“Babyteeth” director Shannon Murphy is to helm a television adaptation of prize-winning dramatic novel “The Strays.” The series is set up as an Australia-u.K. co-venture, involving See Pictures and Apogee Pictures.
Beatrix Christian is set as the lead writer of the six-part series. She describes the story as “an incendiary device beautifully disguised as a girl’s memoir and it is absolutely current. It explores a frightening blind spot in the worldview of people who are otherwise progressive.”
Inspired by the Heide Circle, and written by Emily Bitto, “The Strays” explores what happens when a violent act lost in the past of a subversive group of artists is linked to the death of a young woman in the present day. One of those involved must decide whether to expose a now-influential member of the establishment in order to prevent further tragedy.
“Babyteeth,” which competed at the Venice Film Festival,...
Beatrix Christian is set as the lead writer of the six-part series. She describes the story as “an incendiary device beautifully disguised as a girl’s memoir and it is absolutely current. It explores a frightening blind spot in the worldview of people who are otherwise progressive.”
Inspired by the Heide Circle, and written by Emily Bitto, “The Strays” explores what happens when a violent act lost in the past of a subversive group of artists is linked to the death of a young woman in the present day. One of those involved must decide whether to expose a now-influential member of the establishment in order to prevent further tragedy.
“Babyteeth,” which competed at the Venice Film Festival,...
- 11/27/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Naomi Watts and It star Sophia Lillis will star in director Claire McCarthy’s next feature Burning Season. Watts, who recently starred in McCarthy’s Ophelia, will also executive produce. HanWay Films, who is working with Watts on The Wolf Hour, will introduce the project to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival.
Adapted for the screen by emerging writer-producer Jenny Halper and based on Laura Van Den Berg’s short story What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us, the film pits a mother-daughter relationship drama against the landscape of Madagascar, an island prone to forest fires where nearly all the species are indigenous – and many are endangered.
The film was developed by writer-producer Jenny Halper (The Kindergarten Teacher) and Emmy award-nominated producer Kate Sharp (The Hallow) through Sharp’s newly launched company Daughter Films. The script was featured on the 2016 Black List and the 2015 Athena List.
Adapted for the screen by emerging writer-producer Jenny Halper and based on Laura Van Den Berg’s short story What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us, the film pits a mother-daughter relationship drama against the landscape of Madagascar, an island prone to forest fires where nearly all the species are indigenous – and many are endangered.
The film was developed by writer-producer Jenny Halper (The Kindergarten Teacher) and Emmy award-nominated producer Kate Sharp (The Hallow) through Sharp’s newly launched company Daughter Films. The script was featured on the 2016 Black List and the 2015 Athena List.
- 4/26/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Cinematographer Denson Baker’s recent projects have included the award-winning New Zealand drama The Dark Horse, the Oliver Stone-produced documentary Ukraine on Fire and the 2009 India-set romance The Waiting City. That last film was directed by Claire McCarthy, Baker’s wife and the director of Ophelia. Ophelia, which screens at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, casts Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts and Clive Owen to reframe Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the perspective of the ill-fated Ophelia. Baker speaks with Filmmaker below about the key paintings that influenced the film, collaborating with his wife and capturing the film’s tricky opening shot. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind […]...
- 1/27/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
We’ve had “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and “Fortinbras Gets Drunk,” and now there’s “Ophelia,” an intelligent and gorgeous spin on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from the point of view of the melancholy prince’s beloved. “Hamlet” of course has its share of memorable characters — recall the bit player who claimed that the play was about a grave digger who meets a prince — but this provocative adaptation of Lisa Klein’s novel gives an oft-maligned character purpose and agency. It is not betrayal and madness that bewitches this Ophelia but toxic masculinity. Director Claire McCarthy (“The Waiting City”) and adapter Semi Chellas (“Mad...
- 1/23/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Photo Credit: Julie Vrabelova
Coming out the Cannes Film Festival, here’s a first look at director Claire McCarthy’s Ophelia.
Currently in production in Prague, the cast includes Daisy Ridley (upcoming Murder on the Orient Express, Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Two-time Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts (Divergent series, The Impossible), Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominee Clive Owen (Closer, Children of Men, upcoming Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), George MacKay (Captain Fantastic, Pride), Devon Terrell (Barry) and Tom Felton (Harry Potter series).
Set in the 14th Century but spoken in a contemporary voice, Ophelia is a dynamic re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Written by Semi Chellas, Ophelia is adapted from the book by Lisa Klein.
Ophelia (Ridley) takes center stage as the Queen’s (Watts) most trusted lady-in-waiting. Beautiful and intelligent, she soon captures the attention of the handsome Prince Hamlet and a forbidden love blossoms.
Coming out the Cannes Film Festival, here’s a first look at director Claire McCarthy’s Ophelia.
Currently in production in Prague, the cast includes Daisy Ridley (upcoming Murder on the Orient Express, Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Two-time Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts (Divergent series, The Impossible), Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominee Clive Owen (Closer, Children of Men, upcoming Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), George MacKay (Captain Fantastic, Pride), Devon Terrell (Barry) and Tom Felton (Harry Potter series).
Set in the 14th Century but spoken in a contemporary voice, Ophelia is a dynamic re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Written by Semi Chellas, Ophelia is adapted from the book by Lisa Klein.
Ophelia (Ridley) takes center stage as the Queen’s (Watts) most trusted lady-in-waiting. Beautiful and intelligent, she soon captures the attention of the handsome Prince Hamlet and a forbidden love blossoms.
- 5/21/2017
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Covert Media finances, represents international sales on Shakespeare reimagining.
Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton, and Devon Terrell will star alongside previously announced Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts in Covert Media’s Ophelia.
Principal photography on location in Prague is set to commence this month. CAA packaged and arranged financing and handles Us rights.
Ophelia takes place in the 14th century and is styled as a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as the queen’s most trusted lady-in-waiting falls for Prince Hamlet and must make a fateful decision to protect a secret.
Owen will play King Claudius, MacKay will play Hamlet, Felton will play Laertes, Ophelia’s brother and friend to Hamlet, and Terrell will play Hamlet’s faithful friend Horatio.
Claire McCarthy, whose credits include The Waiting City with Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell, directs based on Semi Chellas’s adaptation of the novel by Lisa Klein.
Covert Media is financing and producing with Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger...
Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton, and Devon Terrell will star alongside previously announced Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts in Covert Media’s Ophelia.
Principal photography on location in Prague is set to commence this month. CAA packaged and arranged financing and handles Us rights.
Ophelia takes place in the 14th century and is styled as a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as the queen’s most trusted lady-in-waiting falls for Prince Hamlet and must make a fateful decision to protect a secret.
Owen will play King Claudius, MacKay will play Hamlet, Felton will play Laertes, Ophelia’s brother and friend to Hamlet, and Terrell will play Hamlet’s faithful friend Horatio.
Claire McCarthy, whose credits include The Waiting City with Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell, directs based on Semi Chellas’s adaptation of the novel by Lisa Klein.
Covert Media is financing and producing with Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger...
- 5/2/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Covert Media finances, represents international sales on Shakespeare reimagining.
Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton, and Devon Terrell will star alongside previously announced Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts in Covert Media’s Ophelia.
Principal photography on location in Prague is set to commence this month. CAA packaged and arranged financing and handles Us rights.
Ophelia takes place in the 14th century and is styled as a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as the queen’s most trusted lady-in-waiting falls for Prince Hamlet and must make a fateful decision to protect a secret.
Owen will play King Claudius, MacKay will play Hamlet, Felton will play Laertes, Ophelia’s brother and friend to Hamlet, and Terrell will play Hamlet’s faithful friend Horatio.
Claire McCarthy, whose credits include The Waiting City with Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell, directs based on Semi Chellas’s adaptation of the novel by Lisa Klein.
Covert Media is financing and producing with Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger...
Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton, and Devon Terrell will star alongside previously announced Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts in Covert Media’s Ophelia.
