Gerringong’s Cooper Roberts is one of four young Australians who will feature in The Feed’s two part documentary, Pandemicland, which begins on SBS tomorrow night.

The Feed spent almost 11 months filming its subjects to get an intimate and personal insight into each of their lives and their experiences of coming of age during the COVID-19 pandemic

“They chose four young people around Australia from different backgrounds and filmed our stories to show how the pandemic affected each of us individually,” says Cooper.

The documentary follows the now nearly 19 year old Cooper, an up-and-coming rugby league star with the Gerringong Lions, through his final year at Kiama High and focuses on the issues of mental health, masculinity and suicide.

“My story was a lot about finding your way through that masculinity stage of your teenage years after losing two friends to suicide, and not really understanding mental health issues before being so closely involved with them,” says Cooper.

“It was really important to speak about that, not just for myself but for other people because it could have a really strong impact on them.”

He has yet to see the documentary and is looking forward to finding out how life was for the other young people last year.

Cooper in a scene from the trailer

“They filmed my high school graduation, turning 18, and me playing footy and coaching the under 11s team,” says Cooper.

“I also took them around town to some significant spots for my childhood memories.

“They talked to me about growing up in a small town that has a lot with comradery, as well as being a big rugby league town.”

Cooper enjoyed the experience, which came about after a teacher who had been contacted by SBS suggested it was something he might like to be involved with.

The trailer for the two part documentary

“At the start it was real weird having the cameras there and trying not to pay attention to them following you, but it ended up being pretty easy,” he says.

“It was pretty cool to be a part of it because it’s not every day that you have someone follow you around and document your journey.

“I’m excited and a little bit nervous because I don’t really know what they have put in the documentary after all the filming.”

Pandemicland will be aired on SBS The Feed on Tuesday 3 August and Tuesday 10 August at 10pm.