News

Exclusive: Indican Pictures has acquired North American rights for Australian filmmaker Alena Lodkina’s fantasy thriller Petrol about the unsettling friendship between a shy film student and an alluring performance artist with a troubled past.

The film originally world premiered at Locarno’s Filmmakers Of The Present competition in 2022, and then enjoyed a buzzy North American premiere at the Lincoln Centre and MoMA’s New Directors/ New Films Festival earlier this year.

Indican Pictures co-founder Randolph Kret negotiated the deal with UK-French film company Alief, with the latter reporting that the distribution company had beaten bids from two other key indie players on both price and its release plans which include a theatrical component.

“Indican Pictures has acquired Petrol, an intense and intoxicating performance piece that is set to be released in 2024,” said Kret.

One of the draws of the film for international buyers is co-star Nathalie Morris, lead of...

The Melbourne International Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 2023 edition, with “Shayda,” by Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari, set as the opening title.

The festival will run as a live event August 3-20, at venues around the city and its suburbs, and online Aug 18 – 27. The hybrid format was developed during the Covid pandemic and Miff found it useful as a tool to reach further away audiences and wider demographics than a strictly in-theater edition.

The ‘Bright Horizons’ competition section open to films by first- or second-time feature directors contains an 11-title mix of new and recently-debuted works.

As well as opening the festival, “Shayda” will play in competition. The competition’s other Australian-made title was announced as “The Rooster,” from actor turned writer-director Mark Leonard Winter.

International titles in competition include “Banel & Adama,” by Franco-Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, which played in competition in Cannes; “How to Have Sex,...

Jason Raftopoulos has wrapped on his next feature Voices in Deep in Athens, starring newcomer Hannah Sims in the lead as an Australian humanitarian.

The film is the second from the writer-director, following the Melbourne-set West of Sunshine, starring the late Damian Hill. That drama premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section and went on to be nominated for three Aacta Awards.

In Voices in Deep, Sims stars as Bobby, who becomes connected to the lives of two orphaned refugees Tarek and Zaheed following a tragedy at sea.

Bobby compulsively exposes herself to strangers to dull the tragic memories, but a chance encounter with Gloria (played by Greek actress Angeliki Papoulia), leads them on an adventure together. Tarek and Zaeed (newcomers Michael Hilane and Christos Karavevas) fend for themselves on the streets. Tarek sells his body for food and shelter to provide for his increasingly vulnerable younger brother.

Ruben Östlund’s feature stars Woody Harrelson, Harris Dickinson, and Charlbi Dean.

Ruben Östlund’s Triangle Of Sadness, starring Woody Harrelson. Harris Dickinson and newcomer Charlbi Dean, starts shooting in Greece on September 19 after it was cancelled twice earlier this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It will shoot on the island of Euboea (Evia) and on a yacht in the Ionian sea for eight weeks.

Produced by Erik Hemmendorf of Stockholm-based Plattform Produktion, the film is a satire that follows a model couple, played by Screen Star of Tomorrow Dickinson and Dean, who are invited on a luxury cruise.

Stars: Damian Hall, Ty Perham, Kat Stewart, Tony Nikolakopoulos, Arthur Angel, Kaarin Fairfax, Faye Smythe | Written and Directed by Jason Raftopoulos

It’s no secret that while these fair British Isles basically invented acting and movie-making, another country out there has a particular knack of making some tremendously emotional and jarringly real films and TV shows… Australia I am looking directly at you!

For years now I have championed some of the titles that come out of Australia (especially on the indie scene) the wealth of talent in front of and behind the camera is incredible. Look no further than TV shows like Underbelly or Wentworth; movies like Two Hands, Babadook, Chopper, Wolf Creek, Ned Kelly or Animal Kingdom to name a few.

Now I get to add West of Sunshine to my list of Aussie movies that more than deserve your attention.

I am a sucker for a movie...

