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Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence in director Edward Berger’s Conclave, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024 All Rights Reserved.

The Pope is dead, and the red-clad Cardinals gather to choose the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church, in a conclave led by the Dean of Cardinals, Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes). That might not sound too exciting as a film but Conclave is highly entertaining, turning that premise into a tense political thriller, with personal ambitions, clashing factions, twists and secrets, as competing visions for the church’s future and ambitious men vie one of the most powerful positions on Earth.

Part of why this film works as a entertaining thriller is the outstanding cast, which includes Ralph Fiennes, in one of his best performances, plus stars like Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini, all in fine form.

Another reason it works so well...

The Last Days of the Space Age hit Hulu on Oct. 2, telling the story of three ordinary families living in 1979 Western Australia when a power strike looms in the background, threatening to take away the region’s electricity. The city also hosts the Miss Universe pageant, and the U.S. space station, Skylab crashes just outside the city.

Created by David Chidlow, the show stars Radha Mitchell, Jesse Spencer, Deborah Mailman, Jacek Koman and more. The retro soundtrack plays a key role in the show as well, setting the tone of the series and signaling coming change for the characters and the Australian city.

Find the stacked soundtrack, by episode, to The Last Days of the Space Age below.

Episode 1: “Only Kids Dream About Being Spacemen”

“Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John “Ca Plane Pour Moi” Deevox “Love Is a Beautiful Song by Barry Crocker “Jive Talkin” by the Bee Gees...

Hulu has revealed the official trailer for Last Days of the Space Age, an eight-part series that will premiere on the streaming service on October 2, 2024.

Starring Radha Mitchell and Jesse Spencer, Last Days of the Space Age is a dramedy series set in 1979 Western Australia, when Perth was at the center of the world’s headlines.

A power strike threatens to plunge the region into darkness while the city hosts the iconic Miss Universe pageant and the US space station, Skylab, crashes just beyond the city’s suburbs.

Against this backdrop of international cultural and political shifts, three families in a tight-knit coastal community find their marriages, friendships, and futures put to the test.

The series is led by Radha Mitchell (Olympus Has Fallen) and Jesse Spencer (Chicago Fire) as wife and husband, Judy and Tony Bissett. Deborah Mailman (Total Control) and Linh-Dan Pham (The Beat That My Heart Skipped...

Hulu on Tuesday released a trailer for the Australian drama Last Days of the Space Age, led by Chicago Fire vet Jesse Spencer.

The limited series, which hails from writer David Chidlow (Moving On), is set in 1979 Western Australia, “when Perth was at the center of the world’s headlines,” according to the official synopsis. “A power strike threatens to plunge the region into darkness, while the city hosts the iconic Miss Universe pageant and the U.S. space station, Skylab, crashes just beyond the city’s suburbs. Against this backdrop of international cultural and political shifts, three families in...

At the beginning of Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs, 12-year-old Aboriginal boy Nullah (Brandon Walters) recounts the abiding lesson his grandfather taught him growing up in the wilderness of the Northern Territory of Australia: “Tell ‘em story.” Over the course of the six-part series, a reimagining of Luhrmann’s 2008 film Australia, story will emerge as one of the four cornerstones of Aboriginal identity, the others being country, song, and dreaming.

Luhrmann uses footage from the film, scenes that were lost to the cutting-room floor, and a modern soundtrack by Indigenous artists to expand the story and give it new depth. The narrative arc of the series, though, remains largely identical to that of Australia: When an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), travels to Australia to convince her husband to sell the titular ranch, she comes into the orbit of a cattle drover named Drover (Hugh Jackman), and after embarking on a journey together,...

Exclusive: Here’s your first look at Stan’s upcoming mega-church drama Prosper.

The Lionsgate family drama stars Richard Roxburgh (Rake, Elvis, Stan Original Series Bali 2002) as Cal Quinn, the founder and global pastor of one of the fastest growing megachurches in the world, and Rebecca Gibney, as his wife Abi Quinn.

Stan says the show, which we first revealed in March, takes a “provocative peek behind the curtain of power and privilege.”

The ensemble cast includes Ewen Leslie (Stan Original Series Bali 2002, The Stranger), Ming-Zhu Hii (La Brea, Peter Rabbit), Jacob Collins-Levy (Stan Original Film True History of the Kelly Gang, The Witcher: Blood Origin), Hayley McCarthy, Jordi Webber (Nomad, Deadlands, Power Ranger) Jacek Koman (Moulin Rouge!, Children of Men, Rake), Andrea Solonge (Class of ’07, Privileged), Brigid Zengeni (Stan Original Series Totally Completely Fine, The Secret She Keeps), Alex Fitzalan (The Wilds, Slender Man) and Alexander D’Souza.

Directed by Daniel Markowicz, Soulcatcher mixes two themes together and comes out not as smart as it would have liked. Initially, it seemed like it was a ‘man versus technology’ plot, where mankind was fighting to save its own humanity. Later, the film flipped, and it became more like a ‘democracy versus dictatorship’ battle. The two themes are connected quite literally by the metaphor of a machine that can apparently turn humans into violent, psychotic zombies. It was invented with the noble intention of curing cancer, but due to some malfunctions, it turned people into savages. A machine turning against mankind; it sounds like it’s from the very near future, doesn’t it?

Spoilers Ahead

Set in Poland and Chechnya, Soulcatcher has characters that look like they have been taken out of a video game. The story progresses through a series of ‘missions’, just like in a video game,...

