Mad Celebrity — the talent management subsidiary of the pan-Arab film and TV company Mad Solutions — has signed Tunisian actor and writer Majd Mastoura, French Lebanese actor Isabelle Zighondi, and Saudi actor, producer and director Amawri Ezayah to the roster of its Mad Rising Celebrity unit, and visual artist, producer and Dop Mostafa El Kashef, who will be joining Mad Crew Celebrity.
Mastoura is best known for his work on Mohamed Ben Attia’s “Hedi” — for which he received a Silver Bear for best actor from the Berlin Film Festival, making him the first-ever Arab actor to receive the award — and Léonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son,” which world premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
His most recent project is Ben Attia’s surreal Tunisian drama feature “Behind the Mountains,” which world premiered in the Horizons Section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and is holding its Arab...
Mastoura is best known for his work on Mohamed Ben Attia’s “Hedi” — for which he received a Silver Bear for best actor from the Berlin Film Festival, making him the first-ever Arab actor to receive the award — and Léonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son,” which world premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
His most recent project is Ben Attia’s surreal Tunisian drama feature “Behind the Mountains,” which world premiered in the Horizons Section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and is holding its Arab...
- 12/5/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Clockwise from top left: Terminator: Genisys (Paramount Pictures), Non-Stop (Universal Pictures), River Wild (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)Photo: The A.V. Club
Now that you’ve adjusted to Netflix’s new pricing plans and added your out-of-household members, it’s time to check out what the streamer will be adding to...
Now that you’ve adjusted to Netflix’s new pricing plans and added your out-of-household members, it’s time to check out what the streamer will be adding to...
- 8/2/2023
- by Robert DeSalvo
- avclub.com
Netflix has new releases and old favorites coming this August. Because it’s approaching the end of summer and many families are spending time outdoors instead of in front of their TVs and devices, some new series and movies hitting Netflix may get swept under the rug. But with temperatures rising and rainy days coming and going, catching up on everything the streaming giant added for the month can be taxing. Luckily for users, The Streamable has everything Netflix has coming to the service for the month of August.
While Netflix’s Fall schedule is generally jammed packed with long-awaited series and Netflix Originals, streamers shouldn’t sleep on the month of August. From original action thrillers to interesting docuseries, we have five top movies and shows to be excited about before the eighth-month approaches.
Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to Netflix...
While Netflix’s Fall schedule is generally jammed packed with long-awaited series and Netflix Originals, streamers shouldn’t sleep on the month of August. From original action thrillers to interesting docuseries, we have five top movies and shows to be excited about before the eighth-month approaches.
Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to Netflix...
- 7/26/2023
- by Layne Gibbons
- The Streamable
Alexandra Park, Sisi Stringer and Harry Greenwood star.
Arclight Films has acquired international rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to Sean Lahiff’s Australian horror thriller Carnifex from the producers of Wolf Creek 2 and is introducing it to buyers at the EFM.
The film, now in post after wrapping its Adelaide shoot, is about an aspiring documentarian and two conservationists who venture into the Outback to record animals displaced by bushfires where they discover a terrifying new species.
Alexandra Park, Sisi Stringer and Harry Greenwood star in Carnifex which is produced by Helen Leake and Gena Ashwell from Adelaide-based Dancing Road Productions,...
Arclight Films has acquired international rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to Sean Lahiff’s Australian horror thriller Carnifex from the producers of Wolf Creek 2 and is introducing it to buyers at the EFM.
The film, now in post after wrapping its Adelaide shoot, is about an aspiring documentarian and two conservationists who venture into the Outback to record animals displaced by bushfires where they discover a terrifying new species.
Alexandra Park, Sisi Stringer and Harry Greenwood star in Carnifex which is produced by Helen Leake and Gena Ashwell from Adelaide-based Dancing Road Productions,...
- 2/12/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In our fifth edition of Arab Stars of Tomorrow, Screen International puts the spotlight on six emerging Middle Eastern and North African talents.
In our fifth edition of Arab Stars of Tomorrow, Screen International puts the spotlight on six emerging Middle Eastern and North African talents in the fields of acting and directing.
This year’s selection features Egyptian actress Bassant Ahmed, Kuwaiti filmmaker Maysaa Almumin, Emirati actor Khalifa Al-Jassem, Tunisian actress Zbeida Belhajamor, Saudi director Sara Mesfer and Sudanese actor Mustafa Shehata.
For the third year running, the edition has been organised in cooperation with the Cairo International Film Festival.
In our fifth edition of Arab Stars of Tomorrow, Screen International puts the spotlight on six emerging Middle Eastern and North African talents in the fields of acting and directing.
This year’s selection features Egyptian actress Bassant Ahmed, Kuwaiti filmmaker Maysaa Almumin, Emirati actor Khalifa Al-Jassem, Tunisian actress Zbeida Belhajamor, Saudi director Sara Mesfer and Sudanese actor Mustafa Shehata.
For the third year running, the edition has been organised in cooperation with the Cairo International Film Festival.
- 12/2/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Balancing production with border uncertainty will be a key challenge for Western Australia’s screen industry heading into 2022, according to Screenwest CEO Rikki Lea Bestall.
The separation of Wa from the other states due to the Delta outbreak on the east coast has proven to be an early test of Bestall’s tenure, with Wa Premier Mark McGowan yet to set a border reopening date.
Bestall succeeded Willie Rowe as CEO in May, three months after Screenwest outlined a stretch target of $150 million in production expenditure across 2021-2024, while also announcing development funding for six new features under the Brighter Ideas program.
A strategic plan – ‘Leading the Way: A Growing and More Sustainable Wa Screen Industry’ – detailed how the industry could triple in size provided the supporting infrastructure and crew are available.
Speaking to Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner in a webinar earlier this week, Bestall said seeking assurances...
The separation of Wa from the other states due to the Delta outbreak on the east coast has proven to be an early test of Bestall’s tenure, with Wa Premier Mark McGowan yet to set a border reopening date.
Bestall succeeded Willie Rowe as CEO in May, three months after Screenwest outlined a stretch target of $150 million in production expenditure across 2021-2024, while also announcing development funding for six new features under the Brighter Ideas program.
A strategic plan – ‘Leading the Way: A Growing and More Sustainable Wa Screen Industry’ – detailed how the industry could triple in size provided the supporting infrastructure and crew are available.
Speaking to Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner in a webinar earlier this week, Bestall said seeking assurances...
- 11/18/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
The casting directors behind Nitram, The Dry, High Ground, and The Furnace will battle it out in the feature film category of the Casting Guild of Australia Awards to be held later this month.
Nominees across eight categories were announced today ahead of the virtual ceremony on November 20.
Nikki Barrett has two nominations in the feature film, getting a nod for The Furnace and also Nitram with Alison Telford and Kate Leonard. Rounding out the category is High Ground‘s Anousha Zarkesh and The Dry‘s Jane Norris.
Barrett also features in the Best Casting in a TV Drama, TV Miniseries and Telemovie nominees for her work on Fires, going up against Eden‘s Danny Long – who has a total of four nominations – The Newsreader‘s Nathan Lloyd and Wakefield‘s Marianne Jade.
For Best Casting in a TV Comedy, Kirsty McGregor is recognised for Fisk and season two of Frayed,...
Nominees across eight categories were announced today ahead of the virtual ceremony on November 20.
Nikki Barrett has two nominations in the feature film, getting a nod for The Furnace and also Nitram with Alison Telford and Kate Leonard. Rounding out the category is High Ground‘s Anousha Zarkesh and The Dry‘s Jane Norris.
Barrett also features in the Best Casting in a TV Drama, TV Miniseries and Telemovie nominees for her work on Fires, going up against Eden‘s Danny Long – who has a total of four nominations – The Newsreader‘s Nathan Lloyd and Wakefield‘s Marianne Jade.
For Best Casting in a TV Comedy, Kirsty McGregor is recognised for Fisk and season two of Frayed,...
