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Lille, France — An aboriginal boy disappears without an initial trace from his pick-up van on a cattle ranch in North-West Australia. The local police sergeant, Emma James (Judy Davis), calls in a detective, the brusque Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), to investigate.

As Swan drives to meet the local ranch owner, the camera shoots his car from way up high, the desert taking on the arresting colors – pink, white, a few seemingly-doodled black lines – of an abstract painting.

The multiple establishing shots of the local town, with a large aboriginal community, reveal a singular world unknown to most viewers. They also hint at a larger point: the reason for the disappearance seems related to a a bigger social picture. Swan, already the lead character of two highly admired feature films from Ivan Sen, both times played by Pedersen, begins to peel away at the secrets, crimes and miscarriage of justice in...

MaryAnn’s quick take… A peanut-butter-in-my-chocolate movie, this Die Hard meets Twister monster is so ludicrous it comes all the way back around to being awesome and hilarious. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film

(learn more about this)

T he Hurricane Heist! It’s Twister meets Die Hard! And even though, through some negative Hollywood magic, the end result is much less than the sum of its parts, those parts are such perfect films that, even mashed up into something greatly diminished, that end result is still pretty good. Or, rather, so bad it’s good. That’s positive Hollywood magic! Why are some bad movies just plain bad, and other bad movies somehow awesome and hilarious? It’s a mystery.

This is a peanut-butter-in-my-chocolate movie, with both action-movie...

Australian soap opera actress Jessica Falkholt died Wednesday at age 29, six days after being taken off life support following a devastating crash that killed three of her family members.

Falkholt, who starred as Hope Morrison on Home and Away, died in a Sydney hospital three weeks after a two-car collision that killed her sister, Annabelle, and her parents, Lars and Vivian Falkholt. The driver of the other vehicle, Craig Whitall, 50,was killed instantly in the crash the day after Christmas.

News.com.au reported that Whitall was banned from driving for nine years and had "at least 10 convictions for driving while disqualified."

Falkholt’s parents died instantly in the crash but Annabelle, 21, died in the hospital three days later. Jessica underwent a few surgeries, including one to remove her kidney and a portion of her skull. However, the actress was in a coma until she was taken off life support...

Australian actress Jessica Falkholt has died weeks after she was involved in a horrific car crash that killed three members of her family. She was 29.

Falkholt passed away on Wednesday Jan. 17 (Australian time), the hospital – where she had been in a coma since the accident – confirmed on behalf of the surviving members of her family.

“On behalf of the family of Jessica Falkholt, St. George Hospital has been asked to advise the media and the community of Jessica’s passing today at 10.20am,” a spokesperson for the hospital said in a statement, obtained by People.

“Jessica passed away from serious...

Mystery Road is coming to the small screen. Variety reports the Australian film is being adapted as a TV series starring Aaron Pedersen and Judy Davis.The 2013 film stars Pedersen as Jay Swan, a detective who solves crimes in the Australian Outback. A sequel, called Goldstone, was released in 2016.Read More…...

Aaron Pedersen as Jay Swan in 'Goldstone'..

Detective Jay Swan, the protagonist in Ivan Sen.s films Mystery Road and Goldstone, is headed to the small screen.

Aaron Pedersen will reprise the role in Mystery Road - The Series, alongside Judy Davis as a small town cop, for the ABC and international distributor All3Media International.

Directed by Rachel Perkins and produced by Bunya Productions. David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin, the 6-part mystery/drama starts shooting in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia in late August..

The plot follows Swan as he investigates the disappearance of two young farm hands on an outback cattle station. One is a local Indigenous footy hero, the other a backpacker. Working with local cop Emma James (Davis), his investigation uncovers a past injustice that threatens the whole community

It is a rare Australian screen role for Davis, who was last seen...

Red deserts, sweaty brows, scalding sand and swimsuits. Nowhere does summer quite like Australia – and nowhere is it captured better than on film. But how well do you know your classics?

They’re A Weird Mob

Puberty Blues

Age of Consent

The Daughter

These Final Hours

On the Beach

Blackrock

All Men Are Liars

The Overlanders

The Sundowners

The Back of Beyond

Mutiny on the Bounty

Welcome to Woop Woop

Priscilla: Queen of the Desert

Muriel’s Wedding

Red Dog

Road Games

Fair Game

Long Weekend

Dead Calm

The Killing of Angel Street

Newsfront

Heatwave

The Year of Living Dangerously

Wake in Fright

Sunday Too Far Away

The Water Diviner

The Man From Snowy River

The Man From Snowy River

The Water Diviner

Australia

The Silver Brumby

Goldstone

Dead Heart

Babe: Pig in the City

Mystery Road

Bungala Boys

Bra Boys

The Coolangatta Gold

The Four Minute Mile

Crocodile Dundee...