Daniel Markowicz brings us an action-thriller movie, Soulcatcher, where big guns go off, and action heroes throw haymakers, whereas brunette femme fatales are infallible with large sniper rifles. There’s also a massive laser pointer-like device that fries people’s brains, and the good guys need to snatch it from the bad ones. In theory, we could say the movie has all the makings of an interesting watch, but the 98-minute runtime proves for the umpteenth time that not every good script translates to a good movie. Starring Piotr Witkowski, Jacek Koman, Jacek Poniedzialek, and Aleskandra Adamska, among others, Soulcatcher pulls out all the stops in the explosions and character designs, but a poorly formulated plot and a severely predictable course of the action draw out all the fun it could’ve offered. Here’s a comprehensive review of Soulcatcher for you to decide whether this Polish action thriller is up your alley or not.

Soulcatcher is a 2023 Polish action thriller film directed by Daniel Markowicz and written by Dawid and Daniel Markowicz. The film stars Marcin Dorociński as a military contractor who seeks revenge when his brother falls victim to a weapon that turns people into savage killers.

The film takes place in a not-too-distant future, where a newly developed weapon has the ability to transform individuals into savage killers. This weapon, called the Soulcatcher, is a compact handheld device that emits a powerful energy beam capable of manipulating the minds of those exposed to it.

The storyline revolves around Jacek (played by Marcin Dorociński), a military contractor hired to retrieve the Soulcatcher from a terrorist organization. Tragically, Jacek’s brother Michał (portrayed by Mateusz Kościukiewicz), who is also a military contractor, loses his life due to the Soulcatcher during their mission.

Determined to avenge his brother’s death, Jacek embarks on a mission...

Richard Roxburgh and Rebecca Gibney star in Prosper, a Lionsgate-Stan series about a family with huge wealth that builds a powerful mega-church. Production has now started in Sydney, Australia.

First announced in September last year, “Prosper” follows the founding family of an Australian church as it is poised to break into the U.S. and harvest yet more wealth and power. But, while preaching a message of faith, love and acceptance to their followers, behind closed doors the Quinn the family is protecting shameful secrets.

Roxburgh portrays Cal Quinn, founder and global pastor at U Star. Gibney plays as Abi Quinn, his wife and worship leader. In his breakthrough role, Alexander D’Souza plays Moses, the adopted son of Cal and Abi.

Prosper is produced by Lingo Pictures, part of ITV Studios, with major production investment from Screen Australia with the assistance of the New South Wales government via Screen Nsw...

Exclusive: Richard Roxburgh and Rebecca Gibney will front Stan and Lionsgate’s Australian drama series Prosper.

The pair will lead the cast of the Lingo Pictures show, which is billed as an epic family drama that takes a “provocative peek behind the curtain of power and privilege.”

Production is underway in New South Wales, Australia, with a pic of the first episode’s scripted revealing it will be called ‘Man of God’ (see below).

Roxburgh will play Cal Quinn, the founder and global pastor of fictional Sydney megachurch U Star, and Gibney is Abi Quinn, his wife and worship leader. Their powerful megachurch is one of Australia’s fastest growing and on the precipice of a lucrative American expansion. While the family preaches messages of faith, love and acceptance to thousands of followers, behind closed doors, the they protect shameful secrets.

Netflix unveiled its slate of Polish-language series and films due to hit its service in 2023 in a “See What’s Next” event in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Since arriving in Poland in 2016, the platform has steadily ramped up production of local content and has gotten behind 40 original local Polish films and series to date

The 2023 offering is topped by eight Polish features, including four new titles: Kiss, Kiss!, Phenomenon, Soulcatcher and Squared Love Everlasting, as well as three series Absolute Beginners, Infamy and Feedback, about an alcoholic former rock star and adapted from the Polish best-seller of the same name by Jakub Żulczyk.

Spanning romantic comedies, thrillers and sci-fi and coming-of-age dramas, the feature slate taps into a raft of popular local acting talent.

Kiss, Kiss! features top actor Mateusz Kościukiewicz as a womanizer who decides to test his powers of seduction by pursuing a woman who is...

“All Quiet on the Western Front” filmmaker Edward Berger has commenced principal photography in Rome, Italy on Vatican thriller “Conclave.”

Joining the already announced cast of Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini are Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati, Brían F. O’Byrne, Thomas Loibl, Merab Ninidze and Jacek Koman.

The film is based on Robert Harris’ bestselling novel of the same name that has been adapted for the screen by Peter Straughan, Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2011). It revolves around the Conclave, one of the world’s most secretive events. After the death of a beloved Pope, Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with running the covert process of finding a new Pope inside the back corners of the Vatican. Lawrence quickly finds himself the centre of a conspiracy, as the cardinals forge factions and rivalries to serve their own ambitions. As political machinations inside the Vatican intensify,...

Netflix has taken world rights to Polish director Jan Komasa’s The Hater, which won Best International Narrative Feature at this year’s digital Tribeca Film Festival.

Komasa is the director of the 2020 Oscar-nominated Polish feature Corpus Christi. His previous projects include Suicide Room, Warsaw Uprising and Warsaw 44.

His latest feature, written by Mateusz Pacewicz, follows a disgraced law student who desperately tries to get the attention of childhood friend and the respect of her progressive family. Taking a job at a high-profile but amoral PR company to impress her, he soon finds that he excels at the dirty political games that he is asked to orchestrate on social media, but there’s a human price to his meddling.