- 11/7/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Veteran Australian director Rolf De Heer (“Ten Canoes”) is shooting a new film titled “The Mountain,” for which Italy’s Fandango Sales is launching sales at the online AFM.
“The Mountain” (pictured above in a first-look image) tells the story of a central character named BlackWoman, who is abandoned in a cage in the middle of the desert. Following her escape from the cage, “she walks through pestilence and persecution, from desert to mountain to city, to find … more captivity,” reads the film’s synopsis.
“BlackWoman walks and walks, past ruins and dunes until she finds boots, and skeletons and skulls, a wrecked world where few survive and your newly gained boots can get stolen at the point of a gun.”
“Those responsible are reluctant to release their privilege, and BlackWoman, escaping once more, must find solace in her beginnings,” it adds. The film stars Mwajemi Hussein, Deepthi Sharma, and Darsan Sharma.
“The Mountain” (pictured above in a first-look image) tells the story of a central character named BlackWoman, who is abandoned in a cage in the middle of the desert. Following her escape from the cage, “she walks through pestilence and persecution, from desert to mountain to city, to find … more captivity,” reads the film’s synopsis.
“BlackWoman walks and walks, past ruins and dunes until she finds boots, and skeletons and skulls, a wrecked world where few survive and your newly gained boots can get stolen at the point of a gun.”
“Those responsible are reluctant to release their privilege, and BlackWoman, escaping once more, must find solace in her beginnings,” it adds. The film stars Mwajemi Hussein, Deepthi Sharma, and Darsan Sharma.
- 11/2/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The editors behind Nitram, I Met A Girl, The Furnace and June Again will compete for this year’s Ellie Award for Best Editing in Feature Drama, while the television drama category will be a contest between those who cut Wakefield, The Tailings, Jack Irish, Eden and Bump.
The annual awards of the Australian Screen Editors (Ase) will be held in early February with the hope that travel restrictions between states will have eased.
“It’s been a tough two years and we think we all deserve to be together in person to celebrate these fine achievements in editing, and the results of everybody’s hard work during such difficult times,” Ase president Danielle Boesenberg tells If.
In addition to the feature film prize, I Met A Girl editor Melanie Annan will also be in contention for Best Editing in Documentary and Series for Three Songs for Benazir, shared with Christoph Wermke.
The annual awards of the Australian Screen Editors (Ase) will be held in early February with the hope that travel restrictions between states will have eased.
“It’s been a tough two years and we think we all deserve to be together in person to celebrate these fine achievements in editing, and the results of everybody’s hard work during such difficult times,” Ase president Danielle Boesenberg tells If.
In addition to the feature film prize, I Met A Girl editor Melanie Annan will also be in contention for Best Editing in Documentary and Series for Three Songs for Benazir, shared with Christoph Wermke.
- 11/1/2021
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
“High Ground,” a 1930s-set drama film, picked up eight nominations for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. It narrowly led the field of contenders that included controversial drama “Nitram” with seven nominations, “The Dry” with six and “Penguin Bloom” with five.
Nominations were announced over the weekend ahead of a week of voting. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Sydney Opera House on Dec. 8, 2021.
Six films received nominations for best film: “The Dry,” “The Furnace,” “High Ground,” “Nitram,” “Penguin Bloom” and “Rams.” Five of the six also received nominations for best director.
“High Ground,” received five of its nominations for acting, with two of its performers going head-to-head in the best actor category, and two more in the best supporting actor section.
Similarly, “Nitram,” which chronicles the build-up to a real-life mass shooting in Tasmania, received nominations for its two leads and two supporting cast.
Nominations were announced over the weekend ahead of a week of voting. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Sydney Opera House on Dec. 8, 2021.
Six films received nominations for best film: “The Dry,” “The Furnace,” “High Ground,” “Nitram,” “Penguin Bloom” and “Rams.” Five of the six also received nominations for best director.
“High Ground,” received five of its nominations for acting, with two of its performers going head-to-head in the best actor category, and two more in the best supporting actor section.
Similarly, “Nitram,” which chronicles the build-up to a real-life mass shooting in Tasmania, received nominations for its two leads and two supporting cast.
- 11/1/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Aacta has revealed those in contention for the major film, television and short-form prizes at this year’s awards, with High Ground leading the charge in the film categories and The Newsreader ahead in television.
The nominations follow those revealed for feature documentary in July, with the technical craft categories still to come.
Aacta also announced today that this year’s awards will move from The Star to the Sydney Opera House, with the ceremony to be held December 8.
There has also been a change in broadcast partners from Seven to 10, where the ceremony will air first followed by an encore on Fox Arena on Foxtel, Binge, and Aacta TV.
High Ground has earned eight nominations, including Best Film. Also nominated for the night’s major prize are Nitram, which earned seven nods, The Dry, which has six, as well as The Furnace, Penguin Bloom and Rams.
The Best Indie Film Award,...
The nominations follow those revealed for feature documentary in July, with the technical craft categories still to come.
Aacta also announced today that this year’s awards will move from The Star to the Sydney Opera House, with the ceremony to be held December 8.
There has also been a change in broadcast partners from Seven to 10, where the ceremony will air first followed by an encore on Fox Arena on Foxtel, Binge, and Aacta TV.
High Ground has earned eight nominations, including Best Film. Also nominated for the night’s major prize are Nitram, which earned seven nods, The Dry, which has six, as well as The Furnace, Penguin Bloom and Rams.
The Best Indie Film Award,...
- 10/30/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps are among the writers aiming to win consecutive prizes at this year’s Awgie Awards.
Grant, who won the adaptation prize with Cripps for Penguin Bloom in 2020 and for the True History of the Kelly Gang in 2019, is nominated this year for his work on Nitram, against the Here Out West writing team of Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Duygu Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran; Falling for Figaro‘s Ben Lewin and Allen Palmer; and The Furnace‘s Roderick MacKay in the original feature film category.
Cripps and Robert Connolly have been recognised for The Dry, which is one of two nominees for the feature film adaptation award alongside Babyteeth, written for the screen by the original playwright Rita Kalnejais.
In the television categories, Tony McNamara’s The Great is pitted against Wakefield, Five Bedrooms and Wentworth for...
Grant, who won the adaptation prize with Cripps for Penguin Bloom in 2020 and for the True History of the Kelly Gang in 2019, is nominated this year for his work on Nitram, against the Here Out West writing team of Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Duygu Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran; Falling for Figaro‘s Ben Lewin and Allen Palmer; and The Furnace‘s Roderick MacKay in the original feature film category.
Cripps and Robert Connolly have been recognised for The Dry, which is one of two nominees for the feature film adaptation award alongside Babyteeth, written for the screen by the original playwright Rita Kalnejais.
In the television categories, Tony McNamara’s The Great is pitted against Wakefield, Five Bedrooms and Wentworth for...
- 10/26/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
MGM has picked up several global territories on well-regarded comedy-drama “Queen Bees,” starring Ellen Burstyn, Jane Curtin, Loretta Devine, Ann-Margret and James Caan.
The film is directed by Michael Lembeck and written by Donald Martin. Arclight Films has sold distribution rights to MGM for the territories of Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Iceland, U.K., Middle East, Greece, Portugal/Portuguese-speaking Africa, Cis/Russia, India, South Africa, Pan Asia Pay TV, Caribbean Basin and Latin America. Additional international distribution deals have also been signed with Kismet for Australia and New Zealand, Cannonball Films for Spain and Monolith for Poland.
Arclight Films previously sold the North American rights to Gravitas Ventures, who released “Queen Bees” in theatres and on demand in June in the U.S. and Canada.
While her house undergoes repairs, fiercely independent senior Helen (Oscar winner Burstyn) moves into a nearby retirement community, where she encounters all sorts of characters.
The film is directed by Michael Lembeck and written by Donald Martin. Arclight Films has sold distribution rights to MGM for the territories of Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Iceland, U.K., Middle East, Greece, Portugal/Portuguese-speaking Africa, Cis/Russia, India, South Africa, Pan Asia Pay TV, Caribbean Basin and Latin America. Additional international distribution deals have also been signed with Kismet for Australia and New Zealand, Cannonball Films for Spain and Monolith for Poland.
