Tully, a small town on the wet tropical coast of Far North Queensland, holds the Australian record for highest annual rainfall at 7.9 metres in 1950. In 2003 the town commemorated that distinction by erecting a giant gumboot in the main street, opposite the picture theatre, and calling it the Golden Gumboot. The pseudo-comical documentary Big Dreamers (2007) follows the boot’s construction and the small-town politics surrounding it.

The velvet curtain with gold tassels is a motif in the clip that reminds us we are watching small-town theatre. It's hard not to view the interviews that unfold with affection; they are a loving ode to the town’s personalities. Locals sit in front of cane fields and laugh about how the project ran away from them. Another confesses that had he known it was going to get this big, he might have steered clear. These are the kinds of things you can only say about something you also turned out to love, and that other people love too.

In March 2006, three years after the Golden Gumboot went up in Tully, Cyclone Larry hit Far North Queensland. The boot is still standing.