Netflix will release online in July, aside from Poland where it will hold until March 2021 due to the required theatrical window following its local cinema release via distributor Kino Swiat.

"He wanted to destroy the kingdom I've been building my whole life." Film Movement has released the Us trailer for a Polish historical epic titled Sword of God, which originally premiered at a Polish film festival in 2018. It also played at Cinepocalypse, and the Fantastic Film Festival Australia last year. Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Bartosz Konopka, this genre-bending historical epic has been hailed as a "stunning showcase of experiential horror." Two men in the early Middle Ages come to a pagan land: one to bring Christianity, the other to find his way of living. They choose two different ways of reaching the pagans. In the fight between dialogue and force, one of them will die. This stars Krzysztof Pieczynski, Karol Bernacki, Wiktoria Gorodecka, Jacek Koman, Jan Bijvoet, and Jeroen Perceval. It looks crazy violent and intense as all hell, perhaps a taste of what things were really like back in the middle ages.

"Join us, we need young people." Screen has released the first official promo trailer for The Hater, a new Polish film opening in cinemas in Poland this week. The Hater (aka Hejter) is the latest feature from Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, whose sleeper hit Corpus Christi was nominated for the Best International Film Oscar earlier this year. It revolves around Tomek, who is obsessed with Gabi and her rich family. After he is kicked out of law school for plagiarism, he lands a job at a marketing agency and is tasked with destroying the reputation of a liberal politician. He grows even closer to Gabi until his past is revealed. Starring Maciej Musiałowski, Vanessa Alexander, Maciej Stuhr, Agata Kulesza, Danuta Stenka, Jacek Koman. The film is premiering in the Us at the Tribeca Film Festival next month. Seems like a searing commentary on how the internet fuels hate. It almost...

The third season of ‘Mustangs Fc’ is underway in Melbourne (Photo: Sarah Enticknap).

The third season of Matchbox Pictures’ children’s series Mustangs Fc is currently shooting in Melbourne for the ABC and new co-commissioning partner Nitv.

Season three, supported by Film Victoria, sees all-girl soccer team The Mustangs enter a harsh new league in which they’re forced to merge with their nemesis, The Wildcats.

Mustangs Fc is produced by Amanda Higgs and Rachel Davis, who have promoted women on set each season; more than 60 per cent of the cast and crew for the third series are female.

The scripts were penned by Kirsty Fisher, Magda Wozniak, Rae Earl, Alix Beane, Shanti Gudgeon and Marisa Nathar, and director Beck Cole joins this season alongside the returning directors Ana Kokkinos, Roger Hodgman and Corrie Chen. Further, Amie Batalibasi, who completed a Film Victoria Key Talent Placement on Mustangs Fc season two,...

For every Omg elimination on Dancing With the Stars there's been a head-scratcher of an advancement. In season 27, and we mean this with respect and love, that head-scratcher is The Bachelorette's Joe Amabile. Yes, Grocery Store Joe is still in the competition. How? Joe and partner Jenna Johnson have had some very low scores. Like, bottom of the pack low. His first week, the two received a 14. A 17 followed, then a couple of 18s…they didn't crack the 20s until week six, Halloween Night, when they received a 22 for their Argentine tango to "El Tango de Roxanne" by José Feliciano, Ewan McGregor and Jacek Koman. Week seven, which was Country Night, saw the couple get a 21 for their tango. It was...

Daniel Radcliffe stars in Jungle Trailer Greg McLean‘s Jungle (2017) movie trailer stars Daniel Radcliffe, Thomas Kretschmann, Alex Russell, Lily Sullivan, and Jacek Koman. Jungle‘s plot synopsis: based on the book by Yossi Ghinsberg, “In the early 1980s, 22-year-old Israeli backpacker Yossi Ghinsberg (Daniel Radcliffe) and two friends – [...]

Continue reading: Jungle (2017) Movie Trailer: Daniel Radcliffe’s Harrowing Amazon Survival Film...

'Bunghole' star Simon Laherty..

Victoria.s Back to Back Theatre, which employs a company of actors with disabilities, has teamed with Matchbox Pictures to produce its first venture into the film world, Bunghole. .

Shooting will start next week in and around Geelong on the 30 minute feature, written and directed by Bruce Gladwin. Matchbox.s Warren Clarke is the script editor.

Lead actors from the Back to Back ensemble, Simon Laherty and Sonia Teuben, will lead the cast as members of a clean-up crew in a strange toxic wasteland who come across someone who may be the area's last human survivor. Bunghole also stars Jacek Koman (Jack Irish, The Warriors), Brian Tilley and Robin Ramsay.

Bunghole received seed funding from Adelaide Film Festival.s Hive initiative last year, which Back to Back.s executive producer Alice Nash credits with allowing the company to expand into new territory.

.By bringing our work to screen,...

Gunsmoke: Avery’s Able-bodied Debut Dulled by Familiar Tropes

The less familiar you are with the dramatic crime genre, perhaps the more engaged you’ll be with Julius Avery’s serviceable directorial debut, Son of a Gun. Nearly every narrative twist and character tic feels lifted from another film, so much so that one would readily believe this to be a direct remake of something, replete with a chess allegory that seems perfectly banal. Yet, Avery’s film is not a direct remake, but rather a mosaic of genre film tropes, which would have been made all the more compelling if it had managed to present vigorously arresting characters. Yet the three main miscreants are merely the types of vagabonds that litter these terrains, negating the passionate bonds we’re supposed to believe whirls them into such dramatic, dire scenarios.