Arclight Films previously sold the North American rights to Gravitas Ventures, who released “Queen Bees” in theatres and on demand in June in the U.S. and Canada.
While her house undergoes repairs, fiercely independent senior Helen (Oscar winner Burstyn) moves into a nearby retirement community, where she encounters all sorts of characters.
- 9/10/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
John Huston’s classic “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948) echoes through Roderick MacKay’s feature debut “The Furnace” which premiered at last year’s Venice section Orizzonti, before heading on a festival tour with the final stop at Karlovy Vary, where we caught it. Both films are the stories of gold and greed, but the key difference between them are their milieus and the differences between the American and the Australian use of western genre tropes.
In America, westerns were created to preserve the myth of the hardy pioneers that fought the savage Natives for the land and have pushed the frontiers of the so-called civilised world from one ocean to another. Only in the New Hollywood era, the revisionist westerns appeared aimed at debunking the myths and used as the metaphorical canvas to expose the American imperial politics of the 20th century. In Australia, however, the western setting...
In America, westerns were created to preserve the myth of the hardy pioneers that fought the savage Natives for the land and have pushed the frontiers of the so-called civilised world from one ocean to another. Only in the New Hollywood era, the revisionist westerns appeared aimed at debunking the myths and used as the metaphorical canvas to expose the American imperial politics of the 20th century. In Australia, however, the western setting...
- 9/1/2021
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
Sam Neill, Christoph Waltz and Patrick Gibson will head the cast of “The Portable Door,” a fantasy adventure film adapted from the series of novels by Patrick Holt.
The film is now shooting in Queensland, Australia, with Jeffrey Walker directing from a script by Leon Ford (“Griff the Invisible”).
The story sees two lowly, put-upon interns at a mysterious London firm, J.W. Wells & Co., become steadily aware that their employers are anything but conventional. The charismatic villains who run the company are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices.
The film is a Jim Henson Company and Story Bridge Films production and is produced by Blanca Lista from Henson and Todd Fellman from Story Bridge.
Sales agent Arclight Films is handling worldwide rights for all territories outside of North America, Australia and New Zealand. Sky will release the film as a Sky Original in the U.
The film is now shooting in Queensland, Australia, with Jeffrey Walker directing from a script by Leon Ford (“Griff the Invisible”).
The story sees two lowly, put-upon interns at a mysterious London firm, J.W. Wells & Co., become steadily aware that their employers are anything but conventional. The charismatic villains who run the company are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices.
The film is a Jim Henson Company and Story Bridge Films production and is produced by Blanca Lista from Henson and Todd Fellman from Story Bridge.
Sales agent Arclight Films is handling worldwide rights for all territories outside of North America, Australia and New Zealand. Sky will release the film as a Sky Original in the U.
- 6/24/2021
- by Vivienne Chow
- Variety Film + TV
The leading sales, finance and production outfit Beta Cinema will present first footage from the upcoming Australian comedy drama “How to Please a Woman” at next week’s Pre-Cannes Screenings. Variety has been given the first still from the film, starring Sally Phillips, whose credits include the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” movies, and a recurring guest role as the Finnish Prime Minister in “Veep.” The Munich-based firm will show five completed films during the virtual event.
In “How to Please a Woman” Phillips plays a woman in middle age who feels she has become “invisible to everyone.” The film follows her as she learns how to ask for what she wants and encourages other women to do the same. She sets up a house cleaning service, staffed by good-looking male cleaners, with benefits.
Other cast include Erik Thomson, Alexander England (“Alien: Covenant”), and Caroline Brazier. The director and writer is Renée Webster.
In “How to Please a Woman” Phillips plays a woman in middle age who feels she has become “invisible to everyone.” The film follows her as she learns how to ask for what she wants and encourages other women to do the same. She sets up a house cleaning service, staffed by good-looking male cleaners, with benefits.
Other cast include Erik Thomson, Alexander England (“Alien: Covenant”), and Caroline Brazier. The director and writer is Renée Webster.
- 6/18/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Sally Phillips, the British actor known for her role in all three Bridget Jones movies, will head the cast of Australian comedy drama film “How to Please a Woman.”
Pitched as a warmhearted look at sexuality and vulnerability at all stages of life, the film casts Phillips as a 50-something woman who has the inspired idea of launching an all-male house-cleaning service. But she must ask herself questions when the business grows out of control.
Production starts next week in Perth, West Australia, under the direction of Renee Webster, whose previous directing credits include Australian Broadcasting Corporation series “The Heights” and “Itch.” Webster also penned the screenplay.
The completed film will be released in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. International sales are handled by Germany’s Beta Cinema.
Erik Thomson, who recently appeared in “The Furnace” and next appears in “Blueback,” is set as the male lead. Other cast include Alexander England,...
Pitched as a warmhearted look at sexuality and vulnerability at all stages of life, the film casts Phillips as a 50-something woman who has the inspired idea of launching an all-male house-cleaning service. But she must ask herself questions when the business grows out of control.
Production starts next week in Perth, West Australia, under the direction of Renee Webster, whose previous directing credits include Australian Broadcasting Corporation series “The Heights” and “Itch.” Webster also penned the screenplay.
The completed film will be released in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. International sales are handled by Germany’s Beta Cinema.
Erik Thomson, who recently appeared in “The Furnace” and next appears in “Blueback,” is set as the male lead. Other cast include Alexander England,...
- 4/12/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Luke Bracey and Brittany Snow have signed on to star in Tom Chilcoat’s debut feature, Big Nickel, with principal photography kicking off in the U.S this winter.
Co-written by Chilcoat and David Birke, the thriller centers on Charlie (Bracey), a charismatic Army recruiter, who is tasked with signing the “big fish” for a promotion. The only person standing in his way is Erik, a disturbed ex-vet that Charlie convinced to enlist years before. A dangerous man with a bone to pick, Erik will not be satisfied until Charlie has paid a heavy price—and as pressure mounts, Charlie is ultimately forced to re-examine his dubious methods, facing a thunderous reckoning of accountability.
A Traction and Arclight Films production, Big Nickel is produced by Traction’s Jason Tamasco and Zak Kristofek. Executive producers include Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton, Ryan Hamilton and Ying Ye.
A native of Australia, Bracey is best known for turns in Netflix original rom-com Holidate, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate’s Point Break remake, Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate’s Oscar-winning war film Hacksaw Ridge and acclaimed Hulu miniseries, Little Fires Everywhere.
Rising to fame following her appearance on NBC drama series American Dreams, Snow’s TV credits include Ryan Murphy’s Nip/Tuck, David E. Kelly’s Harry’s Law, The CW’s musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Fox’s Almost Family.
On the film side, the actress is internationally recognized for her turn as Chloe in Universal Studios’ Pitch Perfect franchise. Additional big screen credits include The Pacifier, John Tucker Must Die, Prom Night and Hairspray. Most recently, Snow produced and starred in the comedic feature, Hooking Up, also starring in Netflix feature Someone Great, produced by Paul Feig.
Bracey is represented in the U.S. by CAA, Fourward, and attorney Michael Schenkman of Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. In Australia, the actor is repped by Morrissey Management. Snow is repped by The Gersh Agency and Principal Entertainment.
Co-written by Chilcoat and David Birke, the thriller centers on Charlie (Bracey), a charismatic Army recruiter, who is tasked with signing the “big fish” for a promotion. The only person standing in his way is Erik, a disturbed ex-vet that Charlie convinced to enlist years before. A dangerous man with a bone to pick, Erik will not be satisfied until Charlie has paid a heavy price—and as pressure mounts, Charlie is ultimately forced to re-examine his dubious methods, facing a thunderous reckoning of accountability.
A Traction and Arclight Films production, Big Nickel is produced by Traction’s Jason Tamasco and Zak Kristofek. Executive producers include Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton, Ryan Hamilton and Ying Ye.