Principal photography on location in Prague is set to commence this month. CAA packaged and arranged financing and handles Us rights.
Ophelia takes place in the 14th century and is styled as a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as the queen’s most trusted lady-in-waiting falls for Prince Hamlet and must make a fateful decision to protect a secret.
Owen will play King Claudius, MacKay will play Hamlet, Felton will play Laertes, Ophelia’s brother and friend to Hamlet, and Terrell will play Hamlet’s faithful friend Horatio.
Claire McCarthy, whose credits include The Waiting City with Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell, directs based on Semi Chellas’s adaptation of the novel by Lisa Klein.
Covert Media is financing and producing with Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger...
- 5/2/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Claire McCarthy.
The Waiting City's Claire McCarthy is attached to direct The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, about black frontier women in the American Old West.
Doubt's Viola Davis is exec producing after buying the rights to the original novel by Ann Weisgarber, with Skyfall's Naomie Harris set to star.
Su Armstrong and Brian Rosen are producing for their SixtyFourSixty banner, with Julius Tennon exec producing with Davis..
London-based Gfm were shopping the film to buyers in Cannes; Idris Elba was briefly announced as being attached but dropped out.
McCarthy had a busy Cannes, with her Ophelia, starring Naomi Watts and Daisy Ridley, another hot market title.
The director, who contributed a segment to 2013's The Turning but hasn't made a feature since 2009's The Waiting City, is repped by Rgm Artists in Sydney and CAA in the U.S.
The Waiting City's Claire McCarthy is attached to direct The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, about black frontier women in the American Old West.
Doubt's Viola Davis is exec producing after buying the rights to the original novel by Ann Weisgarber, with Skyfall's Naomie Harris set to star.
Su Armstrong and Brian Rosen are producing for their SixtyFourSixty banner, with Julius Tennon exec producing with Davis..
London-based Gfm were shopping the film to buyers in Cannes; Idris Elba was briefly announced as being attached but dropped out.
McCarthy had a busy Cannes, with her Ophelia, starring Naomi Watts and Daisy Ridley, another hot market title.
The director, who contributed a segment to 2013's The Turning but hasn't made a feature since 2009's The Waiting City, is repped by Rgm Artists in Sydney and CAA in the U.S.
- 5/26/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
The Waiting City's Claire McCarthy has booked her next gig and it's a doozy.
Titled Ophelia, the film will be a sideways take on Hamlet's unfortunate love interest and is set to star Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Daisy Ridley, as well as Naomi Watts.
International sales will be shopped at Cannes, per Deadline, with financiers Covert Media running point.
One-time Annapurna exec Paul Hanson partnered with Media Content Capital last year to launch Covert Media, a feature production, financing and distribution outfit based in La.
Ophelia is based on the novel by Lisa Klein, adapted for the screen by Mad Men scribe Semi Chellas. Producers are Daniel Bobker, Ehren Kruger and Sarah Curtis.
The film will be set in the fourteenth century but will discard Shakespeare's original text.
.Sarah, Ehren and I have always treated this film like a jewel, since there.s something extra precious in...
Titled Ophelia, the film will be a sideways take on Hamlet's unfortunate love interest and is set to star Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Daisy Ridley, as well as Naomi Watts.
International sales will be shopped at Cannes, per Deadline, with financiers Covert Media running point.
One-time Annapurna exec Paul Hanson partnered with Media Content Capital last year to launch Covert Media, a feature production, financing and distribution outfit based in La.
Ophelia is based on the novel by Lisa Klein, adapted for the screen by Mad Men scribe Semi Chellas. Producers are Daniel Bobker, Ehren Kruger and Sarah Curtis.
The film will be set in the fourteenth century but will discard Shakespeare's original text.
.Sarah, Ehren and I have always treated this film like a jewel, since there.s something extra precious in...
- 5/5/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts are getting their Shakespeare on. In a new film announced on Wednesday, Ridley will be taking a break from Star Wars to play Ophelia, the tragic love interest of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s immortal play. Watts is on board to play Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. It’s a reimagining of a Shakespeare play without using the original text, but don’t expect this to be in the same vein as 10 Things I Hate About You or She’s the Man. The film, titled Ophelia, will take place in the 14th century. We got a still-set-in-the-Middle-Ages alternate view of Hamlet with Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Now we get one, albeit probably less absurdist and meta, with the focus put on Ophelia. The film’s script is an adaptation of the 2006 young adult novel Ophelia by Lisa Klein. No word on whether the film will...
- 5/4/2016
- by Emily Rome
- Hitfix
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Two-time Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts (Divergent series, The Impossible) and rising superstar Daisy Ridley (Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens) are in final negotiations to star in Ophelia, the highly-anticipated and dynamic reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” focusing on the untold story of Ophelia’s (Ridley) tragic romance with the prince and her relationship with his mother Queen Gertrude (Watts), it was announced today by Covert Media’s CEO Paul Hanson.
To be directed by Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City), Ophelia is based on the award winning novel by Lisa Klein and adapted for the screen by the acclaimed and award-winning writer Semi Chellas (“Mad Men,” “The Eleventh Hour”).
“Ophelia is brimming with youth-fueled charisma, exploring the nature of true love and beauty, and I’m so excited to bring this fresh mythic spin to Hamlet from a female perspective,...
Two-time Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts (Divergent series, The Impossible) and rising superstar Daisy Ridley (Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens) are in final negotiations to star in Ophelia, the highly-anticipated and dynamic reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” focusing on the untold story of Ophelia’s (Ridley) tragic romance with the prince and her relationship with his mother Queen Gertrude (Watts), it was announced today by Covert Media’s CEO Paul Hanson.
To be directed by Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City), Ophelia is based on the award winning novel by Lisa Klein and adapted for the screen by the acclaimed and award-winning writer Semi Chellas (“Mad Men,” “The Eleventh Hour”).
“Ophelia is brimming with youth-fueled charisma, exploring the nature of true love and beauty, and I’m so excited to bring this fresh mythic spin to Hamlet from a female perspective,...
- 5/4/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) announced the full lineup last night for their 16th year of celebrating independent, art house, alternate, and diaspora films from/about/connected to the Indian subcontinent (May 7 – May 14). Dedicated to bringing these films to a New York audience, the festival will feature 40 screenings (35 narrative, 5 documentary) –all seen for the first time in New York City. In addition, the festival will also feature five programs of short films.
The festival highlights various cinemas of India’s different regions. All the films are subtitled in English and some of the languages this year include Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telegu, Assamese, Haryanavi and Urdu. This year’s festival will feature a couple of sidebars –Nfdc restored first films of filmmakers and a three-generations sidebar, films of Bimal Roy, Basu Bhattacharya and Aditya Bhattacharya.
The festival’s film lineup includes 2016 National Award winners A Far Afternoon,...
The festival highlights various cinemas of India’s different regions. All the films are subtitled in English and some of the languages this year include Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telegu, Assamese, Haryanavi and Urdu. This year’s festival will feature a couple of sidebars –Nfdc restored first films of filmmakers and a three-generations sidebar, films of Bimal Roy, Basu Bhattacharya and Aditya Bhattacharya.
The festival’s film lineup includes 2016 National Award winners A Far Afternoon,...
- 4/13/2016
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and.Neighbours co-star.Craig McLachlan.
Kylie Minogue will join Guy Pearce and Radha Mitchell in Stephan Elliott's Flammable Children, produced by Al Clark (Priscilla, Chopper, Red Hill) and Jamie Hilton (Breath, The Waiting City, Backtrack).
The 1975-set comedy-drama marks the first time Pearce and Minogue have worked together since Neighbours.
Since leaving that show and becoming a pop star, Minogue has appeared onscreen only intermittently, though she seems to be ramping up her acting slate, with recent roles in Cannes-darling Holy Motors, the Dwayne Johnson action film San Andreas and upcoming series Galavant, created by Dan Fogelman (Tangled, Crazy, Stupid, Love).
.We are so excited to be able to support Flammable Children", Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said..