Jr (Brenton Thwaites) is a 19 year old criminal sentenced to...

Son Of A Gun director Julius Avery: "For me, it was all about showing that there's an honor code." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Julius Avery's fired-up on the run Son Of A Gun stars Ewan McGregor, Brenton Thwaites and Alicia Vikander with Nash Edgerton, Matt Nable, Eddie Baroo, Jacek Koman, Tom Budge, Damon Herriman and Johnny Boxer forming a remarkable ensemble.

At the Bowery Hotel, during my conversation with the director, a long line of fathers-in-crime came to mind: James Caan in Michael Mann's Thief, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, Jack Nicholson in Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Alain Delon in Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï and Le Cercle Rouge. David Mackenzie's Starred Up with Jack O'Connell and Ben Mendelsohn carry on familial ties.

Brenton Thwaites as J.R. and Ewan McGregor as Brendan Lynch: "He comes in with scratches on his face. I wanted it to...

Check out the newly released trailer and poster for A24’s action-packed-thriller Son Of A Gun starring Brenton Thwaites (The Giver), Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) and Ewan McGregor (Beginners) available exclusively on Directv Dec. 11th and in theaters January 16th.

Julius Avery delivers a masterfully crafted film in an impressive directorial debut, exploring the treacherous games in the criminal world. McGregor gives a standout performance as criminal mastermind Brendan Lynch along with exciting new stars including one-to-watch Thwaites and a captivating Vikander.

In the criminal world, life is like a game of chess. To gain control, you have to stay a few moves ahead of your opponent. Lose that control, and you risk becoming a pawn in their very dangerous game.

During a six-month stint inside a West Australian prison, rookie criminal Jr (Brenton Thwaites) meets the smart and enigmatic Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor). In exchange for protection on the inside,...

Writer-director Julius Avery's debut feature Son of a Gun will have its international premiere in official competition at the BFI London Film Festival next month.

The heist thriller stars Ewan McGregor, rising star Brenton Thwaites (The Giver, Maleficent), Alicia Vikander, Matt Nable, Damon Herriman, Tom Budge, Nash Edgerton and Jacek Koman.

Timothy White at Southern Light Films produced the movie with co-producer Janelle Landers, backed by Screen Australia.

..It is such a proud and exciting moment for everyone involved in Son of a Gun to be in official competition at a festival as historic and respected as the BFI London Film Festival,. Avery said.

Thwaites plays 19-year-old Jr, who is drawn into the lawless world of a notorious criminal. Serving six months for a minor offence,. he quickly learns the harsh realities of prison life. After a chance encounter, he finds himself under the watchful eye of Brendan Lynch...

The first trailer has arrived for Julius Avery's Australian thriller "Son of a Gun". Ewan McGregor stars as the country's most notorious criminal who crosses paths with a teenager (Brendan Thwaites).

Alicia Vikander, Jacek Koman, Matt Nable, and Tom Budge also star. North American distributor A24 have yet to set a U.S. release date, while the film will first open in Australia in October.

20th Century Fox has unveiled the first trailer for Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur's horror tale "The Pyramid" which is scoring a theatrical release on December 5th.

The story follows a team of U.S. archaeologists who discover they are being hunted by unknown forces after finding a lost pyramid in Egypt. Ashley Hinshaw, James Buckley, Denis O'Hare, Amir K and Christa Nicola star.

Finally today, two TV spots have been released for the thriller "A Walk Among The Tombstones" starring Liam Neeson and Dan Stevens.

Moulin Rouge! is a mixed bag. It’s an idea that looks good on paper, but looks horrendous in execution. It’s a film where it should have the ability to make all the right emotional pivots, but succumbs to an ostentation that exists in its final product, making this a hallmark for director Baz Lurhmann’s career. I appreciate him, in an odd way, for injecting a very strange version of romance in his films, one that, in Moulin Rouge!, is wonderfully cynical and melancholy. In almost all of his work, his maximalism overshadows some of the most interesting aspects of the films (the sole exception being Strictly Ballroom, his first feature): the post-modern comments on capitalism in William Shakespeare’s Romeo+ Juliet, the inherent frivolity of “freedom, beauty, truth, and love” in Moulin Rouge!, and the hollow decadence of the parties in The Great Gatsby. But everything...

LevelK to handle international distribution on feature adapted from con artist stage show.

British actor Timothy Spall and YouTube star John Luc are to star in Sucker, which has begun principal photography in Melbourne, Australia.

Spall, best known for his roles in the Harry Potter franchise and Mike Leigh’s films including the upcoming Mr Turner, will play an conman in the feature.

Luc, who has more than 2 million subscribers on YouTube, will play Lawrence, an 18-year-old Chinese Australian who cheats in his high school final year exams and fails to get into medicine.

Banished to stay with his uncle for the summer, Lawrence meets the Professor (Spall), a colourful, ageing conman and so begins a road-trip with the Professor and his daughter Sarah, played by Lily Sullivan. Other cast members include Kat Stewart and Jacek Koman.

It marks the feature directorial debut of Ben Chessell and is an adaptation of Lawrence Leung’s stage show that...

Young YouTube star John Luc and veteran English actor Timothy Spall are playing the odd couple at the centre of Sucker, director Ben Chessell.s. feature which is shooting in Melbourne.

