Warrnambool's Richard Crawley is the subject of a documentary Volcano Man

Titled Volcano Man, the documentary is also slated for the Sydney Film Festival and potentially the US Sundance Film Festival.

A personal story of love, loss and the healing power of music, the documentary has been picked up by Cannes Film Festival Award-winning Australian producers, Good Thing Productions whose work includes the 2021 Port Arthur massacre film, Nitram, footballer Adam Goodes' The Australian Dream documentary and the Snowtown Murder crime drama. The company has joined Sydney-based digital advertising agency Common Ventures, founded by Crawley's son James, as co-producers on the project.

On Saturday, January 8, they will send a film crew to Port Fairy's Reardon Theatre to shoot footage for the documentary when Crawley and his seven-piece Rolling Stones' tribute band Tumbling Dice will perform their first gig in more than two years.

After a COVID-enforced hiatus, Crawley, 70, said he couldn't be more excited to be back in front of a live audience, promising the Spirit of the Rolling Stones show would deliver 'a real party' with a dance floor and bar for patrons and high-quality lighting and sound. The band will be supported by Port Fairy Stones' solo act Carly Clifford as Stone La Femme.

"I approach every show like it could be my last," said Crawley, who has been busy rehearsing with his band for the show which focuses on the Stones' halcyon period from 1968 to '72.

"It's going to be a real Rolling Stones fest."

Footage from the gig will be incorporated with archival material shot by Crawley, along with current interviews, in the documentary which he describes as a story of "loss, love, grief, music and living in the south-west".

"It has a very strong emotional core with universal themes which I believe audiences will relate to," he said.

"I think people will come away feeling they've seen a story of hope and survival."

British-born Crawley was a video and celebrity photographer when he and his wife Carol and infant son James moved from Port Melbourne to the south-west in 1990.

They'd been camping at Port Fairy, following a tradition of Carol's Hamilton family, when, on a whim, they decided to buy a house in Killarney which they later ran as a bed and breakfast.

Rarely without a camera in his hand, over the following decades Crawley chronicled his family's life in the south-west in 70 hours of video footage. In 2002 they moved their b'n'b business to Tower Hill House on the rim of the landmark volcano.

When Carol lost her battle with cancer on September 11, 2009, a bereft Crawley turned the camera on himself as a means of channeling his grief.

For 30 harrowing hours, he sat in front of the camera, venting his anger and pain over the loss of his wife. It was, he said, a cathartic experience, however, to this day, he hasn't been able to watch the very raw and moving footage.

Crawley turned to music as a means of healing, first fronting rhythm and blues outfit the Black Belts and then the Rolling Stones homage band Tumbling Dice.

"Music came to my rescue in a lot of ways. It's been a huge part of recovery for me, and also the collaborative aspect of being in a band," he explained. As well as its lead singer, Crawley is also manager and promoter for Tumbling Dice. When he gave the entire 100 hours of archival video footage to his filmmaker son James three years ago, Crawley had no idea what would ensue.

The storyteller in James sensed the potential for a wider audience. The eight-minute rough cut that resulted created interest in the right places with Good Thing Productions ultimately signing on as a co-producer with freelancer Tim Russell.

Emmy award-winning feature drama and documentary editor Steve Sander is the main editor for the project with James directing.

Crawley said the 90-minute documentary would screen at Port Fairy and was targeted for a television and cinematic release. Streaming services had also shown early interest.