"In Kylie, Guy and Radha, the team has been able to secure some of Australia.s most established and iconic talents. The powerhouses in front of the...
Kylie Minogue will join Guy Pearce and Radha Mitchell in Stephan Elliott's Flammable Children, produced by Al Clark (Priscilla, Chopper, Red Hill) and Jamie Hilton (Breath, The Waiting City, Backtrack).
The 1975-set comedy-drama marks the first time Pearce and Minogue have worked together since Neighbours.
Since leaving that show and becoming a pop star, Minogue has appeared onscreen only intermittently, though she seems to be ramping up her acting slate, with recent roles in Cannes-darling Holy Motors, the Dwayne Johnson action film San Andreas and upcoming series Galavant, created by Dan Fogelman (Tangled, Crazy, Stupid, Love).
.We are so excited to be able to support Flammable Children", Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said..
"In Kylie, Guy and Radha, the team has been able to secure some of Australia.s most established and iconic talents. The powerhouses in front of the...
- 4/11/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Australian actors last appeared on screen together nearly 30 years ago in TV soap Neighbours.
Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue have signed on to join Radha Mitchell in Flammable Children, the new comedy feature written and directed Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).
It marks the first time the two have appeared on screen together in nearly 30 years, having starred as Mike and Charlene in TV soap Neighbours in the 1980s.
As well as a successful pop career, Minogue has appeared in films including Moulin Rouge! and Holy Motors while Pearce is perhaps best known for roles in Memento, La Confidential and Iron Man 3.
Flammable Children will shoot in Australia this autumn. Three other leading roles are yet to be cast.
Taking place in 1975, the film is set in a sleepy beachside suburb where “an extraordinary event” sets in motion a revelatory week for a teenage boy and girl.
The feature...
Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue have signed on to join Radha Mitchell in Flammable Children, the new comedy feature written and directed Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).
It marks the first time the two have appeared on screen together in nearly 30 years, having starred as Mike and Charlene in TV soap Neighbours in the 1980s.
As well as a successful pop career, Minogue has appeared in films including Moulin Rouge! and Holy Motors while Pearce is perhaps best known for roles in Memento, La Confidential and Iron Man 3.
Flammable Children will shoot in Australia this autumn. Three other leading roles are yet to be cast.
Taking place in 1975, the film is set in a sleepy beachside suburb where “an extraordinary event” sets in motion a revelatory week for a teenage boy and girl.
The feature...
- 4/8/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Australian actor Radha Mitchell will walk the red carpet at the Melbourne premiere of Sue Brooks. new film Looking For Grace at the Astor Theatre on November 24.
La-based Mitchell (The Waiting City, High Art, Finding Neverland) will be joined by Brooks (Japanese Story) in her home city, along with fellow cast members Odessa Young, Terry Norris and Julia Blake when the film is screened to Melbourne audiences for the first time.
In the film, Mitchell stars as Denise, the mother of eponymous Grace (Young) and wife of Dan (Richard Roxburgh), whose quiet suburban lives are thrown into turmoil when their daughter absconds with a large amount of money from their family safe.
It was only Australian film of the year to be selected In Competition for both Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, where it had its World and North American Premieres in September.
The film had its Australian premiere...
La-based Mitchell (The Waiting City, High Art, Finding Neverland) will be joined by Brooks (Japanese Story) in her home city, along with fellow cast members Odessa Young, Terry Norris and Julia Blake when the film is screened to Melbourne audiences for the first time.
In the film, Mitchell stars as Denise, the mother of eponymous Grace (Young) and wife of Dan (Richard Roxburgh), whose quiet suburban lives are thrown into turmoil when their daughter absconds with a large amount of money from their family safe.
It was only Australian film of the year to be selected In Competition for both Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, where it had its World and North American Premieres in September.
The film had its Australian premiere...
- 11/5/2015
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
A $2.3 million investment by the Wa Government has secured Denmark, a coastal town in the Great Southern region, as the location for the film adaptation of Tim Winton.s novel Breath.
Simon Baker will star in and direct the film with Us producer Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, The Notebook, Rain Man), and See Pictures' Jamie Hilton (The Little Death, The Waiting City, Backtrack).
Breath focuses on the lives of two teenage thrill-seeking boys. Hungry for discovery they form an unlikely bond with reclusive older surfer, Sando (Baker) and his mysterious wife. The boys are driven to take risks that will have a profound and lasting impact on their lives. The screenwriting team includes Winton and Gerard Lee (co-writer of Top of the Lake).. Palace will distribute in Australia and Arclight is handling international sales.
The Royalties for Regions program will contribute $1.5 million while ScreenWest will chip in $800,000.
Culture and...
Simon Baker will star in and direct the film with Us producer Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, The Notebook, Rain Man), and See Pictures' Jamie Hilton (The Little Death, The Waiting City, Backtrack).
Breath focuses on the lives of two teenage thrill-seeking boys. Hungry for discovery they form an unlikely bond with reclusive older surfer, Sando (Baker) and his mysterious wife. The boys are driven to take risks that will have a profound and lasting impact on their lives. The screenwriting team includes Winton and Gerard Lee (co-writer of Top of the Lake).. Palace will distribute in Australia and Arclight is handling international sales.
The Royalties for Regions program will contribute $1.5 million while ScreenWest will chip in $800,000.
Culture and...
- 7/10/2015
- by Staff writer
- IF.com.au
A high concept science fiction feature OtherLife will be made in in Western Australia, starting production in June. The project will be directed by expat Western Australian filmmaker Ben C. Lucas (Wasted on the Young) and produced by Jamie Hilton of See Pictures (The Little Death, The Waiting City) and Aidan O’Bryan and Janelle Landers from Western Australian based production company Wbmc (Son of a Gun, Wasted on the Young), alongside international producers Cherry Road Films. It is the third film confirmed to be shot in Western Australia with ScreenWest support this year (the others being Jasper Jones and Blue Dog), and Culture and the Arts Minister John Day has also confirmed a further three feature films are in the final stages of financing. ““This is positive news for the Western Australian screen industry,” he said in a statement issued to the media. “Western Australia is being recognised as...
- 5/4/2015
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
The controversial new film Unfreedom has unveiled its first theatrical trailer. Banned in India and featuring an ensemble cast including Victor Banerjee, the provocative film will be released uncut in U.S. theaters on May 29.
Unfreedom juxtaposes two powerful and unflinching contemporary stories about religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Shifting between New York and New Delhi, one tale follows a Muslim terrorist who kidnaps a liberal Muslim scholar in order to silence him, while the other charts the travails of a young woman whose devout father tries to force her into an arranged marriage, which she resists because she is secretly in love with another woman. The four characters come face to face with gruesome acts of violence in battles of identity, sexuality, religion, love, and family.
Written and directed by Kumar, the film stars Victor Banerjee (A Passage to India, Meherjaan), Bhanu Uday (Monsoon), Bhavani Lee, Preeti Gupta, Seema Rahmani (Good Night Good Morning,...
Unfreedom juxtaposes two powerful and unflinching contemporary stories about religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Shifting between New York and New Delhi, one tale follows a Muslim terrorist who kidnaps a liberal Muslim scholar in order to silence him, while the other charts the travails of a young woman whose devout father tries to force her into an arranged marriage, which she resists because she is secretly in love with another woman. The four characters come face to face with gruesome acts of violence in battles of identity, sexuality, religion, love, and family.
Written and directed by Kumar, the film stars Victor Banerjee (A Passage to India, Meherjaan), Bhanu Uday (Monsoon), Bhavani Lee, Preeti Gupta, Seema Rahmani (Good Night Good Morning,...
- 3/28/2015
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
When a film is “banned” by the Censor Board of Film Certification, you know you are onto something. Well, that is exactly the case with Raj Amit Kumar’s film Unfreedom.
Homosexuality.
Islam.
Thinking outside of convention.
Unfreedom breaks all the “rules”.
The film follows two different lives, the storyline pivoting on a female same-sex relationship and the dangers of religious extremism.
