Keene has long wanted to use film to tell the "devastating" true story of the lost village at the bottom of Cataract Dam, with his latest project Sherbrooke Down: Road to Cataract a contender for Best Short Form/Online Drama in the 2021 AACTA Awards.

It also received an Honourable Mention Award at Z-Shorts International Film Festival in Santa Barbara.

"Any sort of industry recognition for my short film is humbling," Keen said. "There are literally thousands of quality short films out there and each filmmaker is looking to further their career in some way or another ... whether we get a nomination or not, just being part of the process helps to promote our project."

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Former Bachelor and Neighbours star Tim Robards joins Summer Bay favourites Patrick O'Connor and Sophie Dillman in the initial short film created as a "proof of concept" to obtain backing for a full feature.

Sherbrooke was a short-lived settlement in a place previously known as Bulli Mountain, and has been submerged for more than 100 years after it was seized for the construction of the dam in the early 20th Century.

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Keene's great-grandmother Evangeline (played by Dillman) was part of the settlement.

Keene has teamed up with Steve McNoughton as executive producer and Helal Shmeissem as co-director, with hopes the soapie star trio will also sign on the for the larger film with a bigger budget.

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