Dale Frank - Nobody’s Sweetie is a visual extravaganza showcasing the life and work of one of Australia’s most successful and prolific contemporary artists. This is an intimate portrait of a very private man and reveals his well-guarded life behind his work.

The film follows Dale at home and in his studio creating new work for his 36th solo exhibition at the exclusive Roslyn Oxley9 gallery in Sydney. Whilst organising and orchestrating his art empire, Dale gives us a rare view of what it takes to be a professional artist at the top of their game.

The stakes are high, the art world is fickle and Dale spends as lavishly as he creates. His ever-evolving rural estate is home to the largest private Natural History collection in Australia and he’s creating an exotic arid zone Botanical gardens in the surrounding fifty hectares.

But where the light shines brightest, shadows are the darkest: on top of a crushing workload, Dale has inner demons and health struggles to contend with. Due to a debilitating neurodegenerative illness, Dale battles chronic and excruciating pain. With the help of prescribed morphine and the support of his good-humoured assistants James and Trev, Dale’s relentless creative drive, resilience and capacity for hard work bulldozes through each day to get the job done.

Dale is reclusive. Socially phobic, he has recently received a diagnosis involving neurodiversity. The last thing in the world he wants to do is go to Sydney and have to talk to people. The film culminates with the opening night of the art exhibition which

Dale must attend to face the art-world crowds he both dreads... and depends on.

This is a vivid, inspirational story of a young boy from the bush who dreamt up a big creative career and audaciously went out and made it happen. For Dale, his work is his life and he has successfully pursued his dreams with talent, ambition and dogged determination. Now due to illness, his capacity to create is rapidly diminishing and the clock is ticking to complete the legacy of his life's work.