Shifting between New York and Delhi, one story explores the kidnapping of a liberal Muslim scholar by a Muslim terrorist. The other story dives into a woman’s journey -a woman secretly in love with another woman. She faces the challenges of this love when she refuses an arranged marriage set up by her religious father.
Classified as “too controversial” for release in India, the film will release in North American theatres on the 29th of May 2015 and simultaneously on digital channels via Film Buff.
The juxtaposition of...
Homosexuality.
Islam.
Thinking outside of convention.
Unfreedom breaks all the “rules”.
The film follows two different lives, the storyline pivoting on a female same-sex relationship and the dangers of religious extremism.
Shifting between New York and Delhi, one story explores the kidnapping of a liberal Muslim scholar by a Muslim terrorist. The other story dives into a woman’s journey -a woman secretly in love with another woman. She faces the challenges of this love when she refuses an arranged marriage set up by her religious father.
Classified as “too controversial” for release in India, the film will release in North American theatres on the 29th of May 2015 and simultaneously on digital channels via Film Buff.
The juxtaposition of...
- 3/15/2015
- by Aashi Gahlot
- Bollyspice
Dark Frames, a new distribution company dedicated to bringing high-quality, non-Bollywood Indian films to North American and international audiences through theatrical and digital channels, will release its first title, Unfreedom, on May 29, it was announced today by Dark Frames’ founder, Raj Amit Kumar. Veteran film marketer and distributor Mark Urman of Paladin is partnering with Dark Frames to lead the marketing and distribution of its release slate. Dark Frames will also partner with Film Buff to distribute Unfreedom at the same time on Cable VOD and other digital platforms.
Unfreedom juxtaposes two powerful and unflinching contemporary stories about religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Shifting between New York and New Delhi, one tale follows a Muslim terrorist who kidnaps a liberal Muslim scholar in order to silence him, while the other charts the travails of a young woman whose devout father tries to force her into an arranged marriage, which she resists...
Unfreedom juxtaposes two powerful and unflinching contemporary stories about religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Shifting between New York and New Delhi, one tale follows a Muslim terrorist who kidnaps a liberal Muslim scholar in order to silence him, while the other charts the travails of a young woman whose devout father tries to force her into an arranged marriage, which she resists...
- 2/13/2015
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Okay, so this is either weird, coincidental, or just plain funny. A new round of stills has arrived for Michael Petroni's second feature film, Backtrack, and it seems as if Adrien Brody has infected everyone with his singular facial expression. See the startling proof!
Petroni's Backtrack is a supernatural thriller that he wrote and is directing with Adrien Brody and Sam Neill in the lead roles. The cast is rounded out by local actors Bruce Spence, Robin McLeavy, Jenni Baird, and Anna Lise Phillips.
The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into chaos when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior.
Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City, Sleeping Beauty) is producing for See Pictures alongside Antonia Barnard (The Painted Veil, The Quiet American) and Petroni.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Subscribe to the Dread Central YouTube Channel!
Petroni's Backtrack is a supernatural thriller that he wrote and is directing with Adrien Brody and Sam Neill in the lead roles. The cast is rounded out by local actors Bruce Spence, Robin McLeavy, Jenni Baird, and Anna Lise Phillips.
The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into chaos when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior.
Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City, Sleeping Beauty) is producing for See Pictures alongside Antonia Barnard (The Painted Veil, The Quiet American) and Petroni.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Subscribe to the Dread Central YouTube Channel!
- 7/21/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
Whoever designed the new poster for the upcoming film The Ladies of the House should be given the job of designing every movie poster... ever. We've got it right here for you to soak in as well as info on upcoming screenings.
The Ladies of the House will be making its world premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival on April 4-5 and then screen immediately afterward at the Sarasota Film Festival on April 7-8.
The film was directed by John Stuart Wildman, who co-wrote the picture with Justina Walford. It stars Farah White (Ex-Terminators, Daylight's End), Melodie Sisk (White Reindeer, Summer of Blood), Brina Palencia ("The Walking Dead," "Star-Crossed"), adult film star Michelle "Belladonna" Sinclair, Samrat Chakrabarti (The Waiting City, "Damages"), Gabriel Horn ("Ghostbreakers", Carried Away) and Rj Hanson.
And in spite of the bit of playfulness in the opening paragraph, we do actually know who created the lovely poster below.
The Ladies of the House will be making its world premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival on April 4-5 and then screen immediately afterward at the Sarasota Film Festival on April 7-8.
The film was directed by John Stuart Wildman, who co-wrote the picture with Justina Walford. It stars Farah White (Ex-Terminators, Daylight's End), Melodie Sisk (White Reindeer, Summer of Blood), Brina Palencia ("The Walking Dead," "Star-Crossed"), adult film star Michelle "Belladonna" Sinclair, Samrat Chakrabarti (The Waiting City, "Damages"), Gabriel Horn ("Ghostbreakers", Carried Away) and Rj Hanson.
And in spite of the bit of playfulness in the opening paragraph, we do actually know who created the lovely poster below.
- 3/24/2014
- by Scott Hallam
- DreadCentral.com
Wolf Creek.s Greg Mclean will make his Us directing debut on 6 Miranda Drive, a supernatural thriller which will star Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell.
The low-budget film will be produced by Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions, which specialises in horror and created the Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister franchises.
Scripted by Mclean, Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong, the plot will follow a family that unwittingly brings a fear-feeding supernatural force when they return from a Grand Canyon vacation, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Shooting is due to start in March.
Krause listed that project among those which he and Armstrong are developing in an. interview with If last month.
Krause and Armstrong.s debut feature was Jon Hewitt.s 2008 horror movie Acolytes and they were among the writing team on Kimble Rendall.s Bait 3D. Their credits also include the children.s series K9 for Network Ten and the...
The low-budget film will be produced by Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions, which specialises in horror and created the Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister franchises.
Scripted by Mclean, Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong, the plot will follow a family that unwittingly brings a fear-feeding supernatural force when they return from a Grand Canyon vacation, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Shooting is due to start in March.
Krause listed that project among those which he and Armstrong are developing in an. interview with If last month.
Krause and Armstrong.s debut feature was Jon Hewitt.s 2008 horror movie Acolytes and they were among the writing team on Kimble Rendall.s Bait 3D. Their credits also include the children.s series K9 for Network Ten and the...
- 2/27/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Bruce Spence, Robin McLeavy and Anna Lise Phillips are shooting Backtrack, a psychological thriller from writer-director Michael Petroni. Jamie Hilton, who is producing with Petroni, his partner in See Pictures, and Antonia Barnard, says the project was relatively easy to finance. That was due primarily to how sales agents, distributors and other financiers responded to Petroni.s screenplay, the saga of psychologist Peter Bowers who discovers his patients are the ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years earlier. Another advantage during the financing was that Petroni.s status as a writer was rising as The Book Thief, his adaptation of the Markus Zusak novel, started shooting in Germany. Screen Australia, UK-based sales agent Bankside and Oz distributor Madman Entertainment came on board before Brody, an Oscar winner for The Pianist and who starred in Midnight in Paris and The Brothers Bloom, was attached. The other participants are Screen Nsw,...
- 1/13/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
No stranger to the genre, Queen of the Damned and The Rite screenwriter Michael Petroni's second feature film is of the horror variety, and it's got some big name stars attached. Read on for details!
As reported by Screen Daily, filming has begun on Petroni's Backtrack, a supernatural thriller that he wrote and is directing. The Australian shoot began on January 6th and is scheduled to wrap in mid-February, with Adrien Brody and Sam Neill in the lead roles.
The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into chaos when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior.
The cast is rounded out by local actors Bruce Spence, Robin McLeavy, Jenni Baird and Anna Lise Phillips. Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City, Sleeping Beauty) is producing for See Pictures alongside Antonia Barnard (The Painted Veil, The Quiet American) and Petroni.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
As reported by Screen Daily, filming has begun on Petroni's Backtrack, a supernatural thriller that he wrote and is directing. The Australian shoot began on January 6th and is scheduled to wrap in mid-February, with Adrien Brody and Sam Neill in the lead roles.