A native of Australia, Bracey is best known for turns in Netflix original rom-com Holidate, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate’s Point Break remake, Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate’s Oscar-winning war film Hacksaw Ridge and acclaimed Hulu miniseries, Little Fires Everywhere.
Rising to fame following her appearance on NBC drama series American Dreams, Snow’s TV credits include Ryan Murphy’s Nip/Tuck, David E. Kelly’s Harry’s Law, The CW’s musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Fox’s Almost Family.
On the film side, the actress is internationally recognized for her turn as Chloe in Universal Studios’ Pitch Perfect franchise. Additional big screen credits include The Pacifier, John Tucker Must Die, Prom Night and Hairspray. Most recently, Snow produced and starred in the comedic feature, Hooking Up, also starring in Netflix feature Someone Great, produced by Paul Feig.
Bracey is represented in the U.S. by CAA, Fourward, and attorney Michael Schenkman of Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. In Australia, the actor is repped by Morrissey Management. Snow is repped by The Gersh Agency and Principal Entertainment.
- 4/7/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Arclight handles worldwide sales.
Arclight Films has licensed North American rights on Paz Vega coming-of-age drama Chasing Wonders to Gravitas Ventures, which has set a June 4 theatrical and on-demand release.
The story takes place in the wine country of Australia and Spain and centres on a 12-year-old boy who sets off on an adventure to find the magical Emu Plains.
Edward James Olmos, Carmen Maura, Antonio de la Torre, Quim Gutierrez, Jessica Marais and newcomer Michael Crisafulli round out the key cast.
Paul Meins directed and Australian award-winning screenwriter Judy Morris wrote the screenplay. The film premiered at Adelaide Film...
Arclight Films has licensed North American rights on Paz Vega coming-of-age drama Chasing Wonders to Gravitas Ventures, which has set a June 4 theatrical and on-demand release.
The story takes place in the wine country of Australia and Spain and centres on a 12-year-old boy who sets off on an adventure to find the magical Emu Plains.
Edward James Olmos, Carmen Maura, Antonio de la Torre, Quim Gutierrez, Jessica Marais and newcomer Michael Crisafulli round out the key cast.
Paul Meins directed and Australian award-winning screenwriter Judy Morris wrote the screenplay. The film premiered at Adelaide Film...
- 3/22/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre echoes through the arid plains of this hardy, old-fashioned yarn. Like John Huston’s classic, The Furnace is a story of gold, greed and amorality with added grit that’s typical of the Australian ‘Meat Pie’ Western. Indeed, it comes during a brutal renaissance in the genre that started with The Proposition and has been followed by such films as Sweet Country, The Nightingale and True History of the Kelly Gang. With its mix of timeless themes and stark milieu, The Furnace joins this canon indepicting a continental history replete with prejudice, cruelty and psychopathic British lawmen.
Our focaliser is Hanif (Ahmed Malek), an Afghan cameleer imported by the Empire to move freight across Australia’s vast interior. Life in the wilderness is harsh, but Hanif finds good company in a group of Aborigines and a Sikh named Jundah (Kaushik Das). However, this is a land of heat,...
Our focaliser is Hanif (Ahmed Malek), an Afghan cameleer imported by the Empire to move freight across Australia’s vast interior. Life in the wilderness is harsh, but Hanif finds good company in a group of Aborigines and a Sikh named Jundah (Kaushik Das). However, this is a land of heat,...
- 1/28/2021
- by Jack Hawkins
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Signature previously acquired UK rights.
Arclight Films has closed a North American deal on The Sinners (formerly The Color Rose) with Brainstorm Media and licensed the teen cult thriller in two major territories.
Company managing director Gary Hamilton also announced on Thursday (January 21) that Defiant has picked up Courtney Paige’s film for Australia, and At Entertainment has taken Japanese rights.
Kaitlyn Bernard, Brenna Llewellyn, and Brenna Coates lead the cast in the story about a clique of young women who start a cult where each of them must embody one of the seven deadly sins.
Meyer Shwarzstein’s Brainstorm...
Arclight Films has closed a North American deal on The Sinners (formerly The Color Rose) with Brainstorm Media and licensed the teen cult thriller in two major territories.
Company managing director Gary Hamilton also announced on Thursday (January 21) that Defiant has picked up Courtney Paige’s film for Australia, and At Entertainment has taken Japanese rights.
Kaitlyn Bernard, Brenna Llewellyn, and Brenna Coates lead the cast in the story about a clique of young women who start a cult where each of them must embody one of the seven deadly sins.
Meyer Shwarzstein’s Brainstorm...
- 1/21/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
British-New Zealand miniseries “The Luminaries” will get its stateside debut on Starz in February, the pay TV channel said Tuesday.
Starring Eve Hewson, Himesh Patel and Eva Green, “The Luminaries” will premiere Sunday, Feb. 14 at 9:30 p.m., following the debut of “Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip With Sam and Graham.”
Per Starz, “The Luminaries” tells an epic story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travelled across the world to make their fortunes. It is a 19th century tale of adventure and mystery, set on the Wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island in the boom years of the 1860s gold rush.
Along with the premiere date news, Starz released the trailer for the six-episode limited series, which you can view above.
Here’s the official description for “The Luminaries,” which is based on Eleanor Catton’s novel of the same name: The story follows...
Starring Eve Hewson, Himesh Patel and Eva Green, “The Luminaries” will premiere Sunday, Feb. 14 at 9:30 p.m., following the debut of “Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip With Sam and Graham.”
Per Starz, “The Luminaries” tells an epic story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travelled across the world to make their fortunes. It is a 19th century tale of adventure and mystery, set on the Wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island in the boom years of the 1860s gold rush.
Along with the premiere date news, Starz released the trailer for the six-episode limited series, which you can view above.
Here’s the official description for “The Luminaries,” which is based on Eleanor Catton’s novel of the same name: The story follows...
- 1/19/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
"You get me there... you get what's yours." Signature Entertainment has released a new official UK trailer for a western thriller titled The Furnace, made by Australian filmmaker Roderick MacKay. This originally premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival. The Furnace is a tense Western set in the 1890s gold rush of Western Australia. To escape the outback, a young Afghan cameleer named Hamif falls in with a mysterious bushman on the run with two bars of stolen Crown gold. The film stars David Wenham, Ahmad Malek, Jay Ryan, Mahesh Jadu, and Baykali Ganambarr. Well now, this looks pretty damn good! Yet another Australian western confronting racism and the horrible past of Australia and the white men who killed many years ago. I enjoy the score that builds in the second half of this trailer, it won me over. Check it out below. Here's the official UK trailer (+ poster) for Roderick MacKay's The Furnace,...
- 1/4/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
For the first time since cinemas reopened, two titles have earned more than $1 million in a single weekend, with The Witches bowing and The War With Grandpa continuing to climb.
It’s a positive sign for exhibitors in the lead up to the school holidays and the end of year, with titles The Croods: A New Age, Wonder Woman 1984 and The Dry all on the horizon.
Robert Zemeckis’ Roald Dahl adaptation, starring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer, ranked no. 1, opening on $1.13 million from 396 screens (or $1.6 million with previews) for Warner Bros.
While some exhibitors are dismayed by the film’s M-rating, arguing it limits how accessible it is for families, it is still the best opening weekend for any film since Christopher Nolan’s Tenet on August 27.
It’s also equivalent with The Addams Family, a WB title released this time last year, in a pre-covid world.
Village Cinemas’ Geoff...
It’s a positive sign for exhibitors in the lead up to the school holidays and the end of year, with titles The Croods: A New Age, Wonder Woman 1984 and The Dry all on the horizon.
Robert Zemeckis’ Roald Dahl adaptation, starring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer, ranked no. 1, opening on $1.13 million from 396 screens (or $1.6 million with previews) for Warner Bros.
While some exhibitors are dismayed by the film’s M-rating, arguing it limits how accessible it is for families, it is still the best opening weekend for any film since Christopher Nolan’s Tenet on August 27.