Luc plays Lawrence, an 18-year-old Chinese Australian who cheats in his high school final year exams and fails to get into medicine. Banished to stay with his uncle for the summer, Lawrence meets Spall.s the Professor, a colourful, ageing conman.

Lawrence begins a road trip with the Professor and his daughter Sarah (Lily Sullivan) as the Professor teaches Lawrence the art of swindling and cheating, while from Sarah he learns a hard lesson in unrequited love.

As Lawrence and the Professor plan their biggest scam, the teenager and Sarah plan a swindle of their own. and Lawrence is forced to make a choice between love, life and lies. Kat Stewart is cast as Sarah.s mother and Jacek Koman...

Xavier Samuel, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill are attached to star in Midnight in Byzantium, a mystery/adventure about a young guy who is trapped in a remote town where nothing - and no one - is as it seems.

The film will mark the feature debut of Melbourne-based writer-director Cris Jones, who has directed numerous short films, music videos and TVCs. The producers are Optimism Films. Melanie Coombs, Alicia Brown and Mish Armstrong.

The project has received development funding from Screen Australia and a travel grant which enabled Jones to attend this year.s Binger Filmlab Directors Lab in Amsterdam.

Also attached is Jacek Koman, whose credits include Top of the Lake, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Spirited and Julius Avery.s upcoming movie Son of a Gun, which stars Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander and Brenton Thwaites.

The synopsis reads: .A young man wakes up in a small,...

Two Australian actors who are emerging on the international scene have been cast as the leads in Fell, the first feature from director Kasimir Burgess. Matt Nable will play a guy whose daughter is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Daniel Henshall will play Luke, the driver who is sent to jail for five years. When Luke is released, Nable.s character changes his identity and plots revenge. The screenplay is by Natasha Pincus, based on a story she wrote with Burgess, whose short film Lily won the Crystal Bear at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival. The producers are John Maynard and Mary Minas, with Bridget Ikin as executive producer. The nine-week shoot starts at the end of July in and around Warburton in country Victoria. Nable has just completed roles in the movie Riddick, the third instalment in The Chronicles of Riddick series which stars Vin Diesel and Karl Urban,...

Crime-thriller Son of a Gun, starring Ewan McGregor,.begins production in Perth this week, according to ScreenWest.

It marks the debut feature film of award-winning short filmmaker Julius Avery and tells the story of a young man's apprenticeship to public enemy number one.

Last week, McGregor posted photos of himself on.Instagram, apparently in character, complete with heavy beard, long hair.and tattoos..He is also giving the occassional update via his Twitter account.

As well as McGregor, the film stars Brenton Thwaites, Alicia Vikander, Jacek Koman, Alicia Vikander, Jacek Koman, and Tom Budge.

Son of a Gun received funding support from ScreenWest, Screen Australia and Screen Nsw. It is being produced by Timothy White, co-produced by Janelle Landers, and executive produced by Aaron L Gilbert, John Collee, Aidan O'Bryan, Michael Spiccia and Bryce Menzies.

Telstra and Event Cinemas are running a Facebook competition which will reward the winner with...

Screen Australia says it has not mismanaged its finances by spending its annual production funding in just six months - a state of affairs which it says reflects the strength of the local film industry.

The government screen agency revealed in mid-December 2012 that it had spent its entire annual $42 million drama production allocation due to the unprecedented number of quality feature film and television projects seeking support. The shock announcement was reminiscent of the agency's abrupt decision to cut its investment cap in 2009 while several films were mid-financed. That decision.threw several major Australian productions into dissaray including The Tree and the biggest box office hit of.2010, Tomorrow When the War Began (Omnilab Media had to increase its investment at the last minute to ensure production).

Overspending on such a scale has never occurred before, even going back to the era of Screen Australia.s predecessor funding arm, the Film Finance Corporation.

Brenton Thwaites, Alicia Vikander and Jacek Koman have joined the cast of Julius Avery’s heist thriller "Son of a Gun".

The story deals with the complex relationship between Australia’s public enemy number one (Ewan McGregor) and his young protégé (Thwaites).

Avery makes his directing debut from his own original screenplay. Timothy White is producing.

Filming kicks of late February in Melbourne, Perth and Kalgoorlie.

Source: Screen Daily...

Julius Avery’s Son of a Gun begins shooting late February

Principal photography will begin late February on Australian film-maker Julius Avery’s debut feature film Son of a Gun, starring Ewan McGregor.

The shoot will take place in Perth, Kalgoorlie and Melbourne.

Joining McGregor is Australian actor Brenton Thwaites, who recently finished production on Disney’s Maleficent alongside Angelina Jolie. Thwaites will play the protege to McGregor’s master criminal.

Swedish actress Alicia Vikander has been cast in the role of Tasha. Vikander was recently seen in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina.

Australian actor Jacek Koman, previously in Romulus My Father, will play crime boss Sam.

Avery said of the cast: “Combining the exceptional calibre of Australian actors with award winning international talent is going to be a privilege.”

Avery wrote the script with script editor John Collee. Timothy White, producer of Two Hands is producing through Southern Light...

Brenton Thwaites, Alicia Vikander and Jacek Koman have joined the cast of Australian thriller Son of a Gun, which begins shooting in Western Australia at the end of February.

The film marks the debut feature of acclaimed short filmmaker Julius Avery and centres on the relationship between a master criminal (Ewan McGregor) and his young protégé (Thwaites). Thwaites previously starred in Blue Lagoon: The Awakening and recently completed production on Maleficent with Angelina Jolie.

Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, a BAFTA rising star nominee, recently appeared opposite Keira Knightley and Jude Law in Anna Karenina and in Danish film A Royal Affair. She will be seen next in The Seventh Son with Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges.

Jacek Koman was nominated for an Aacta Award in 2010 for his performance in TV series Spirited, and has also appeared in films such as Romulus My Father, Children of Men, and The Hunter. He...

Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute said, “Every great film starts with an idea, and it is a testament to artists that they continually find new ideas, new stories, new points of view and new ways of sharing them, year after year. We look forward to hearing from these artists not just through their words and images onscreen but also through the larger dialogue they create with audiences at our Festival and beyond.”

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The films, both documentary and narrative, selected for our 2013 Festival have a particular immediacy and fearlessness to them showing us that independent film is as vibrant, creative and relevant as ever. Filmmakers are telling raw, powerful stories that are sure to create new energy in audiences and communities across the globe in the months to come.”

For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, representing 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers, including 27 in competition. These films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), including 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.

In addition, the Festival presents feature-length films in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier, Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections. Those announcements, as well as selections for the Short Film section, are forthcoming.

On Day One, January 17, 2013, the Festival will screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.

A selection of films from the 2013 Festival will also be presented at the second Sundance London film and music festival, April 25-28 at The O2.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Each year at this time we look forward with great anticipation and excitement to the discovery of new voices at the Sundance Film Festival. The Festival continues to reflect the spirit of innovation and creativity in independent cinema, not only in the stories themselves but also in how the films are produced and making their way to audiences.”

U.S. Dramatic Competition

The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.

Afternoon Delight/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine.

Austenland/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined.Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.

C.O.G./ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris' work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario.

Concussion / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can't do it anymore. Her life just can't be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor.Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.

Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O'Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.

Fruitvale/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.

In a World.../ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.

Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen.

The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert.

May in the Summer/ U.S.A., Qatar, Jordan (Director and screenwriter: Cherien Dabis) — A bride-to-be is forced to reevaluate her life when she reunites with her family in Jordan and finds herself confronted with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce. Cast: Cherien Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, Alexander Siddig. Day One Film

Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage.Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.

The Spectacular Now/ U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to "save." As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and "saving" and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler.

Touchy Feely/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.”Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais.

Toy's House/ U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.

Upstream Color/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins.

U.S. Documentary Competition

The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.

99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film/ U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.

After Tiller/ U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm.

American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.

Blackfish/ U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer.Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.

Blood Brother/ U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.

Citizen Koch/ U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.

Cutie and the Boxer/ U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.

Dirty Wars/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.

Gideon's Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.

God Loves Uganda/ U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.

The Good Life/ U.S.A. (Directors: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine) — Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns fight to save their only son from Progeria, a rare and fatal disease for which there is no treatment or cure. In less than a decade, their work has led to significant advances.

Inequality for All/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.

Manhunt/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.

Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.

Twenty Feet From Stardom/ U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. Day One Film

Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.

Circles/ Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. World Premiere

Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film

The Future/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere

Houston/ Germany (Director and screenwriter: Bastian Günther) — Clemens Trunschka is a corporate headhunter and an alcoholic. Drinking increasingly isolates him from his life and leads him away from reality. While searching for a CEO candidate in Houston, his addiction submerges him into his own darkness. Cast: Ulrich Tukur, Garret Dillahunt, Wolfram Koch, Jenny Schily, Jason Douglas, Jens Münchow. World Premiere

Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul Sung, Jung-won Yang, Young-soon Oh, Soon-dong Park, Suk-bum Moon, Kyung-sub Jang. International Premiere

Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere

Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World Premiere

Shopping / New Zealand (Directors: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland, Screenwriters: Louis Sutherland, Mark Albiston) — New Zealand, 1981: Seduced by a charismatic career criminal, teenager Willie must choose where his loyalty lies – with a family of shoplifters or his own blood. Cast: Kevin Paulo, Julian Dennison, Jacek Koman, Alistair Browning. World Premiere

Soldate Jeannette/ Austria (Director: Daniel Hoesl) — Fanni has had enough of money and leaves to buy a tent. Anna has had enough of pigs and leaves a needle in the hay. Cars crash and money burns to shape their mutual journey toward a rising liberty. Cast: Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Christina Reichsthaler, Josef Kleindienst, Aurelia Burckhardt, Julia Schranz, Ines Rössl. World Premiere

There Will Come a Day/ Italy, France (Director: Giorgio Diritti, Screenwriters: Giorgio Diritti, Fredo Valla, Tania Pedroni) — Painful issues push Augusta, a young Italian woman, to doubt the certainties on which she has built her existence. On a small boat in the immensity of the Amazon rain forest, she faces the adventure of searching for herself. Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Anne Alvaro, Pia Engleberth. World Premiere

Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)/ Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Abdulsatar, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. World Premiere

What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love/ Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Mouly Surya) — Mouly Surya’s film explores the odds of love and deception among the blind, the deaf and the unlucky sighted people at a high school for the visually impaired. Cast: Nicholas Saputra, Ayushita Nugraha, Karina Salim, Anggun Priambodo, Lupita Jennifer. World Premiere

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmakers working today.

