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In Western Queensland the grasslands give way to vast deserts and stony ridges that make up some of the Earth’s most inhospitable country. The isolation and inaccessibility of this desert country has kept many secrets from the outside world. So much so, that the region still hides wildlife that has not yet been added to man-made catalogues. Accompanied by his new protégé – 19 year old Maelissa Chiesa, filmmaker John Young has come to unearth some of these secrets and explore the “Shadows in the Desert”. In the process they get up close and personal, down at ground level, face-to-face with all the creatures of the desert – snakes, spiders, scorpions, birds, skinks, euros, lizards, kangaroos, wallabies, marsupials of all shapes and sizes, wildflowers and ancient trees.

His journey through this most ancient of landscapes sees him surpass even his own wildest hopes by capturing on film the extraordinary, the dangerous and the unexpected, and it is this element of surprise, which is at the heart of this fascinating documentary.