and uses it, only to discover that the repercussions for using are brutal.

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 7: We've Always Despised Them, Now We Must Smash Them!

7. We've Always Despised Them, Now We Must Smash Them!

The group experiences life without friction, getting a taste of what life could be like and, when it comes under threat, realizing that it's worth fighting for.

Still image for While the Men are Away season 1 episode 8: We Took the Hill, Come and Help Us Keep It!

8. We Took the Hill, Come and Help Us Keep It!

As the war creeps closer, the group struggles to hold onto their collective dream. They're all forever changed by their time together and the knowledge that they're not alone.

Cast

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