Fallen City / China (Director: Qi Zhao) — Fallen City spans four years to reveal how three families who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to embark on a journey searching for hope, purpose, identity, and to rebuild their lives in a new China torn between tradition and modernity. North American Premiere

Fire in the Blood/ India (Director: Dylan Mohan Gray) — In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western governments and pharmaceutical companies blocked low-cost antiretroviral drugs from reaching AIDS-stricken Africa, causing 10 million or more unnecessary deaths. An improbable group of people decided to fight back. North American Premiere

Google and the World Brain/ Spain, United Kingdom (Director: Ben Lewis) — In the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet, Google has been scanning the world's books for 10 years. They said the intention was to build a giant digital library, but that involved scanning millions of copyrighted works. World Premiere

The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear/ Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations. North American Premiere

The Moo Man/ United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere

Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere

A River Changes Course/ Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World Premiere

Salma/ United Kingdom, India (Director: Kim Longinotto) — When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world. World Premiere

The Square (El Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere

The Stuart Hall Project/ United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere

The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive.International Premiere

Who is Dayani Cristal?/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film

Next <=>

Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity proves the films selected in this section will inform a “greater” next wave in American cinema.

Blue Caprice/ U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.

Computer Chess /U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.

Escape from Tomorrow/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.

I Used to Be Darker/ U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.

It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love.Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.

Milkshake/ U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.

Newlyweeds/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.

Pit Stop/ U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn't quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.

A Teacher/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.

This is Martin Bonner/ U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse.

The Sundance Film Festival®

A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Hp, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – Directv, Entertainment Weekly, Focus Forward, a partnership between Ge and Cinelan, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎRoc Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Warp Films are undoubtedly on a roll. In the past three years they've given us Kill List, Four Lions and Berberian Sound Studio. The production company's antipodean arm, based in Melbourne Australia, has also quickly stepped up to the plate, producing last year's blistering masterpiece Snowtown. Now they seem to have delivered again, with their sophomore production - the Kiwi film Shopping - selected for World Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2013.Written and directed by Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, Shopping is set in New Zealand in 1981. Seduced by a charismatic career criminal, teenager Willie must choose where his loyalty lies - with a family of shoplifters or his own blood. The cast includes Kevin Paulo, Julian Dennison, Jacek Koman and Alistair Browning.The film is...

GeekTyrant will once again be excitedly attending the Sundance Film Festival in 2013! They've released their full line up of competition films for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary, as well as the out-of-competition Next <=> section.

It looks like there's a lot of great films for us, and anyone who is attending, to check out this year. I love going up to Sundance, it's always a great mix of different movies... some great, some good, some bad, and some that are completely awful. I'm always looking forward to seeing them though! There's kind of rush going in to watch a movie I hardly know anything about. It's a rare thing for me these days to be able to do that.

Below you'll find the full Press Release that includes all of the films that have been announced. Please look them over and let us know which ones interest...

Sixteen films are set to compete in the dramatic category at next year's Sundance Film Festival in January, with exactly half of those films directed by women - a new record for the festival which will be in its 29th year.

Approximately 113 feature-length films representing 32 countries were selected for Sundance for next year including 27 films in competition and 51 films from first-time directors. Many of the key categories were announced today.

While the Utah-based film festival only occasionally showcases films that have true mainstream crossover potential, this year sees more audience friendly fare in competition even it is still specifically targeting the art house crowd.

The fest in January this year was dominated by the rave reviews for its Grand Jury Prize winner "Beasts of the Southern Wild" which, upon moving to a more mainstream release, scored many accolades but just $13 million in worldwide box-office.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Afternoon Delight...

If you ever managed to see Shane Carruth‘s Primer, you’re probably a very confused person. That’s to say, the 2004 time-travel flick strove to be as realistic as possible, and by realistic, we mean completely mind-boggling. Saying that, Primer remains one of the most intriguing movies of the past decade (even if we still can’t figure it out), which means that the promise of a second movie from writer/director Curruth is something to be excited about.

Though it was rumored that the poor guy couldn’t get funding sorted for a second feature, it appears he finally got it made: Upstream Color will premier at Sundance 2013, presumably to grant everybody another headache with a bizarre-sounding story about two people who become a single organism.

Sundance, of course, exists to showcase the best and brightest in indie film. Next year’s festival takes place from January 17-27 in Park City,...

Mostly populated by unknowns filmakers (at least to us), among the dozen titles in Sundance’s World Dramatic Comp we do find some familair auteurs such as Sean Ellis’ (from Cashback fame) who returns with Metro Manila, we have Srdan Golubovic’s Circles (see still above – a drama we thought might end up playing in Cannes earlier this year) and finally, Sebastián Silva whose latest Crystal Fairy (not to be confused with Magic Magic which also stars Michael Cera) will open the fest. Here are the twelve selections of which eleven are world preems.

Circles / Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs?...

Every year, the festival circuit kicks off with a huge bang – Sundance.

It’s one of the biggest festivals for independent films around the world, taking over Park City, Ut every January, to bring together some of the biggest and finest names in the independent filmmaking world.

The line-up has now been announced for the Us and World Competition categories, along with Next, giving us a great first look at what we have to look forward to in January – and, looking ahead, at some of the films that will be coming to Sundance London in April 2013.

The first slew of films show incredible promise, with David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, James Ponsoldt’s The Spectacular Now, and Lynn Shelton’s Touchy Feely leading the Us Dramatic category with so much potential.

Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints features an all-star cast, headed up by Rooney Mara,...