The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into chaos when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior.
The cast is rounded out by local actors Bruce Spence, Robin McLeavy, Jenni Baird and Anna Lise Phillips. Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City, Sleeping Beauty) is producing for See Pictures alongside Antonia Barnard (The Painted Veil, The Quiet American) and Petroni.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
- 1/13/2014
- by John Squires
- DreadCentral.com
Exclusive: Production underway on thriller sold by Bankside, distributed by Madman.
Principal photography is underway in Australia on writer-director Michael Petroni’s sophomore thriller Backtrack, starring Adrien Brody and Sam Neill (seen in this exclusive first image from the feature).
Shooting commenced in Sydney on Jan 6 and is scheduled to wrap in mid-Feb. Filming will take place in Sydney as well as the Central West region of New South Wales.
The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into chaos when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior.
Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City, Sleeping Beauty) is producing for See Pictures alongside Antonia Barnard (The Painted Veil, The Quiet American) and Petroni.
UK outfit Bankside will commence sales on the thriller at the Efm in Berlin next month. Madman Entertainment will distribute in Australia and New Zealand.
The film is financed by Screen Australia, Head Gear Films...
Principal photography is underway in Australia on writer-director Michael Petroni’s sophomore thriller Backtrack, starring Adrien Brody and Sam Neill (seen in this exclusive first image from the feature).
Shooting commenced in Sydney on Jan 6 and is scheduled to wrap in mid-Feb. Filming will take place in Sydney as well as the Central West region of New South Wales.
The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into chaos when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior.
Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City, Sleeping Beauty) is producing for See Pictures alongside Antonia Barnard (The Painted Veil, The Quiet American) and Petroni.
UK outfit Bankside will commence sales on the thriller at the Efm in Berlin next month. Madman Entertainment will distribute in Australia and New Zealand.
The film is financed by Screen Australia, Head Gear Films...
- 1/13/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The Joel Edgerton intense psychological thriller Wish You Were Here hits DVD September 10th, and M&C is giving away a Joel Edgerton DVD Prize Pack – which includes Wish You Were Here and The Waiting City. In the film, four friends indulge in a carefree Cambodian holiday, their sun-soaked retreat quickly takes a horrific turn when one of them disappears. Does one of the remaining friends hold the answer to the fate of their lost companion? Screen veteran Kieran Darcy-Smith (Animal Kingdom) makes his feature directorial debut with this ambitious non-linear drama centering on a group of Australian friends whose lives are irreparably changed after one of them goes missing during a spontaneous vacation. Alice (Felicity Price) and...
- 9/9/2013
- by Patrick Luce
- Monsters and Critics
This ambitious adaptation of Tim Winton's short stories is a beautifully, unapologetically Australian film
In the midst of an off-season for Australian cinema comes a bold and audacious crazy quilt of a film that resembles its own mini-Aussie New Wave. Tim Winton's The Turning, which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on Saturday, is being marketed as "a unique cinema event." That it is to say the least. The passion project of creator Robert Connolly, this three-hour epic is a wholesale adaptation of Winton's short-story collection. Each of the book's 18 stories is interpreted on film by a different team of filmmakers, including collaborators from the worlds of theatre, photography, visual art and dance.
Connolly has said he wants the film to feel like a group exhibition. To that end he's secured quite a slate of notable Aussie directors, including Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah), Tony Ayres (The Slap...
In the midst of an off-season for Australian cinema comes a bold and audacious crazy quilt of a film that resembles its own mini-Aussie New Wave. Tim Winton's The Turning, which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on Saturday, is being marketed as "a unique cinema event." That it is to say the least. The passion project of creator Robert Connolly, this three-hour epic is a wholesale adaptation of Winton's short-story collection. Each of the book's 18 stories is interpreted on film by a different team of filmmakers, including collaborators from the worlds of theatre, photography, visual art and dance.
Connolly has said he wants the film to feel like a group exhibition. To that end he's secured quite a slate of notable Aussie directors, including Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah), Tony Ayres (The Slap...
- 8/5/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Lightning Entertainment, the Santa Monica-based sales, production and distribution company, has acquired international rights to the hit South by Southwest Film Festival comedy, Gus, starring Michelle Monaghan (Source Code, Gone Baby Gone) Radha Mitchell (Olympus Has Fallen, Silent Hill) and Michael Weston (Fox’s “House,” HBO’s “Six Feet Under”), it was announced today by Robert Beaumont, President of Lightning.
The film, which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival to rave reviews in March, marks the feature film debut of Jessie McCormack, who directed from her own script.
McCormack is also a producer alongside Kathryn Himoff, Kevin Fitzmaurice Comer and Erik Van Wyck. The film is executive produced by Richard N. Gladstein (Finding Neverland, The Cider House Rules, The Bourne Identity). The deal was negotiated by Lightning Entertainment’s Joseph Dickstein and ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers. ICM Partners represents Monaghan and Mitchell and is also...
The film, which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival to rave reviews in March, marks the feature film debut of Jessie McCormack, who directed from her own script.
McCormack is also a producer alongside Kathryn Himoff, Kevin Fitzmaurice Comer and Erik Van Wyck. The film is executive produced by Richard N. Gladstein (Finding Neverland, The Cider House Rules, The Bourne Identity). The deal was negotiated by Lightning Entertainment’s Joseph Dickstein and ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers. ICM Partners represents Monaghan and Mitchell and is also...
- 5/1/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Screen Australia has found investment funding to back a new feature film: Backtrack.
It is the first major feature film or television project to receive funding from Screen Australia since last December, when the national screen agency revealed that it had committed its entire annual $42 milion budget within half a year.
While the funding for Backtrack surprised some in the industry, Screen Australia previously said the funding allocation was anticipated last December but only approved at the February 20 board meeting.
Backtrack is described as a spine-chilling supernatural thriller from writer/director Michael Petroni and producers Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City) and Antonia Barnard (Last Ride). The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into turmoil when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior. Hilton said the film is expected to shoot mid-year, depending on cast availability.
Petroni also wrote the...
It is the first major feature film or television project to receive funding from Screen Australia since last December, when the national screen agency revealed that it had committed its entire annual $42 milion budget within half a year.
While the funding for Backtrack surprised some in the industry, Screen Australia previously said the funding allocation was anticipated last December but only approved at the February 20 board meeting.
Backtrack is described as a spine-chilling supernatural thriller from writer/director Michael Petroni and producers Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City) and Antonia Barnard (Last Ride). The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into turmoil when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior. Hilton said the film is expected to shoot mid-year, depending on cast availability.
Petroni also wrote the...
- 3/5/2013
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
Veronika Jenet accepts an If Award for her work on Snowtown.
Veronika Jenet began her film career in the same place as many others, at film school. Unlike many others, she wasn.t enrolled there.
.At the time, film school was not as regimented . the place was basically open 24 hours. I was hanging around solidly all year and I wasn.t a student. The teachers kind of looked at me strangely but hey, I was there; I was doing work,. she says. .I.m sure I wouldn.t be able to do that now..
The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (Aftrs) played a pivotal role in Jenet.s life. It.s where she met director Ray Quint, now her husband and business partner, and director Jane Campion, with whom she has collaborated on five feature films.
Quint and Campion were both final year students at the school when Jenet...
Veronika Jenet began her film career in the same place as many others, at film school. Unlike many others, she wasn.t enrolled there.
.At the time, film school was not as regimented . the place was basically open 24 hours. I was hanging around solidly all year and I wasn.t a student. The teachers kind of looked at me strangely but hey, I was there; I was doing work,. she says. .I.m sure I wouldn.t be able to do that now..
The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (Aftrs) played a pivotal role in Jenet.s life. It.s where she met director Ray Quint, now her husband and business partner, and director Jane Campion, with whom she has collaborated on five feature films.
Quint and Campion were both final year students at the school when Jenet...