It’s also equivalent with The Addams Family, a WB title released this time last year, in a pre-covid world.
Village Cinemas’ Geoff...
- 12/14/2020
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Short film Judas Collar was among the star performers at the Wa Screen Culture Awards yesterday, taking out five categories at the inaugural event.
Held as a conclusion to the Revelation Perth International Film Festival, the awards recognise new, established, and emerging screen practices across 18 divisions.
Alison James’ story of a tracking device known as a Judas Collar that captures the journey and betrayal of a feral camel in Australia’s Outback added to its inclusion on the long list for the Academy Award for short film last year, winning each of its nominated fields, including Innovation in Short Film or Animation.
James told If innovation was at the heart of her film, which contains no dialogue and involved helicopter stunt work in the remote outback.
“There’s no road map for how to make a film like this,” she said.
“We were filming camels without ropes, so we had...
Held as a conclusion to the Revelation Perth International Film Festival, the awards recognise new, established, and emerging screen practices across 18 divisions.
Alison James’ story of a tracking device known as a Judas Collar that captures the journey and betrayal of a feral camel in Australia’s Outback added to its inclusion on the long list for the Academy Award for short film last year, winning each of its nominated fields, including Innovation in Short Film or Animation.
James told If innovation was at the heart of her film, which contains no dialogue and involved helicopter stunt work in the remote outback.
“There’s no road map for how to make a film like this,” she said.
“We were filming camels without ropes, so we had...
- 12/14/2020
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Writer-director Roderick MacKay is keen to further explore frontier mythology following the release of his debut feature The Furnace this week.
Produced by Timothy White (I Am Mother) and Tenille Kennedy (H is for Happiness), the film follows Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek as a young Afghan cameleer who partners with Mal, a mysterious bushman (David Wenham) on the run with two Crown-marked gold bars.
Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace – the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown.
The cast includes Jay Ryan, Erik Thomson (The Luminaries), Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale), Trevor Jamieson (Storm Boy), Mahesh Jadu (The Witcher) and Samson Coulter (Breath).
Having had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, the 1890s drama will open on 115 screens via Umbrella Entertainment tomorrow.
Produced by Timothy White (I Am Mother) and Tenille Kennedy (H is for Happiness), the film follows Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek as a young Afghan cameleer who partners with Mal, a mysterious bushman (David Wenham) on the run with two Crown-marked gold bars.
Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace – the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown.
The cast includes Jay Ryan, Erik Thomson (The Luminaries), Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale), Trevor Jamieson (Storm Boy), Mahesh Jadu (The Witcher) and Samson Coulter (Breath).
Having had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, the 1890s drama will open on 115 screens via Umbrella Entertainment tomorrow.
- 12/9/2020
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Debut director Roderick MacKay’s compelling meat pie western poses questions about Australian identity but never feels polemical or even political
A sunburnt and badly wounded David Wenham, looking haggard and sounding hoarse but radiating as much gravitas as ever, slogs across outback Australia as a gold thief in The Furnace, accompanied by a young Afghan cameleer (Ahmed Malek) with whom his character develops an unlikely friendship. Or perhaps “business associate” is a better way of putting it. On the ground propped up against a log of wood, grumbling about how he must find somewhere to rest “before the dingoes get me”, Mal (Wenham) soon reveals he has in his possession two 400oz crown-marked gold bars: a veritable mother lode of riches.
But Mal doesn’t walk so good, being potentially on death’s door and all, so he needs the help of Hanif, the cameleer, to reach the titular location.
A sunburnt and badly wounded David Wenham, looking haggard and sounding hoarse but radiating as much gravitas as ever, slogs across outback Australia as a gold thief in The Furnace, accompanied by a young Afghan cameleer (Ahmed Malek) with whom his character develops an unlikely friendship. Or perhaps “business associate” is a better way of putting it. On the ground propped up against a log of wood, grumbling about how he must find somewhere to rest “before the dingoes get me”, Mal (Wenham) soon reveals he has in his possession two 400oz crown-marked gold bars: a veritable mother lode of riches.
But Mal doesn’t walk so good, being potentially on death’s door and all, so he needs the help of Hanif, the cameleer, to reach the titular location.
- 12/8/2020
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
Arab Stars of Tomorrow spotlights six talents from the Middle East and North Africa who are making their mark on the global stage.
In our fourth edition of Arab Stars of Tomorrow, Screen International celebrates six of the most exciting talents to emerge this year from the Middle East and North Africa. Egyptian director Sameh Alaa, Palestinian-Jordanian actress Tara Abboud, Saudi director Hana Al Omair, Lebanese actress Stephanie Atala, Moroccan actor Brice Bexter El Glaoui and Algerian actor Mehdi Ramdani are the breakout names of 2020.
Click on the links below to read the profiles of this year’s stars, and...
In our fourth edition of Arab Stars of Tomorrow, Screen International celebrates six of the most exciting talents to emerge this year from the Middle East and North Africa. Egyptian director Sameh Alaa, Palestinian-Jordanian actress Tara Abboud, Saudi director Hana Al Omair, Lebanese actress Stephanie Atala, Moroccan actor Brice Bexter El Glaoui and Algerian actor Mehdi Ramdani are the breakout names of 2020.
Click on the links below to read the profiles of this year’s stars, and...
- 12/8/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Cameras are already rolling in Northern Rivers, Australia on Seriously Red, the musical dramedy that reps the first feature from Rose Byrne’s Dollhouse Pictures. While Dollhouse launched five years ago, and the Seriously Red screenplay by Krew Boylan has been in the fold, we can tell you that Byrne will be part of the newly announced ensemble cast along with her Emmy-winning partner Bobby Cannavale and Daniel Webber. Arclight Films has boarded to handle worldwide distribution rights with Gracie Otto (The Last Impresario) directing.
In the rowdy and rambunctious musical comedy, Red (played by Boylan) is at a crossroads in her life. A vivacious and hilarious redhaired woman grappling with high expectations and low self-esteem, she pours herself a cup of ambition and trades her 9 to 5 career in real estate for a life under the spotlight as a Dolly Parton impersonator.
In the rowdy and rambunctious musical comedy, Red (played by Boylan) is at a crossroads in her life. A vivacious and hilarious redhaired woman grappling with high expectations and low self-esteem, she pours herself a cup of ambition and trades her 9 to 5 career in real estate for a life under the spotlight as a Dolly Parton impersonator.
- 11/17/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
“It won’t stop bleeding!!!”
Available Now, Ronin Flix Releases a New 3 Disc Collector’s EditionI Spit on Your Grave Blu-ray Box Set Featuring a New 4K Scan and Restoration of the Original Uncut Feature Film, I Spit on Your Grave: Deju Vu, and Growing up with I Spit on Your Grave.
The Collectible Box Set Also Includes a Deluxe Custom Slipcase with Original Artwork by Adam Stothard, a Newly Commissioned 44 Page Book, Collectible Mini-Posters and Replica VHS Box-Style Magnets
Ronin Flix is pleased to commemorate one of the most controversial feature films of all time with a new 3 disc Collector’s Edition I Spit On Your Grave Blu-ray Box Set just in time for the holidays. This box set features a new 4K scan and restoration of director Meir Zarchi’s 35mm original camera negative of I Spit On Your Grave, along with a newly restored original mono soundtrack.
Available Now, Ronin Flix Releases a New 3 Disc Collector’s EditionI Spit on Your Grave Blu-ray Box Set Featuring a New 4K Scan and Restoration of the Original Uncut Feature Film, I Spit on Your Grave: Deju Vu, and Growing up with I Spit on Your Grave.
The Collectible Box Set Also Includes a Deluxe Custom Slipcase with Original Artwork by Adam Stothard, a Newly Commissioned 44 Page Book, Collectible Mini-Posters and Replica VHS Box-Style Magnets
Ronin Flix is pleased to commemorate one of the most controversial feature films of all time with a new 3 disc Collector’s Edition I Spit On Your Grave Blu-ray Box Set just in time for the holidays. This box set features a new 4K scan and restoration of director Meir Zarchi’s 35mm original camera negative of I Spit On Your Grave, along with a newly restored original mono soundtrack.
