Villagers living in a 14th century mining community in England attempt to escape the Black Death by tunnelling deep into the bowels of the earth in an attempt to find "the far side of the world" on the advice of a psychic nine year old boy called Griffin, and end up emerging in twentieth century New Zealand in director Vincent Wards surreal and indescribably atmospheric fish out of water time travel story (the first Australia-New Zealand co-production). The film, which won six AFI awards (including best film and best director), 11 New Zealand Film & TV awards (also including best film and best director) and was selected in competition for Cannes' Palme d'Or, was inspired by Ward's experience of attempting to cross a German autobahn and getting stranded in the middle. Davood Tabrizi composed the soundtrack, which is based on a variety of musical styles including Celtic and Scottish military music, Gregorian chants, and nineteenth century mining music.