- 1/21/2013
- by Anne Fullerton
- IF.com.au
ScreenWest is to invest $750,000 in The Children, writer/director Claire McCarthy.s follow-up to the debut film The Waiting City.
The drama is adapted from a novel of the same by Charlotte Wood and it.s focus is a character called Mandy Connelly, a war correspondent who returns from Afghanistan to a small country town to join her siblings at their father.s bedside.
Dark family secrets are uncovered but the tone is light heartedly similar to that of The Descendants says Melissa Kelly, who is producing alongside McCarthy and cinematographer Denson Baker.
.It is about the love, joy and friction that occurs in all families,. says Kelly.
The film is the fifth to have received an injection of money from the West Coast Visions scheme, which aims to develop distinctive, creative projects by Western Australians.
The producers Robyn Kershaw (Bran Nue Dae) and Nelson Woss (Red Dog), and ScreenWest...
The drama is adapted from a novel of the same by Charlotte Wood and it.s focus is a character called Mandy Connelly, a war correspondent who returns from Afghanistan to a small country town to join her siblings at their father.s bedside.
Dark family secrets are uncovered but the tone is light heartedly similar to that of The Descendants says Melissa Kelly, who is producing alongside McCarthy and cinematographer Denson Baker.
.It is about the love, joy and friction that occurs in all families,. says Kelly.
The film is the fifth to have received an injection of money from the West Coast Visions scheme, which aims to develop distinctive, creative projects by Western Australians.
The producers Robyn Kershaw (Bran Nue Dae) and Nelson Woss (Red Dog), and ScreenWest...
- 7/17/2012
- by Sandy George
- IF.com.au
Terry O'Quinn as Gavin Doran in "666 Park Avenue" (ABC/Andrew Eccles)
ABC‘s slate of new shows for fall has a strange flavor to it, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride. The network has about as many new shows as returning ones (if you count all the midseasons), and a good percentage of the returning offerings are a year old or less, making this look a bit like a rebuilding year.
Not only is it a rebuilding year, but it’s the year of bringing back every actor and actress who ever had a decent run on a show before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a network’s new season slate that was so crammed with people returning from something else. If you can’t make it good, I suppose, make sure viewers recognize the faces.
It’s tricky to get a solid feel...
ABC‘s slate of new shows for fall has a strange flavor to it, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride. The network has about as many new shows as returning ones (if you count all the midseasons), and a good percentage of the returning offerings are a year old or less, making this look a bit like a rebuilding year.
Not only is it a rebuilding year, but it’s the year of bringing back every actor and actress who ever had a decent run on a show before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a network’s new season slate that was so crammed with people returning from something else. If you can’t make it good, I suppose, make sure viewers recognize the faces.
It’s tricky to get a solid feel...
- 5/22/2012
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
We've been talking about John Wildman's horror flick Stripped for about two years now, and we are extremely happy to report that the little indie flick that's home to some stunning eye candy is finally gettin' cookin'!
From the Press Release
Wildworks Productions announced that the horror thriller Stripped, initially set to film two years ago in 2010, will begin principal photography in Dallas, Texas this June. Directed by John Wildman from a script co-penned by Wildman and Justina Walford, the film will star the previously announced trio of popular horror film scream queen Tiffany Shepis (pictured below; The Violent Kind, Night Of The Demons), adult film icon Michelle “Belladonna” Sinclair, who will make her mainstream feature film debut, and internationally accomplished actor Samrat Chakrabarti (The Waiting City, Kissing Cousins). The film also stars Michael Guarnera (“Desperate Housewives”, “NCIS”).
The effort to get the film before cameras is headed by executive producers Ruth Mutch,...
From the Press Release
Wildworks Productions announced that the horror thriller Stripped, initially set to film two years ago in 2010, will begin principal photography in Dallas, Texas this June. Directed by John Wildman from a script co-penned by Wildman and Justina Walford, the film will star the previously announced trio of popular horror film scream queen Tiffany Shepis (pictured below; The Violent Kind, Night Of The Demons), adult film icon Michelle “Belladonna” Sinclair, who will make her mainstream feature film debut, and internationally accomplished actor Samrat Chakrabarti (The Waiting City, Kissing Cousins). The film also stars Michael Guarnera (“Desperate Housewives”, “NCIS”).
The effort to get the film before cameras is headed by executive producers Ruth Mutch,...
- 5/4/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Anupam Sharma
Bill Bennett
A new Australian film set in India has cast Aussie actress Toni Collette and Slumdog Millionaire actor Dev Patel.
Defiant is written and directed by Kiss or Kill’s Bill Bennett and produced by Bennett and Anupam Sharma.
The Australian-based Sharma told Encore that the production is aiming to have a global perspective and operate despite the lack of a co-production treaty between Australia and India.
However, this suits Sharma’s plan: “I’ve always propagated that we should use the Australian producer offset, and use private Indian finance.”
“At the end of the day, these stories work because they’ve got something to tell, not a doctored story to make a co-production. You have to find the right team. When I look at the team, I’ve constantly screamed we need a global perspective.”
The film is based on a newspaper article Bennett read about...
Bill Bennett
A new Australian film set in India has cast Aussie actress Toni Collette and Slumdog Millionaire actor Dev Patel.
Defiant is written and directed by Kiss or Kill’s Bill Bennett and produced by Bennett and Anupam Sharma.
The Australian-based Sharma told Encore that the production is aiming to have a global perspective and operate despite the lack of a co-production treaty between Australia and India.
However, this suits Sharma’s plan: “I’ve always propagated that we should use the Australian producer offset, and use private Indian finance.”
“At the end of the day, these stories work because they’ve got something to tell, not a doctored story to make a co-production. You have to find the right team. When I look at the team, I’ve constantly screamed we need a global perspective.”
The film is based on a newspaper article Bennett read about...
- 4/24/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Four feature film projects have received funding from Screen Australia, including a Tim Winton anthology which will be directed by a number of high profile actors and filmmakers such as David Wenham, Mia Wasikowska and Cate Blanchett.
The $5 million invested across the four films is expected to generate $20 million in production.
Winton's popular short story collection The Turning will be adapted by Robert Connolly's production company Arenamedia, with each chapter brought to the screen by a different director.
Set on a coastal stretch of Western Australia, The Turning follows the turning points faced by ordinary people. Other directors attached to the project include Tony Ayres (The Slap), Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) and Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City).
Other projects on the investment slate include a new project from Oscar-winning producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, a supernatural thriller starring Essie Davis and a teen drama set in the suburbs of Canberra.
The $5 million invested across the four films is expected to generate $20 million in production.
Winton's popular short story collection The Turning will be adapted by Robert Connolly's production company Arenamedia, with each chapter brought to the screen by a different director.
Set on a coastal stretch of Western Australia, The Turning follows the turning points faced by ordinary people. Other directors attached to the project include Tony Ayres (The Slap), Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) and Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City).
Other projects on the investment slate include a new project from Oscar-winning producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, a supernatural thriller starring Essie Davis and a teen drama set in the suburbs of Canberra.
- 3/22/2012
- by Amanda Diaz
- IF.com.au
Four feature film projects have received funding from Screen Australia, including a Tim Winton anthology which will be directed by a number of high profile actors and filmmakers such as David Wenham, Mia Wasikowska and Cate Blanchett. The $5 million invested across the four films is expected to generate $20 million in production. Winton's popular short story collection The Turning will be adapted by Robert Connolly's production company Arenamedia, with each chapter brought to the screen by a different director. Set on a coastal stretch of Western Australia, The Turning follows the turning points faced by ordinary people. Other directors attached to the project include Tony Ayres (The Slap), Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) and Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City). Other projects...
- 3/22/2012
- by Amanda Diaz
- IF.com.au
Little Hands is the first Australian film to be shot entirely in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
An intimate short story exploring the complexity of identity, loss, and the importance of human connection, Little Hands follows young tourist Mia (Dinka Bonelle Dzubur), who arrives in the post-war city of Mostar looking for her only remaining family, her little sister Sofia (Manon Bennett).