- 11/12/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Michael Lembeck directed from screenplay by Donald Martin.
Arclight Films has commenced talks with AFM buyers on Astute Films’ rom-com A Very Senior High featuring an ensemble cast led by Ellen Burstyn, James Caan and Ann-Margret.
Company chairman Gary Hamilton and his team represents worldwide rights and will be screening the film, formerly known as Never Too Late, for the first time at the virtual market.
Burstyn plays Helen, an independent widow who moves into a residential home and must learn how to negotiate cliques, powerplays and flirtatious suitors. Her life is changed when she learns to love again. Caan plays Dan,...
Arclight Films has commenced talks with AFM buyers on Astute Films’ rom-com A Very Senior High featuring an ensemble cast led by Ellen Burstyn, James Caan and Ann-Margret.
Company chairman Gary Hamilton and his team represents worldwide rights and will be screening the film, formerly known as Never Too Late, for the first time at the virtual market.
Burstyn plays Helen, an independent widow who moves into a residential home and must learn how to negotiate cliques, powerplays and flirtatious suitors. Her life is changed when she learns to love again. Caan plays Dan,...
- 11/10/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Arclight Films is launching international sales on the horror-thriller “The Devil to Pay,” starring Danielle Deadwyler, Catherine Dyer and Jayson Warner Smith.
Arclight chairman Gary Hamilton made the announcement Monday, coinciding with the launch of the online American Film Market.
The story centers on a struggling farmer in an isolated Appalachian community, who fights to save her son when the cold-hearted matriarch of the oldest family on the mountain demands payment of a debt that could destroy a decades-old truce. Lane Skye and Ruckus Skye wrote and directed the film, and produced alongside Deadwyler, Martin L. Kelley, Allison Maier and Gabriel Olson.
“Danielle is a formidable talent, leading this gripping tale of familial defense through its pulse-racing twists and turns, as excellently plotted by Lane and Ruckus,” said Hamilton. “Our buyers have shown a consistent appetite for this kind of cerebral, elevated horror-thriller that both entertains and enlightens. We could...
Arclight chairman Gary Hamilton made the announcement Monday, coinciding with the launch of the online American Film Market.
The story centers on a struggling farmer in an isolated Appalachian community, who fights to save her son when the cold-hearted matriarch of the oldest family on the mountain demands payment of a debt that could destroy a decades-old truce. Lane Skye and Ruckus Skye wrote and directed the film, and produced alongside Deadwyler, Martin L. Kelley, Allison Maier and Gabriel Olson.
“Danielle is a formidable talent, leading this gripping tale of familial defense through its pulse-racing twists and turns, as excellently plotted by Lane and Ruckus,” said Hamilton. “Our buyers have shown a consistent appetite for this kind of cerebral, elevated horror-thriller that both entertains and enlightens. We could...
- 11/9/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Gary Hamilton, longtime managing director of Los Angeles-based Arclight Films, is preparing for his 36th American Film Market amid the profound changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. His credits include Daniel Radcliffe starrer “Escape From Pretoria” (pictured), “Hotel Mumbai,” “First Reformed,” “Triple Threat,” “Predestination,” “Dog Eat Dog” and “Jungle” starring Radcliffe. Arclight’s AFM sales slate includes Australian historical drama “The Furnace”; coming-of-age story “Chasing Wonders,” starring Paz Vega and Edward James Olmos; martial-arts film “The Foggy Mountain”; thrillers “Bloody Hell” and “Let It Snow”; “The King’s Daughter,” starring Pierce Brosnan and Kaya Scodelario; “Twist,” starring Michael Caine, Lena Headey and Rita Ora; “Here Are the Young Men,” starring Travis Fimmel, Dean-Charles Chapman, Finn Cole and Anya Taylor-Joy; “Possessor,” starring Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Sean Bean and Jennifer Jason Leigh; and the horror-thriller “The Devil to Pay,” starring Danielle Deadwyler, Catherine Dyer and Jayson Warner Smith.
How are you...
How are you...
- 11/9/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Reimagining of Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century vampire novella will screen at virtual market.
Arclight Films has bulked up its AFM sales slate with international rights excluding the UK, Australia and Germany to gothic horror and Sitges, Edinburgh and Chicago selection Carmilla.
The solo directorial debut of writer-director Emily Harris stars newcomers Hannah Rae and Devrim Lingnau alongside Jessica Raine, Tobias Menzies and Greg Wise, both of whom were recently featured in Netflix’s The Crown.
Carmilla will screen to buyers at the virtual market next week and is a reimagining of Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century vampire novella of the same name.
Arclight Films has bulked up its AFM sales slate with international rights excluding the UK, Australia and Germany to gothic horror and Sitges, Edinburgh and Chicago selection Carmilla.
The solo directorial debut of writer-director Emily Harris stars newcomers Hannah Rae and Devrim Lingnau alongside Jessica Raine, Tobias Menzies and Greg Wise, both of whom were recently featured in Netflix’s The Crown.
Carmilla will screen to buyers at the virtual market next week and is a reimagining of Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century vampire novella of the same name.
- 11/5/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In a boost to cinemas, Roadshow’s local comedy-drama Rams has posted the third highest opening weekend post-covid, behind only Tenet and After We Collided.
Opening on 298 screens and earning $809,177 ($1.27 million with previews), Roadshow CEO Joel Pearlman has touted the result, arguing it proves Australian audiences are enthusiastic to return to cinemas.
A reimagining of 2015 Icelandic drama Hrútar, Jeremy Sims’ directs the Michael Caton and Sam Neill-starrer which follows two estranged brothers as they raise separate flocks of sheep descended from their family’s prized bloodline. When a rare disease threatens their stock, they have to work together to save their sheep, their small town and their family’s legacy.
Over the weekend, Neill was nominated for the Aacta Award Best Lead Actor for his performance. The supporting cast includes Miranda Richardson, Wayne Blair, Leon Ford, Travis McMahon, Asher Keddie, Hayley McElhinney, Kipan Rothbury and newcomers Asher Yasbincek and Will McNeill.
Opening on 298 screens and earning $809,177 ($1.27 million with previews), Roadshow CEO Joel Pearlman has touted the result, arguing it proves Australian audiences are enthusiastic to return to cinemas.
A reimagining of 2015 Icelandic drama Hrútar, Jeremy Sims’ directs the Michael Caton and Sam Neill-starrer which follows two estranged brothers as they raise separate flocks of sheep descended from their family’s prized bloodline. When a rare disease threatens their stock, they have to work together to save their sheep, their small town and their family’s legacy.
Over the weekend, Neill was nominated for the Aacta Award Best Lead Actor for his performance. The supporting cast includes Miranda Richardson, Wayne Blair, Leon Ford, Travis McMahon, Asher Keddie, Hayley McElhinney, Kipan Rothbury and newcomers Asher Yasbincek and Will McNeill.
- 11/2/2020
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Roderick MacKay’s debut feature plays in El Gouna’s feature competition this week.
Cairo-based Mad Solutions has acquired Arab distribution and marketing rights to Australian writer and director Roderick MacKay’s debut feature The Furnace, ahead of its screening in competition at the El Gouna Film Festival (October 23-31) this week.
Set against the backdrop of Australia’s 1890 gold rush, the feature will have special resonance with audiences in Egypt and the wider Middle East due to the presence of Egyptian star Ahmed Malak.
The actor, who was a Screen International Arab Star of Tomorrow in 2018, co-stars an Afghan...
Cairo-based Mad Solutions has acquired Arab distribution and marketing rights to Australian writer and director Roderick MacKay’s debut feature The Furnace, ahead of its screening in competition at the El Gouna Film Festival (October 23-31) this week.
Set against the backdrop of Australia’s 1890 gold rush, the feature will have special resonance with audiences in Egypt and the wider Middle East due to the presence of Egyptian star Ahmed Malak.
