A deeply personal South Australian documentary about a much-loved Whyalla doctor who delivered generations of local babies and planted thousands of trees across the industrial city is returning to the big screen.
Yer Old Faither, written, produced and directed by Heather Croall, will screen at Palace Nova Prospect on Wednesday, October 7, as part of this year’s Nature Festival.
The award-winning documentary tells the story of Heather’s father, Dr John Croall, a Glaswegian immigrant who moved with his family to Whyalla in 1970 and became the local obstetrician.
Over the decades that followed, John became a familiar figure in the community, delivering three generations of babies in some Whyalla families while developing a deep connection to the landscape around his adopted hometown. He planted thousands of trees and was outspoken about environmental issues long before climate change became part of mainstream conversation.
But at its heart, Yer Old Faither is a story about a daughter and her dad.
Heather began filming John after he was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer in 2013. At the time, she was living in England and returned to Whyalla to help her mother Ruth care for him.
The camera became a way for Heather to capture their relationship and hold onto her father as his health declined.
John lived for another six months following his diagnosis, and Heather continued developing the documentary in the years after his death.
The resulting 84-minute film brings together intimate footage of John, family home movies, letters and animated sequences, while also looking beyond the Croall family to tell a broader story about Whyalla itself.
Heather has previously described Whyalla as almost another character in the documentary. As her father approached the end of his life, the future of the steelworks and the city around it was also deeply uncertain.
That parallel between John and his hometown gives Yer Old Faither another layer, capturing a community confronting change while finding reasons for optimism in its future.
The documentary had its world premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2020, where it was supported through the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and went on to win the festival’s Documentary Audience Award.
It later screened at festivals including Glasgow Film Festival, Doc Edge International Film Festival and Adelaide Fringe, and received the Superhero Award at Doc Edge.
Six years after its Adelaide Film Festival debut, the story is now returning to an Adelaide cinema for a special fundraising screening presented by the Friends of Carrick Hill, where Heather is now director.
The organisation has more than 500 supporters who help preserve and promote Carrick Hill House Museum and Gardens through fundraising and activities.
Fittingly for a film about a man who spent decades planting trees in the dry Whyalla landscape and thinking about the environment he would leave behind, the screening forms part of Nature Festival.
Proceeds from the event will support the Friends of Carrick Hill and its work at the historic estate.
WHAT: Yer Old Faither
WHEN: Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 10am
WHERE: Palace Nova Prospect, 98 Prospect Road, Prospect
COST: From $20
MORE INFO: Bookings are available through the Friends of Carrick Hill and Nature Festival websites.