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 17-27 and today the fest unveiled their competition slates including film in the Dramatic, Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, Word Cinema Documentary and Next competitions. As always, these lineups are incredibly hard to predict, but amid this group there are a few interesting titles. The Dramatic competition includes Jill Soloway's Afternoon Delight, a dark comedy starring Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor and Jane Lynch that centers on a L.A. housewife who hires a stripper as a live-in nanny. I had not heard of David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints, but a cast that includes Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker and Keith Carradine is immediately appealing, while the plot compares itself to Terrence Malick's Badlands and Bonnie & Clyde telling a story of Bob Muldoon and Ruth Guthrie, two young outlaws who are brought down by the authorities in the hills of Texas.

The Hunter Contest Giveaway Sweepstakes. This The Hunter Blu-ray contest, giveaway, sweepstakes illustrates The Hunter‘s release on DVD and 3D Blu-ray on July 3, 2012 and is co-sponsored by DragonBlogger. Daniel Nettheim‘s The Hunter stars Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Frances O’Connor, Sullivan Stapleton, and Dan Wyllie, Callan Mulvey, Jacek Koman, Morgana Davies, and Maia Thomas. The Hunter‘s plot synopsis: a based on the book by Julia Leigh, The Hunter [...]

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New Releases Movie of the Week The Hunter (Magnolia) - Blu-ray and DVD Release Date: Apr 06, 2012 Director: Daniel Nettheim Cast: Willem Dafoe, Frances O'Connor, Sam Neill, Jacek Koman, Callan Mulvey. Full cast + crew The Hunter is the kind of movie one randomly stumbles across late night on cable or Netflix and thinks, "Damn this is good. How come I've never heard of this movie?" It's an excellent character piece about a mercenary hunter (Willem Dafoe) hired by a biopharmaceutical company to find and gain DNA samples of a Tasmanian Tiger, an animal believed, until very recently, to be extinct. The company arranges for him to stay, under the identity of a professor researching Tasmanian Devils, with a local...

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Warp Films Australia has announced a new film project following the success of the production company’s first outing, Snowtown.

Teaming up with New Zealand first-time feature filmmakers Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, the film Shopping is about a 16 year-old boy Willie who must choose between a gang of shoplifters and his own family.

Madman Entertainment will distribute the film in Australia and New Zealand while Nz Film, the sales arm of New Zealand Film Commission, will handle world sales.

Shopping is financed by the New Zealand Film Commission with support from Fulcrum Media Finance.

Albiston and Sutherland have had previous short films Run and The Six Dollar Fifty Man screened at Cannes, Sundance and Berlin Film Festival. The Six Dollar Fifty Man was shortlisted for the 2011 Academy Awards.

Production begins in April on the Kapiti Coast and will feature Australian actor Jacek Koman.

Warp Films Australia is set to produce New Zealand crime feature Shopping after the release of last year's successful debut Snowtown.

Shopping is set in 1981 and follows 16-year-old Willie who, seduced by a charismatic career criminal, must choose where his loyalty lies. The film, which wil star Australian actor Jacek Koman, will begin shooting in April on Nz's Kapiti Coast.

The film marks the debut feature for Wellington-based filmmakers Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland . their previous short films Run and The Six Dollar Fifty Man have screened at Cannes, Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. The Six Dollar Fifty Man was also shortlisted for the 2011 Academy Awards.

Shopping, financed by the New Zealand Film Commission with support from Fulcrum Media Finance, is also the first Nz feature film that distributor Madman has backed from script stage.

Madman Entertainment managing director Paul Wiegard said: "This is a significant milestone for Madman; having...

Warp Films Australia is set to produce New Zealand crime feature Shopping after the release of last year's successful debut Snowtown. Shopping is set in 1981 and follows 16-year-old Willie who, seduced by a charismatic career criminal, must choose where his loyalty lies. The film, which wil star Australian actor Jacek Koman, will begin shooting in April on Nz's Kapiti Coast. The film marks the debut feature for Wellington-based filmmakers Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland . their previous short films Run and The Six Dollar Fifty Man have screened at Cannes, Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. The Six Dollar Fifty Man was also shortlisted for the 2011 Academy Awards. Shopping, financed by the New Zealand Film Commission with support from Fulcrum Media Finance, is...

Chicago – In our latest action/fantasy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the new film “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” starring Nicolas Cage! The film opens on Feb. 17, 2012.

In “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” from the director of “Crank,” Nicolas Cage reprises his role as Johnny Blaze. The new Marvel film also stars Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba, Violante Placido, Johnny Whitworth, Fergus Riordan, Spencer Wilding, Sorin Tofan, Jacek Koman, Anthony Head, Cristian Iacob, Christopher Lambert, Jai Stefan, Vincent Regan and Ionut Cristian Lefter from directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and writers Scott M. Gimple and Seth Hoffman.

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago.

We have added the new trailer for Magnolia Pictures upcoming Willem Dafoe starring thriller, "The Hunter."Directed by Daniel Nettheim the film also stars Sam Neill, Frances O'Connor, Jacek Koman, Morgana Davies, Dan Wyllie, Finn Woodlock, Sullivan Stapleton, John Brumpton and Callan Mulvey.Watch the trailer for "The Hunter" below;"The Hunter" is on limited release in North America from April 6th."The Hunter" is the story of Martin, a skilled and ruthless mercenary sent into the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for a tiger believed to be extinct. Hired by an anonymous company that wants the tiger's genetic material, Martin arrives in Tasmania posing as a scientist. He proceeds to set up base camp at a broken-down farmhouse, where he stays with a...