Screen Australia announces $5.4m slate
Screen Australia is to spend $5.4 on supporting six feature films, including a documentary, a 3D animation and a mystery which will see Nicole Kidman return home to Australia for filming.
Screen Australia’s chief executive Ruth Harley said: “The feature slate announced today includes exciting projects from some of Australia’s most loved and acclaimed directors such as Gillian Armstrong and Paul Cox, as well as projects from rising directorial talents such as Mark Grental and Kim Farrant.”
The films:
BACKYARD ASHES
Crow Crow Productions
Producers Anne Robinson, Mark Grentell, Peter Cox
Writers Mark Grentell, Peter Cox
Director Mark Grentell
International Sales Level K
Australian Distributor Umbrella Entertainment
Synopsis Aussie versus Pom rivalry peaks when Dougie and Edward fight it out in the cricketing challenge of the century… the ‘Backyard Ashes’.FORCE OF DESTINY
Paul’s Next Feature Pty Ltd
Producers Mark Patterson, Maggie Miles, Paul Cox
Writer Paul Cox
Director Paul Cox
International Sales Arrow Entertainment
Australian Distributor CinemaPlus
Synopsis Established artist Robert is told he has cancer of the liver and limited time to live… And so begins a love story. Another screen gem from veteran director Paul Cox, invested with the poignancy of an almost-true story.LAST CAB TO DARWIN
Hydra Hamlet Pty Ltd
Producers Greg Duffy, Lisa Duff, Jeremy Sims
ExecutiveProducers Ned Lander, Edward Simpson, Ian Darling, Mark Nelson, Andrew Myer, Jon Adgemis
Writer Reg Cribb
Director Jeremy Sims
International Sales Films Boutique/Films Distribution
Australian Distributor Icon Film Distribution
Synopsis Rex is a loner, and when he’s told he doesn’t have long to live, he embarks on an epic drive from Broken Hill to Darwin to die on his own terms; but his journey reveals to him that before you can end your life you have to live it, and to live it, you’ve got to share it.MAYA THE BEE MOVIE
Official Germany–Australia Co-production
Buzz Studios Pty Ltd in association with Flying Bark Productions
Producer Barbara Stephen
Executive Producer Jim Ballantine
Writer Fin Edquist
Director Alexs Stadermann
International Sales Wavery Productions BV
Australian Distributor Buzz Studios/Hoyts Jnr.
Synopsis Maya is a little bee with a big personality. But in a hive where fitting in is the most important thing, being different isn’t easy.STRANGERLAND
Dragonfly Pictures Pty Ltd and Fastnet Films
Gap funding Worldview Entertainment
Producers Naomi Wenck, Macdara Kelleher
Executive Producers Christopher Woodrow, Molly Conners, Maria Cestone, Sarah E. Johnson, Andrew Mackie, Richard Payten
Writers Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons
Director Kim Farrant
Cast Nicole Kidman, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving
International Sales Wild Bunch
Australian Distributor Transmission
Synopsis When Catherine and Matthew Parker’s two teenage children disappear into the remote Australian desert, their relationship is pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children’s fate.WOMEN HE’S UNDRESSED
Damien Parer Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Damien Parer
Executive Producer Michael Wrenn
Director Gillian Armstrong
Writer Katherine Thomson
International Sales Hollywood Classics
Australian Distributor Rialto Films, Pay TV Rights – Foxtel Broadcasting
Synopsis Orry-Kelly designed costumes for Marilyn Monroe, Jane Fonda, Bette Davis and Ava Gardner during the boom years of Hollywood. His films included Some Like It Hot, Casablanca, Now Voyager and Oklahoma. This feature-length documentary celebrates the colourful life of Australia’s greatest Oscar® winner.
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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FORCE OF DESTINY
LAST CAB TO DARWIN
Nicole Kidman
production
Ruth Harley
Screen Australia
STRANGERLAND
More boring drama and bogan comedies from Australian cinema. Is there any difference to Last Cab To Darwin and Force of Destiny? They sound pretty much the same concept. Seems like a waste of funding. Why not diversify Australian cinema? An action film. A fantasy. Sci-fi. Something different. Something that’s not painfully Australian.
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Have got to agree with you Bem. This is pretty dreary stuff. I can’t see an audience paying to see these movies. Screen Australia’s public relations department has gone very quiet this year as Australian films have done little at the box office. Take The Great Gatsby out of the result (which is defined as “Australian” for pretty dubious tax reasons) and the result is miserable. But nothing wrong with “painfully Australian” if you have a good cinema idea that offers a real chance to break out. These ideas just seem dull.
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So let’s see Ruth, what have you got coming up? A film about backyard cricket? Yep interesting. A film about liver cancer? Yep that’s good. A film about a dickhead who drives to Darwin and dies. Yep understand the drama in that. A film about a bee with a big personality. Unusual. And a story with the usual suspects Kidman Pearce et al about two dickhead teenagers who disappear in the desert. A kinda Burke and Wills remake for gen Y. What a slate! Full of commercial upside and cultural correctness. Ruth it just gets better and better for Australian film!
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Thank god we have a Kiwi running the joint cos we don’t know what’s good for us.
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They should have combined their creative talents to make just one big film?!
The story goes like this:
A backyard cricketer with a big personality gets liver cancer and while flying to Darwin to die or just bee on her own emergently individualistic terms Maya (that’s her name) mysteriously disappears in the desert so that Nicole Kidman and Guy Pearce have to come home from Los Angeles and go looking for her.
Now that’s a film.
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