Dzubur is more than an actress . she is also the writer and executive producer of Little Hands. It was after feeling .dishearted. and .uninspired. by her acting roles in Australia . landing mainstream roles on Australian screens is particularly difficult for actors with diverse backgrounds . that she was prompted to create her own work.
.The more I stepped into the world of international cinema, I realised we were all feasting from this cultural trail mix in which there are not many stories of strong, powerful, sexy women because there are not many female writer/directors.
An intimate short story exploring the complexity of identity, loss, and the importance of human connection, Little Hands follows young tourist Mia (Dinka Bonelle Dzubur), who arrives in the post-war city of Mostar looking for her only remaining family, her little sister Sofia (Manon Bennett).
Dzubur is more than an actress . she is also the writer and executive producer of Little Hands. It was after feeling .dishearted. and .uninspired. by her acting roles in Australia . landing mainstream roles on Australian screens is particularly difficult for actors with diverse backgrounds . that she was prompted to create her own work.
.The more I stepped into the world of international cinema, I realised we were all feasting from this cultural trail mix in which there are not many stories of strong, powerful, sexy women because there are not many female writer/directors.
- 3/7/2012
- by Fay Al-Janabi
- IF.com.au
Eleven Australian producer teams from across the Australia met with American producers and studio executives at the Ausfilm Week in last week.
Ausfilm’s Deb Richards told Encore the sessions were, “like speed dating without the alcohol, with seven meetings one after another.”
The one-to-one sessions were project-specific, the filmmakers pitching a feature script they looked to receive funding and create co-productions on.
Australian producers included Bill Leimback (Beneath Hill 60), Jamie Hilton (Sleeping Beauty, The Waiting City), Stephen Amis (The 25th Reich), Robert Galinsky & Elizabeth Howatt-Jackman (Prey), Pam Collis (Singularity), Craig Lahiff & Helen Leake (Swerve), Sonya Armstrong (Seduction in the City), Lessa Khan and Marissa Goodhill, Jodea Bloomfield and Pippa Hinchley (The Live Sex Girls), Anthony Maras (The Palace) and Michelle McDonald of Screen Australia.
The selection of Us production companies included; The Weinstein Company, Arclight Films, Smoke House Pictures, Artists International, Michael de Luca productions, Fox Searchlight and more.
Ausfilm’s Deb Richards told Encore the sessions were, “like speed dating without the alcohol, with seven meetings one after another.”
The one-to-one sessions were project-specific, the filmmakers pitching a feature script they looked to receive funding and create co-productions on.
Australian producers included Bill Leimback (Beneath Hill 60), Jamie Hilton (Sleeping Beauty, The Waiting City), Stephen Amis (The 25th Reich), Robert Galinsky & Elizabeth Howatt-Jackman (Prey), Pam Collis (Singularity), Craig Lahiff & Helen Leake (Swerve), Sonya Armstrong (Seduction in the City), Lessa Khan and Marissa Goodhill, Jodea Bloomfield and Pippa Hinchley (The Live Sex Girls), Anthony Maras (The Palace) and Michelle McDonald of Screen Australia.
The selection of Us production companies included; The Weinstein Company, Arclight Films, Smoke House Pictures, Artists International, Michael de Luca productions, Fox Searchlight and more.
- 10/31/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Screen Australia has thrown its support behind 17 new feature projects, currently in development. More than $500,000 was injected into projects from such filmmakers as Emile Sherman and Iain Canning (The King.s Speech),.Jamie Hilton (The Waiting City),.and Jonathan Teplitzky (Burning Man). Sherman and Canning received funds.to develop.biopic, Life, by writer Luke Davies (Candy), as did Teplitzky for.drama Choir of Hard Knocks, which is to be written by Pip Karmel and produced by Marian Macgowan. Teplitzky, whose latest film Burning Man.will be released.by Paramount/Transmission on November 17,.is set to direct Colin Firth next year in Australian/UK co-production The Railway Man, based on the Eric Lomax book of the same name. Actor...
- 10/12/2011
- by Sam Dallas
- IF.com.au
After being incredibly moved last year by director Claire McCarthy's drama The Waiting City, about a couple looking to adopt a baby in India, young writer and actress Dinka Bonelle Dzubur (pictured, left) contacted the director with the idea of working on something together. What arose from these discussions was the moving short film Little Hands, shot earlier this year in Bosnia, and which was recently selected to screen as part of the International Program at the Pula Film Festival, the prestigious Croatian Film Festival. The film follows Australian tourist Mia, who arrives in the Bosnian city of Mostar to work in a remote orphanage, but also to reunite with her younger sister Sofia, with whom she was separated from during the Balkan Wars.
- 7/14/2011
- FilmInk.com.au
Hitting movie theaters this weekend:
X-Men: First Class – James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
Movie of the Week
X-Men: First Class
The Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
The Plot: In 1963, Charles Xavier (McAvoy) starts up a school and later a team, for humans with superhuman abilities. Among them is Erik Lensherr (Fassbender), his best friend, and future archenemy.
The Buzz: The film’s preliminary reviews have been solid, with 41 favorable reviews to 1 unfavorable, as of today at Rottentomates. The cast is really strong too. However, I personally have zero interest in this film, as it looks to have zero style (other than the standard nerdy film-version X-Men vibe), but perhaps this will be the first good X-Men film? I loved the comic books, was a pretty big reader for awhile there, and I’ve always felt like, of all the Marvel films, the X-Men films have fallen the furthest from their book.
X-Men: First Class – James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
Movie of the Week
X-Men: First Class
The Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
The Plot: In 1963, Charles Xavier (McAvoy) starts up a school and later a team, for humans with superhuman abilities. Among them is Erik Lensherr (Fassbender), his best friend, and future archenemy.
The Buzz: The film’s preliminary reviews have been solid, with 41 favorable reviews to 1 unfavorable, as of today at Rottentomates. The cast is really strong too. However, I personally have zero interest in this film, as it looks to have zero style (other than the standard nerdy film-version X-Men vibe), but perhaps this will be the first good X-Men film? I loved the comic books, was a pretty big reader for awhile there, and I’ve always felt like, of all the Marvel films, the X-Men films have fallen the furthest from their book.
- 6/1/2011
- by Aaron Ruffcorn
- The Scorecard Review
Australia’s screen professionals must be free to practice their skills anywhere in the world, but how do we stop this healthy career development from becoming a dangerous brain drain? Miguel Gonzalez reports.
If we were to make a list of all the Australian screen practitioners who have made it overseas, it would be a very long list indeed. It would probably start with the A-list creatives everybody knows, followed by the more anonymous and numerous executives, directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, VFX artists and technicians working all over the world.
While it is to be expected that many – if not all – industry practitioners would seek to expand their horizons and work internationally at some point in their careers to reach other markets, work in other systems and cultures and develop new skills, leaving Australia should not be an act of professional desperation.
The historical fluctuation in the volume of international...
If we were to make a list of all the Australian screen practitioners who have made it overseas, it would be a very long list indeed. It would probably start with the A-list creatives everybody knows, followed by the more anonymous and numerous executives, directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, VFX artists and technicians working all over the world.
While it is to be expected that many – if not all – industry practitioners would seek to expand their horizons and work internationally at some point in their careers to reach other markets, work in other systems and cultures and develop new skills, leaving Australia should not be an act of professional desperation.
The historical fluctuation in the volume of international...
- 5/24/2011
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Animal Kingdom, Beneath Hill 60, and the other winners of the 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards have been announced. The Film Critics Circle of Australia (Fcaa) “is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.” The awards were handed out on March 13, 2011 at the “North Sydney Leagues Club at Cammeray in Sydney. ABC Local Radio’s Rod Quinn hosted the event.” The full listing of the 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards winners is below.
Best Film
Animal Kingdom, Producer Liz Watts
Best Director
David Michôd, Animal Kingdom
Best Actor – Leading Role
Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom
Best Actress – Leading Role
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom.
