Ivan Sen, director of 'Toomelah', has said: "The script was written directly from experiences and memories I have from visiting Toomelah ... The audience constantly travels through the eyes of Daniel as he navigates his way in search of his place in the community ... I needed these totally inexperienced actors to feel very comfortable. So my idea was to pretty much make the film with no crew. It was a big gamble ... Their beautiful spirit transcends every scene." -
'Toomelah' director Ivan Sen has said: ''I've always wanted to make a film out there because some of my earliest memories come from there. I've never lived there, but I used to go there all the time... But my mother grew up there and all her family come from there so there's always been a connection there. As a result, I've always wanted to go back there and do something, make this film, a drama. It took a long time work out a method in which to do it, but the story came from a very intense observation period where I went out there for a few weeks and just followed a few teenage boys around and followed the little boy around who played Daniel and wrote down everything I saw, even the dialogue I heard. All of that all came together in the screenplay.''