When Guardian Australia senior reporter Sarah Martin heard a friend’s hairdresser had invested in a scheme called Hyperverse and potentially lost all her money, she decided to investigate.She soon found many more members of the scheme, in Australia and around the world. A person in the UK had lost £1m from the sale of his home that he’d put into Hyperverse; an Australian who had recruited his friends had lost AUD$100,000 — as well as the friends.In this short documentary, interviews with former participants of Hyperverse are woven through Sarah’s recounting of the rabbit hole she fell down as she investigated the scheme, how it worked, and who was responsible for it all.

Two contrasting buskers present the value of their profession along with the sacrifices they made to pursue what they do, as seen both through the eyes of the public and their own.John Goodblood, an Argentinean guitarist, and Kevin Zi-Xiao He, a Chinese cellist, are immigrant musicians who despite pursuing grander careers in music, they keep feeling drawn to return to busking. They don’t do it out of desperation, but to create an enriching atmosphere through their rapturous music, connecting with the people around them. As they perform, they enter a euphoric state where the world around them disappears, and their music becomes a vivid expression of their minds. However, busking presents challenges like uncertain income and potential harassment, creating a dilemma for the artists where to paraphrase Shakespeare: “to busk, or not to busk, that is the question".

Following the loss of a beloved venue, a musician and DIY music promoter searches for a new music festival venue to keep the pulse of punk and queerness pumping in one of many highly conservative communities in California.