The actor, who was a Screen International Arab Star of Tomorrow in 2018, co-stars an Afghan...
- 10/28/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
‘The Furnace.’
Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.
They fear the Federal Government’s media reforms, which will lower the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and double the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape) threshold for features to $1 million, will lead to fewer narrative features and feature documentaries.
Another concern is that removing the obligation to release films in cinemas will further deplete the number of titles available to distributors next year.
However most are confident the cinema business will rebound from Boxing Day onwards with the launches of Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2, and that 2021 will be a strong year.
“Business is not what it used to be...
Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.
They fear the Federal Government’s media reforms, which will lower the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and double the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape) threshold for features to $1 million, will lead to fewer narrative features and feature documentaries.
Another concern is that removing the obligation to release films in cinemas will further deplete the number of titles available to distributors next year.
However most are confident the cinema business will rebound from Boxing Day onwards with the launches of Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2, and that 2021 will be a strong year.
“Business is not what it used to be...
- 10/14/2020
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
‘The Furnace.’
Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.
They fear the Federal Government’s media reforms, which will lower the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and double the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape) threshold for features to $1 million, will lead to fewer narrative features and feature documentaries.
Another concern is that removing the obligation to release films in cinemas will further deplete the number of titles available to distributors next year.
However most are confident the cinema business will rebound from Boxing Day onwards with the launches of Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2, and that 2021 will be a strong year.
“Business is not what it used to be...
Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.
They fear the Federal Government’s media reforms, which will lower the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and double the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape) threshold for features to $1 million, will lead to fewer narrative features and feature documentaries.
Another concern is that removing the obligation to release films in cinemas will further deplete the number of titles available to distributors next year.
However most are confident the cinema business will rebound from Boxing Day onwards with the launches of Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2, and that 2021 will be a strong year.
“Business is not what it used to be...
- 10/14/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
The producers and funding bodies behind “The Furnace” took quite a chance when they agreed to back Roderick MacKay in his debut feature, yet clearly the young writer-director knows how to sell his vision just as well as he knows how to make a movie. Set in the deserts of Western Australia in the late 19th century, this ambitious, ethnically diverse and visually dramatic Western about an Afghani camel driver and a hard-bitten gold thief in the outback is a classic oater on every level, reminiscent of the more sensitive Westerns of the 1970s in which natives are accorded dignity and depth and moral quandaries aren’t black and white. Premiering in the Horizons section at Venice, the film combines racial sensitivity with good old-fashioned storytelling, which should be a winning competition on big screens at home but also abroad.
It opens in 1897, when a title explains that Western Australia...
It opens in 1897, when a title explains that Western Australia...
- 9/16/2020
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Mansoor Noor in ‘The Furnace.’
When Mansoor Noor decided to study at the Actors Centre Australia in 2014 after playing the lead in the ABC sci-fi series Shifters and a supporting role in the ABC docudrama Singapore 1942: End of Empire, it was a big gamble.
“It was a huge investment and risk for me, given there were hardly any people that looked like me on the screen and stages, unless it was a stereotype,” Noor tells If.
“I’m so glad I did because of the changes we are starting to see now, although in the the majority of my on-set experiences, I have yet to see the same shift to diversity we are seeing on screen.”
Noor’s career is flourishing, reflecting his versatility. He played a bad cop in Cleverman, a doctor in Rake, a journalist in The Secrets She Keeps, an impressionable young scientist in Eddie Arya’s thriller Risen,...
When Mansoor Noor decided to study at the Actors Centre Australia in 2014 after playing the lead in the ABC sci-fi series Shifters and a supporting role in the ABC docudrama Singapore 1942: End of Empire, it was a big gamble.
“It was a huge investment and risk for me, given there were hardly any people that looked like me on the screen and stages, unless it was a stereotype,” Noor tells If.
“I’m so glad I did because of the changes we are starting to see now, although in the the majority of my on-set experiences, I have yet to see the same shift to diversity we are seeing on screen.”
Noor’s career is flourishing, reflecting his versatility. He played a bad cop in Cleverman, a doctor in Rake, a journalist in The Secrets She Keeps, an impressionable young scientist in Eddie Arya’s thriller Risen,...
- 9/15/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
North American release set for later this month.
After a busy summer of sales on survival thriller Let It Snow, Arclight Films has locked in another key deal for the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Signature Entertainment will handle Stanislav Kapralov’s feature film debut in the territories.
The latest piece of business follows summer deals for Japan (Hark & Company), Middle East (Falcon Films) and Africa (Black Sheep Films), Greece (Spentzos), and McF Megacom (former Yugoslavia).
Grindstone has set a September 22 North American VoD release on Let It Snow, which stars Ivanna Sakhno as a snowboarder who gets separated...
After a busy summer of sales on survival thriller Let It Snow, Arclight Films has locked in another key deal for the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Signature Entertainment will handle Stanislav Kapralov’s feature film debut in the territories.
The latest piece of business follows summer deals for Japan (Hark & Company), Middle East (Falcon Films) and Africa (Black Sheep Films), Greece (Spentzos), and McF Megacom (former Yugoslavia).
Grindstone has set a September 22 North American VoD release on Let It Snow, which stars Ivanna Sakhno as a snowboarder who gets separated...
- 9/11/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Easier for a Camel: MacKay Unearths Troubling History in Revisionist Western Debut
Like Jennifer Kent before him with 2018’s The Nightingale, director Roderick MacKay mines similar (if more obscure) historical barbarousness in the Outback for his debut, The Furnace. Like a revisionist Western featuring robberies, criminals, corrupt lawmen and brutal environments, two unlikely partners become entangled in the transport of stolen gold requiring the insignia of the crown being melted off before it can yield a profit. Featuring a diverse array of characters reflecting the significant racial make-up of a country with a fascinating history of shifting power structures only recently utilized as the horrific backdrop for a number of prolific directors, MacKay crafts an intriguing first feature around an unexpected perspective in a film both troubling and illuminating.…...
Like Jennifer Kent before him with 2018’s The Nightingale, director Roderick MacKay mines similar (if more obscure) historical barbarousness in the Outback for his debut, The Furnace. Like a revisionist Western featuring robberies, criminals, corrupt lawmen and brutal environments, two unlikely partners become entangled in the transport of stolen gold requiring the insignia of the crown being melted off before it can yield a profit. Featuring a diverse array of characters reflecting the significant racial make-up of a country with a fascinating history of shifting power structures only recently utilized as the horrific backdrop for a number of prolific directors, MacKay crafts an intriguing first feature around an unexpected perspective in a film both troubling and illuminating.…...
- 9/7/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
‘The Furnace.’
Roderick MacKay’s debut feature The Furnace has been hailed as a compelling, ambitious and meticulously researched exploration of a little-known slice of Australian history following the world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.
Critics praised the performances of Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek as Hanif, a wide-eyed young Afghan cameleer, and David Wenham as a shifty gold prospector.
DOPs Michael McDermott and Bonnie Elliott’s camerawork was lauded for capturing the ancient landscapes of the Western Australian interior, as were Mark Bradshaw’s score and production designer Clayton Jauncey’s recreation of the gold rush town Mount Magnet in its infancy.
Produced by Timothy White and Tenille Kennedy, the 1890s drama co-starring Jay Ryan, Erik Thomson, Kaushik Das, Baykali Ganambarr, Trevor Jamieson, Mahesh Jadu and Samson Coulter screened in the festival’s Horizons section on Saturday.
The plot follows Malek’s Hanif and Wenham’s Mal who...
Roderick MacKay’s debut feature The Furnace has been hailed as a compelling, ambitious and meticulously researched exploration of a little-known slice of Australian history following the world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.
Critics praised the performances of Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek as Hanif, a wide-eyed young Afghan cameleer, and David Wenham as a shifty gold prospector.
DOPs Michael McDermott and Bonnie Elliott’s camerawork was lauded for capturing the ancient landscapes of the Western Australian interior, as were Mark Bradshaw’s score and production designer Clayton Jauncey’s recreation of the gold rush town Mount Magnet in its infancy.