Lily Bell-Tindley, Lou – Special Mention
Best Actress – Supporting Role
Essie Davis, South Solitary
Morgana Davies, The Tree – Special Mention
Best Actor – Supporting Role
Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom
Best Screenplay – Original
David Michôd, Animal Kingdom
Best Screenplay – Adapted Screenplay
David Roach, Beneath Hill 60
Best Cinematography
Denson Baker,...
Best Film
Animal Kingdom, Producer Liz Watts
Best Director
David Michôd, Animal Kingdom
Best Actor – Leading Role
Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom
Best Actress – Leading Role
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom.
Lily Bell-Tindley, Lou – Special Mention
Best Actress – Supporting Role
Essie Davis, South Solitary
Morgana Davies, The Tree – Special Mention
Best Actor – Supporting Role
Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom
Best Screenplay – Original
David Michôd, Animal Kingdom
Best Screenplay – Adapted Screenplay
David Roach, Beneath Hill 60
Best Cinematography
Denson Baker,...
- 3/15/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
It came as little surprise to learn that David Michod's Animal Kingdom cleaned up at The Film Critics Circle of Australia (Fcca) Awards which were held in North Sydney on March 13. Animal Kingdom was awarded the top prize over the other nominees which included the war drama Beneath Hill 60; last year's feel-good hit Bran Nue Dae; the teen blockbuster Tomorrow, When The War Began; and the deeply moving The Waiting City. As well as Michod picking up the award for Best Director, Animal Kingdom also took home the major acting awards with Jacki Weaver - fresh from her Oscar nomination - winning the Best Actress category.
- 3/14/2011
- FilmInk.com.au
The Film Critics Circle of Australia has named Animal Kingdom the Best Film of 2010, taking 5 awards including best director, actor, actress, supporting actor and original screenplay.
Beneath Hill 60 took two awards, and South Solitary and The Waiting City took won one each.
These are the winners:
Best Film: Animal Kingdom Best Director: David Michod, Animal Kingdom Best Actor: Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom Best Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom Best Supporting Actress: Essie Davies, South Solitary Best Supporting Actor: Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom Best Original Screenplay: David Michod, Animal Kingdom Best Adapted Screenplay: David Roach, Beneath Hill 60 Best Cinematography: Denson Baker, The Waiting City Best Editor: Dany Cooper, Beneath Hill 60 Best Music Score: Cezary Skubiszewski, Bran Nue Dae – also SpecialAcknowledgement Award for his continued contribution to Australian cinema. Best Foreign Film – English language: The Social Network Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon Special Mention: Lily Bell-Tindley (Lou...
Beneath Hill 60 took two awards, and South Solitary and The Waiting City took won one each.
These are the winners:
Best Film: Animal Kingdom Best Director: David Michod, Animal Kingdom Best Actor: Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom Best Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom Best Supporting Actress: Essie Davies, South Solitary Best Supporting Actor: Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom Best Original Screenplay: David Michod, Animal Kingdom Best Adapted Screenplay: David Roach, Beneath Hill 60 Best Cinematography: Denson Baker, The Waiting City Best Editor: Dany Cooper, Beneath Hill 60 Best Music Score: Cezary Skubiszewski, Bran Nue Dae – also SpecialAcknowledgement Award for his continued contribution to Australian cinema. Best Foreign Film – English language: The Social Network Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon Special Mention: Lily Bell-Tindley (Lou...
- 3/14/2011
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
The Film Critics Circle of Australia has announced the nominees for its 2010 Awards, and Animal Kingdom leads the pack with 10 nominations.
Beneath Hill 60 and The Waiting City follow behind with eight nominations each; Tomorrow, When the War Began has five, and Bran Nue Dae and South Solitary have four each.
It’s the first awards ceremony to recognise the previosly ignored Lou and The Waiting City as two of the best films of the year in the main categories; it’s also the first official recognition for South Solitary, which its producers did not even submit for consideration at last December’s AFI Awards.
The ceremony will be held on March 13 at the North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray.
The nominees are:
• Best Film
Animal Kingdom Producer: Liz Watts
Beneath Hill 60 Producer: Bill Leimbach
Bran Nue Dae Producers: Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac
Tomorrow When The War Began Producers: Andrew Mason,...
Beneath Hill 60 and The Waiting City follow behind with eight nominations each; Tomorrow, When the War Began has five, and Bran Nue Dae and South Solitary have four each.
It’s the first awards ceremony to recognise the previosly ignored Lou and The Waiting City as two of the best films of the year in the main categories; it’s also the first official recognition for South Solitary, which its producers did not even submit for consideration at last December’s AFI Awards.
The ceremony will be held on March 13 at the North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray.
The nominees are:
• Best Film
Animal Kingdom Producer: Liz Watts
Beneath Hill 60 Producer: Bill Leimbach
Bran Nue Dae Producers: Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac
Tomorrow When The War Began Producers: Andrew Mason,...
- 2/8/2011
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
The Australian film Animal Kingdom was the most popular film at Melbourne’s arthouse complex Cinema Nova, contributing roughly eight percent of the film’s national box office.
“[It's] a great result given the film screened on approx 80 prints at its widest point of release,” said general manager Kristian Connelly.
According to Connelly, Animal Kingdom screened at Cinema Nova “well past its home entertainment release” during a 19-week season, and has also enjoyed a successful return to the big screen, after dominating the AFI Awards last month. It is still screening, currently in its 22nd week of release and accourding to Connelly, he would “not be surprised if it played another few weeks”.
Connelly believes Animal Kingdom possessed “the perfect mix” of pre-buzz, a strong campaign by its distributor, and a clear vision from director David Michod.
“The film’s release strategy was also well handled by Madman, much like that...
“[It's] a great result given the film screened on approx 80 prints at its widest point of release,” said general manager Kristian Connelly.
According to Connelly, Animal Kingdom screened at Cinema Nova “well past its home entertainment release” during a 19-week season, and has also enjoyed a successful return to the big screen, after dominating the AFI Awards last month. It is still screening, currently in its 22nd week of release and accourding to Connelly, he would “not be surprised if it played another few weeks”.
Connelly believes Animal Kingdom possessed “the perfect mix” of pre-buzz, a strong campaign by its distributor, and a clear vision from director David Michod.
“The film’s release strategy was also well handled by Madman, much like that...
- 1/3/2011
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Comprising of Australian industry heavyweights including Nash Edgerton (The Square), Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom, The Waiting City, The Square), David Michod (Animal Kingdom) Luke Doolan (Miracle Fish, Animal Kingdom and The Square editor) and Spencer Susser (Hesher), Blue-Tongue Films is a talented, multi-skilled Australian filmmaking collective. Voting as one body, Blue-Tongue Films have signed on as part of the judging panel at this year's Optus One80Project, joining actress Kat Stewart and other judges still to be announced. "We are so excited that Blue-Tongue Films will be a part of this year's Optus One80Project," says Blue-Tongue member, director/stuntman Nash Edgerton.
- 12/15/2010
- FilmInk.com.au
Encore was asked by Matt Riviera to provide its list of the Top 10 films released theatrically in Australia in 2010 and, even though our specialty as a publication is local productions, it was a pleasant surprise to look at our final list and see two Australian films (and one with a considerable amount of Aussie talent) that deserved a spot in it. It wasn’t a pat on the back for the local industry, but a genuine recognition of the power of their stories and the skill of its execution.
The public is slowly starting to recognise it too; the top 10 highest grossing Australian films of 2010 made $45m at the box office, a figure that has brought optimism to an industry in desperate need of reassurance from the audience it serves.
This is the list Encore has contributed – and probably the only one topped by Toy Story 3, as animated films...
The public is slowly starting to recognise it too; the top 10 highest grossing Australian films of 2010 made $45m at the box office, a figure that has brought optimism to an industry in desperate need of reassurance from the audience it serves.
This is the list Encore has contributed – and probably the only one topped by Toy Story 3, as animated films...
- 12/13/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
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