"Are these men bad?" "It's a bit tricky..." Uncork'd Entertainment has just debuted an official Us trailer for a crime drama titled West of Sunshine set in Australia, the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Jason Raftopoulos. This premiered at the Venice Film Festival back in 2017, but is just now getting a very small released in the Us. The film is about a father who has less than a day to pay back a debt to a violent loan shark, while his relationship with his young son is tested as his plans fall apart. Damian Hill stars as Jim, along with Ty Perham, Kat Stewart, Arthur Angel, Eliza D'Souza, and Kaarin Fairfax. This already opened in Australia last year and is heading to VOD here soon, for those interested in it. One of the quotes mentions Animal Kingdom, which is an exceptional Oz crime drama, but I don't think this one is that good.

Nicole Kidman and Joel Edgerton on the set of ‘Boy Erased.’

Joel Edgerton and Simon Baker have scored nominations in the feature film direction and acting categories for Boy Erased and Breath, the first time that’s happened in the same year in AFI | Aacta history.

Edgerton and Baker will compete for four prizes at this year’s awards which will be handed out at an industry luncheon on December 3 and at the ceremony on December 5. Both titles have been nominated for best film and Edgerton and Baker are also in the running for best supporting actor and adapted screenplay.

In total 19 features received nominations, with five vying for best film: Boy Erased, Breath, Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling’s Cargo, Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black and Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country.

The five titles competing for the new category of best indie film budgeted under $2 million are the Jacobson brothers’ Sibling Rivalry,...

Damian Hill and Ty Perham in ‘West of Sunshine.’

Shooting of M4M began in Melbourne on Monday as the cast and crew regrouped following the death on September 22 of Damian Hill, who co-wrote the crime drama/romance with the director Paul Ireland.

Ireland has dedicated the film inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’ to Hill, his best mate who was to co-produce and play Angelo, a character the director described as a fallen angel.

“After Dame died we got together and decided the best thing to do is carry on and make this for Dame,” says Ireland, who first collaborated with the actor/producer/writer in Pawno in 2015.

“Everyone has been amazing and very stoic. Dame and I were like a married couple. We worked together every day. He was so humble, a beautiful person. I feel like I have lost a part of me, but I’m determined to get through this.

Damian Hill and stepson Ty Perham in ‘West of Sunshine’.

The independent film sector in Australia is in shock following the news that gifted actor, writer and producer Damian Hill died in Melbourne on Saturday night.

The star of Jason Raftopoulos’ West of Sunshine and Paul Ireland’s Pawno, which he co-wrote, and a supporting actor in Heath Davis’ Broke, Hill was 42.

The cause of death was not immediately reported and may not be confirmed until the police file a report for the coroner.

Known to his friends as Dame, today he was due to start shooting M4M, an unlikely love story set against the background of drugs, racial intolerance and crime in Melbourne, which stars Hugo Weaving, directed by Ireland and co-written and produced by Hill and Ireland.

Ireland tells If: “We are just regrouping and will keep going in his beautiful memory. He put three years of...

In an era of cinematic universes, expanded narratives, and multi-threaded storytelling, there is an attractive elegance in simplicity. For his debut feature, Jason Raftopoulos keeps things refreshingly clean with “West Of Sunshine,” but don’t mistake that for a lack of complexity. Even though the film runs under 80 minutes, the writer/director’s laser focus on his two leads creates a compelling portrait of fatherhood and the intergenerational burden of having to carry the past or the future of a family legacy.

Continue reading ‘West Of Sunshine’ Puts A Warm Ray Of Light On Fatherhood [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

The testy dynamic between a down-on-his-luck father and his prepubescent son is given a sweeping panoramic treatment in Australian director Jason Raftopoulos' debut feature West of Sunshine. Unfolding over one day and clearly indebted to The Bicycle Thief, this story of a courier racing against the clock to pay off a debt boasts a vivid sense of place, as well as some awkward dialogue and a lead performance not quite flavorful enough to make the character's self-sabotage compelling.

Shot in the suburbs and inner city of Melbourne, the town's ubiquitous cranes and construction sites form an elegant widescreen metaphor for...