Produced by Timothy White and Tenille Kennedy, the 1890s drama co-starring Jay Ryan, Erik Thomson, Kaushik Das, Baykali Ganambarr, Trevor Jamieson, Mahesh Jadu and Samson Coulter screened in the festival’s Horizons section on Saturday.
The plot follows Malek’s Hanif and Wenham’s Mal who...
- 9/6/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Are there signs of green shoots of recovery for the indie film industry following the profound business disruption wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic?
“We’re living through a rapidly changing time,” says Brian Beckman, CFO of international sales company and producer Arclight Films, which is handling worldwide sales on “The Furnace,” an Australian adventure story, screening in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section. “I think it feels like the worst part of the situation is now behind us.”
Physical production remains a challenge for independent filmmakers, amid continuing difficulties in securing Covid-19 production insurance as well as international travel restrictions.
However, many independents realize that there is now a unique window of opportunity for those who are able to make and deliver films.
Some have risked shooting films without specific Covid-19 related insurance, such as L.A.-based finance, production and distribution firm Voltage Pictures and producer/financier Limelight. Others,...
“We’re living through a rapidly changing time,” says Brian Beckman, CFO of international sales company and producer Arclight Films, which is handling worldwide sales on “The Furnace,” an Australian adventure story, screening in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section. “I think it feels like the worst part of the situation is now behind us.”
Physical production remains a challenge for independent filmmakers, amid continuing difficulties in securing Covid-19 production insurance as well as international travel restrictions.
However, many independents realize that there is now a unique window of opportunity for those who are able to make and deliver films.
Some have risked shooting films without specific Covid-19 related insurance, such as L.A.-based finance, production and distribution firm Voltage Pictures and producer/financier Limelight. Others,...
- 9/5/2020
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
When settlers began opening up the wild frontier of Western Australia in the 19th century, they relied heavily on immigrant cameleers from India, Afghanistan, and Persia. The predominantly Muslim and Sikh group, commonly referred to as “Ghans,” were instrumental in settling the Outback, but their contributions to the formation of modern-day Australia have largely been scrubbed from history.
“The Furnace” is first-time writer-director Roderick MacKay’s attempt to shed light on that little-known past, with the story of a young man from Afghanistan who falls in with a mysterious bushman on the run from the law with stolen gold. The film stars Toronto Film Festival Rising Star Ahmed Malek, Jay Ryan, and David Wenham, and has its world premiere Sept. 4 in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival.
“The Furnace” is produced by Timothy White (“I Am Mother”) and Tenille Kennedy (“H Is For Happiness”), and co-produced by Georgia White,...
“The Furnace” is first-time writer-director Roderick MacKay’s attempt to shed light on that little-known past, with the story of a young man from Afghanistan who falls in with a mysterious bushman on the run from the law with stolen gold. The film stars Toronto Film Festival Rising Star Ahmed Malek, Jay Ryan, and David Wenham, and has its world premiere Sept. 4 in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival.
“The Furnace” is produced by Timothy White (“I Am Mother”) and Tenille Kennedy (“H Is For Happiness”), and co-produced by Georgia White,...
- 9/4/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Roderick MacKay’s drama about ‘cameleers’ in western Australia is as unadorned as cow hide – see it on a wide screen if you can
The empty rows of seats inside the cinemas of Venice is a disconcerting sight, but it’s got nothing on the wide-open spaces of The Furnace, a brutish Aussie western that’s playing out in the festival’s Orizzonti sidebar. Social distancing is a necessity; all the men have gold fever. Sidle up too close to a rival prospector and more likely than not he’ll put a bullet in your brain.
While Roderick MacKay’s debut feature is finally more about action than history, this nonetheless disinters a fascinating lost subculture. In the late 19th-century, the British empire exported camels and their handlers to the deserts of western Australia. The handlers were predominantly Indian, Iranian and Afghan labourers, and their job was to ferry supplies...
The empty rows of seats inside the cinemas of Venice is a disconcerting sight, but it’s got nothing on the wide-open spaces of The Furnace, a brutish Aussie western that’s playing out in the festival’s Orizzonti sidebar. Social distancing is a necessity; all the men have gold fever. Sidle up too close to a rival prospector and more likely than not he’ll put a bullet in your brain.
While Roderick MacKay’s debut feature is finally more about action than history, this nonetheless disinters a fascinating lost subculture. In the late 19th-century, the British empire exported camels and their handlers to the deserts of western Australia. The handlers were predominantly Indian, Iranian and Afghan labourers, and their job was to ferry supplies...
- 9/4/2020
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Cinema has long provided a vivid canvas for Australian cinema to confront the country’s history of racial conflict, but there are many more stories to tell. Recent entries such as Warwick Thornton’s “Sweet Country” and Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale” capture the simmering anger and resentment between white settlers and the Indigenous people in their crosshairs in disturbing detail. Set against the backdrop of sprawling rocky landscapes, these brutal Westerns give the genre renewed immediacy for a country working through the demons of the past through the stories it offers up.
“The Furnace” marks the latest compelling entry to this emerging subgenre, and while writer-director Roderick MacKay’s first feature hews to plenty of formulaic twists, .
A tense and bloody chase across the Western Australian desert set against the 1890s Gold Rush, “The Furnace” focuses on the little-known plight of a “Ghan” cameleer — one of many Muslim and...
“The Furnace” marks the latest compelling entry to this emerging subgenre, and while writer-director Roderick MacKay’s first feature hews to plenty of formulaic twists, .
A tense and bloody chase across the Western Australian desert set against the 1890s Gold Rush, “The Furnace” focuses on the little-known plight of a “Ghan” cameleer — one of many Muslim and...
- 9/4/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Following in the horseshoe prints of Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country and Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, debuting feature writer-director Roderick MacKay continues to mine the classic archetypes and tropes of the Western to explore the complex cross-cultural historical threads of Australian identity in The Furnace. While the simmering threat of violence could have been dialed up into more visceral climactic set-pieces, the film tells an engrossing story of a little-known chapter in colonial history, unfolding across the ruggedly beautiful desert landscapes of Western Australia.
The surreal presence of camels may be common in images of the Australian outback,...
The surreal presence of camels may be common in images of the Australian outback,...
Following in the horseshoe prints of Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country and Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, debuting feature writer-director Roderick MacKay continues to mine the classic archetypes and tropes of the Western to explore the complex cross-cultural historical threads of Australian identity in The Furnace. While the simmering threat of violence could have been dialed up into more visceral climactic set-pieces, the film tells an engrossing story of a little-known chapter in colonial history, unfolding across the ruggedly beautiful desert landscapes of Western Australia.
The surreal presence of camels may be common in images of the Australian outback,...
The surreal presence of camels may be common in images of the Australian outback,...
Film scheduled to premiere at Adelaide Film Festival on October 23.
Arclight Films has boarded worldwide sales rights to the ensemble coming-of-age drama Chasing Wonders led by Paz Vega and will launch sales during Toronto International Film Festival.
The key cast includes Edward James Olmos, Quim Gutierrez, Carmen Maura, Antonio de la Torre, Jessica Marais, and newcomer Michael Crisafulli.
Australian screenwriter Judy Morris wrote the screenplay about a 12-year-old only child who defies his father’s wishes and takes off on the adventure of a lifetime to find the magical Emu Plains. Debutant Hilton Nathanson directs.
Anna Vincent (I Am Mother...
Arclight Films has boarded worldwide sales rights to the ensemble coming-of-age drama Chasing Wonders led by Paz Vega and will launch sales during Toronto International Film Festival.
The key cast includes Edward James Olmos, Quim Gutierrez, Carmen Maura, Antonio de la Torre, Jessica Marais, and newcomer Michael Crisafulli.
Australian screenwriter Judy Morris wrote the screenplay about a 12-year-old only child who defies his father’s wishes and takes off on the adventure of a lifetime to find the magical Emu Plains. Debutant Hilton Nathanson directs.
Anna Vincent (I Am Mother...
- 9/2/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
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