Where Was “The Dressmaker” Filmed?

Love the movie and are wondering: where was “The Dressmaker” filmed? We have answers for you ahead.

Released in 2015, “The Dressmaker” is a combination comedy and drama period piece that stars Kate Winslet as Myrtle Dunnage, the titular dressmaker. The movie is set in 1951 when Myrtle returns to her hometown of Dungatar after leaving 25 years earlier. She had left Dungatar at age 10 after being accused of murdering a classmate and is only returning to care for her sick mother. She brings not only revenge for those who wrongly accused her but also stunning self-made couture that changes the lives of many of her fellow Dungatar residents.

Within the universe of “The Dressmaker,” Dungatar is a town in the rural Australian outback. But where was “The Dressmaker” filmed? Is Dungatar even a real place? In this blog post, we’ll answer those questions. Then we’ll show you how using Peerspace for your search makes the process of finding filming locations similar to those used as the backdrop of “The Dressmaker” as easy as possible.

Ready to get started? Just read on for our in-depth answer to the question “Where was ‘The Dressmaker’ filmed?”!

Is Dungatar in “The Dressmaker” a real place?

After seeing “The Dressmaker,” you may have asked, “Where was ‘The Dressmaker’ filmed?”

Maybe you’re eager to visit some of the locations from the film, and we can’t blame you. The outback setting of this movie is truly striking, iconic, and unforgettable. We’ll start with Dungatar, which is the hometown that Kate Winslet’s character returns to after many years away, as well as the primary setting of the film.

Dungatar is not a real place. According to VicScreen, it’s a fictional town that was “entirely constructed in Mount Rothwell,” which is in a rural part of Victoria near Little River. Interestingly, this pre-fab town was only around for a few months since filming only took a period of 10 weeks.

But don’t be too sad! If the scenery of “The Dressmaker” inspired you and you wish that you could visit Dungatar, you can visit Mount Rothwell itself! It holds the important ecological distinction of being “Victoria’s largest feral predator-free ecosystem. Foxes and cats were eradicated from the property more than a decade ago so that native mammal species could be reintroduced.”

This means you can see rare native species here, such as brush-tailed rock wallabies, bandicoots, and rufous bettongs, among others.

Visitors to the Mount Rothwell Conservation and Research Center report that it’s worth the visit. The attraction has a five-star rating on TripAdvisor. Reviewers call it an “oasis of biodiversity,” praising the beauty of the landscape and raving about the array of endangered species there.

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Other filming locations in “The Dressmaker”

Mount Rothwell is by far the primary filming location for most scenes in “The Dressmaker”.

However, IMDB tells us that the film’s creators also used a few other locations in Victoria, including:

• Horsham: A small city that is nevertheless the most populous in the Wimmera region, and that is the capital of Wimmera.
• Sun Theatre: An historic eight-screen cinema in Yarraville, an inner-west suburb of Melbourne. The movie theatre dates back to 1938 and was shut down by the Health Department for 20 years until it was revamped beginning in 1995.
• Docklands Studios Melbourne: A modern six-stage facility with a total of more than 10,000 square meters of space. It also boasts facilities like production offices, dressing, storage, and makeup rooms.

There isn’t much more additional info about filming locations for “The Dressmaker”. This is likely because the vast majority of the movie takes place in the fictitious town of Dungatar. Which is, as we’ve already mentioned, actually in the real locality of Mount Rothwell.

Hire “The Dressmaker”-inspired filming locations on Peerspace

If you’ve been looking for the answer to the question “Where was ‘The Dressmaker’ filmed?” because you’re in search of comparable locations for your own production, we can help! We’d recommend using Peerspace to search for film and photo shoot locations. The site can connect you with venues in the rural Australian outback or in desert locations that are comparable in appearance to the outback.

Peerspace has tens of thousands of listings available for rental across hundreds of cities and multiple continents. But thanks to the site’s intuitive search tool, it’s easy to browse the vast marketplace for suitable production locations. Next, we share precisely how to do so.

Check out these desert photoshoot ideas that capture the perfect shot every time!

How to use Peerspace to find your perfect space

Start your search on the Peerspace homepage. Enter the type of production you’re planning, the geographic area where you’d like to search, and (optionally) the date and time you need to hire it.

After you’ve submitted your search, there are several ways to narrow your (likely extensive) search results.

First, you can click “More filters” at the top of the search results page. Then, enter a keyword like “outback” in the relevant search box. This will help you find listings like this 150-year-old classic Australian outback farmhouse in Balmoral, VIC. It has the authentic look of a real outback homestead and is ideal for film and photo shoots.

Alternatively, you can scroll down to the “Outdoor Spaces” filter section and select “Desert” to find deserts like those of the Outback in your search radius. Maybe you’re more concerned with finding a filming location that’s geographically near the location of the fictional Dungatar.

In that case, you can limit your search to spaces near Mount Rothwell. When you do, you’ll find production locations like this spacious venue on beautiful grounds in Bonnie Brook, Plumpton, VIC. It has a massive deck with stunning views of the surrounding landscape. There’s even an on-site winery, and it’s all just 20 minutes from the nearest city.

Find unique filming locations on Peerspace