A hapless debt-ridden gambler and his sullen son bond while running drugs around Melbourne in this heartfelt, earthy debut

It never rains but it pours on Jimmy (Damian Hill), the disreputable star of West of Sunshine, a bustling day-in-the-life debut from director Jason Raftopoulos. Jimmy’s in debt, the leg-breakers want his blood and to top it off he’s having to cart his kid Alex (Tyler Perham) about when he makes his courier rounds. Life is not going well and yet Jimmy comes blessed (or perhaps cursed) with a positive outlook. He finds himself endlessly heartened by the prospect of a dog race or the sight of a scantily-clad woman crossing in front of his car. “Alex,” he says. “Boobs. It’s going to be a good day.”

Continue reading...

The 2017 Venice Film Festival kicked off on August 30, and for anyone who can’t make it all the way to Italy this year, IndieWire has a solution for you. Between now and Thursday, September 7 at noon Et, IndieWire readers can register using this form to win one of 5 online festival passes, which will give you the opportunity to stream five Venice titles for free online. All of the streaming titles will be from this year’s Orizzonti competition (Horizons), Biennale College and a few other sections. The movies include the following titles:

Endangered Species, by Gilles Bourdos – Online on August 31

Under The Tree, by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson – Online on August 31

Strange Colours, by Alena Lodkina – Online on August 31

West Of Sunshine, by Jason Raftopoulos – Online on September 1

Martyr, by Mazen Khaled – Online on September 1

Nato A Casal Di Principe, by Bruno Oliviero – Online on September 1

Beautiful Things, by Giorgio Ferrero – Online on September 2

No Date,...

ZamaThe programme for the 2017 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Darren Aronofsky, Lucrecia Martel, Frederick Wiseman, Alexander Payne, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Abdellatif Kechiche, Takeshi Kitano and many more.COMPETITIONmother! (Darren Aronofsky)First Reformed (Paul Schrader)Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton)The Leisure Seeker (Paolo Virzi)Una Famiglia (Sebastiano Riso)Ex Libris - The New York Public Library (Frederick Wiseman)Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)The Whale (Andrea Pallaoro)Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh)Foxtrot (Samuel Maoz)Ammore e malavita (Manetti Brothers)Jusqu'a la garde (Xavier Legrand)The Third Murder (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (Abdellatif Kechiche)Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh)L'insulte (Ziad Doueiri)La Villa (Robert Guediguian)The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)Suburbicon (George Clooney)Human Flow (Ai Weiwei)Downsizing (Alexander Payne)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesOur Souls at Night (Ritesh Batra)Il Signor Rotpeter (Antonietta de Lillo)Victoria...

On the heels of the Toronto International Film Festival announcement earlier this week, Venice Film Festival have now delivered their full lineup and while there’s no Terrence Malick as rumored, there’s a plethora of highly-anticipated titles. Along with the previously-announced opener Downsizing and the expected Suburbicon, mother!, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, there’s Lucrecia Martel’s Zama, Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Color follow-up Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno, and Brawl In Cell Block 99, the latest film from Bone Tomahawk director S. Craig Zahler.

Also in the lineup is Errol Morris’s Netflix crime drama Wormwood, Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, Frederick Wiseman’s Ex Libris – New York Public Library, Hirokazu Koreeda’s The Third Murder, Takeshi Kitano’s closing night film Outrage Coda, Michaël R. Roskam’s Racer and The Jailbird, the Kirsten Dunst-led Woodshock,...

Will 2017 be the year that Venice gets its king-making mojo back? After a steady run of debuting recent best picture winners — from “Spotlight” to “Birdman” — the festival missed out on last year’s big winner, “Moonlight,” which bowed at Telluride. This year’s lineup is a promising one, and while it’s still very early in the process, it’s difficult not to pick through today’s announcement of the festival’s slate and not search for the big contenders.

As was previously announced, the festival will open with Alexander Payne’s social satire “Downsizing,” starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. The festival will also play home to the premiere of the Netflix original “Our Souls at Night,” as part of their planned tribute to stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Annette Bening will lead the competition jury, ending an 11-year succession of male jury chiefs.

Read MoreIndieWire Fall Film...