Red Dog: True Blue.. . Damien Power.s feature debut Killing Ground will make its international debut at the Sundance Film Festival, while Red Dog: True Blue will screen in the kids sidebar. . The news follows on from last week's announcement that Cate Shortland's.Berlin Syndrome.would be making its world premiere at the festival.. . Killing Ground will screen as part of the Midnight sidebar, which has previously launched films such as The Babadook, The Blair Witch Project, Saw, The Witch and Hard Candy. . The thriller, which debuted at Miff, stars Aaron Pedersen (Goldstone, Mystery Road), Harriet Dyer (Love Child, Rueben Guthrie), Ian Meadows (Scare Campaign, The Wrong Girl), Aaron Glenane (Molly, Deadline Gallipoli) and Maya Stange (Wolf Creek TV, Love Child). . .It.s hugely exciting to have our international premiere where so many of my favourite filmmakers got their starts. And I.m thrilled to be screening in the...

Vr project Buried.

Screen Australia has announced its latest funding round, with $3 million in production and development funding split between two Indigenous TV projects, eight multiplatform projects, eight feature films, and two individuals and two companies.

The two Indigenous television projects to have received production investment are:

–... ABC TV.s previously announced Indigenous comedy drama series The Warriors. From Robert Connolly's Arenamedia, the show is set in the competitive world of Australian Rules Football, and has major production investment from Screen Australia and funding support from Film Victoria;

–... Nitv documentary Carry The Flag,.which delves into the story behind the Torres Strait Island flag designed by Bernard Namok, from Tamarind Tree Pictures with Screen Queensland and Screen Territory support.

The eight multiplatform projects to have received production investment are:

–... Vr project The Buried, a 3D experience that plunges the viewer into a magical Dreamtime world, from Indigenous writer/director Tyson Mowarin,...

The director’s latest ‘outback noir’ is a broodingly poetic tale that pits nature and spiritualism against corporate greed. It may be the year’s most important film

Indigenous Australian police detective Jay Swan rolls into the makeshift town of Goldstone like the Man With No Name in an Abel Ferrara Fistful of Dollars reboot – mysterious, taciturn, in the midst of an emotional and spiritual crisis, and utterly hammered. Ivan Sen’s Goldstone is a spin-off from, rather than a sequel to, his Mystery Road, in which Swan (Aaron Pedersen) investigated the murder of a young Indigenous Australian woman in a small town riddled with racism. In the interim period, we gather that Jay has lost his daughter, and that the clean-cut detective of the previous film has been replaced by an all but broken man.

Related: Goldstone review – a masterpiece of outback noir that packs a political punch

Continue reading.

To mark the release of Goldstone, we’ve been given a pair of tickets for 1 winner to see the screening at London Film Festival on 11th October. Ivan Sen delivers another layered and engrossing slow-burn thriller, reprising both the distinctive, ‘outback noir’ style of Mystery Road (Lff 2013), as well as its central character – […]

The post Win tickets to Goldstone at London Film Festival appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Another missing girl has Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) on the move while the world continues to turn a blind eye. This time it isn’t an aboriginal, though, the aftermath of his work in Mystery Road culminating in a shootout with everyone dead but he a distant memory. The case that has him traveling to Goldstone concerns a young Chinese girl, her place in the desert a curiosity Jay cannot ignore. Haunted by demons that go much farther back than anything writer/director Ivan Sen introduced in his last installment, Swan is taking to the bottle and in desperate need of a win to repair his damaged soul. Unfortunately for him it doesn’t appear anyone in this desolate mining town is able—or willing—to provide assistance.

We reunite with Jay piss drunk and behind the wheel as Goldstone’s solitary law enforcement agent (Alex Russell‘s Josh) approaches.

★★★★☆ Two thirds of the way through Ivan Sen's Goldstone a brothel madame combats the defiance of one of her trafficked girls with some discouraging advice: you can't fight the world, you can't change it, you can only find the place you fit within it. That worldview is put squarely to the test throughout Sen's measured and deceptively nuanced new genre flick, an Outback crime drama that continues the story of Aboriginal detective Jay Swan (Aaron Petersen) after 2013's similar but slightly less compelling Mystery Road.

Girl Asleep.

CinefestOZ kicks off on August 24, with The Death and Life of Otto Bloom, Girl Asleep, Jasper Jones and Spin Out battling it out for the festival's third annual Film Prize, worth $100,000.

The jury includes producer Sue Taylor (The Tree, Looking for Grace), cinematographer Garry Phillips (House of Hancock, The Railway Man, Candy), actor-director Damian Walshe-Howling (Janet King, Mystery Road, Underbelly), actress Emma Booth (Hounds of Love, Gods of Egypt, Jack Irish) and jury chair Gillian Armstrong.

.We are delighted to bring such diverse minds together to spark conversation,. said CinefestOZ Film Festival Chair Helen Shervington. .Our jurors are as unique and multi-faceted as the films they will judge.

The winning film will be announced at the Festival.s Gala Night on Saturday 27 August.

Each of the four finalists will screen during CinefestOZ, along with other new Australian and French features, short films, documentaries, industry workshops and related events,...

Jacki Weaver and Ivan Sen on the Goldstone set.

Ivan Sen.s.Goldstone opened the 2016 Sydney Film Festival before Transmisison released it nationally on July 7, and will make its international premiere at Tiff next month.

The film reunites Sen and his longtime producing partner David Jowsey with actor Aaron Pederson, who reprises the role of Outback detective Jay Swan, first seen in Sen.s 2013 feature Mystery Road.

.He.s a guy from an Indigenous background who.s defending and upholding white law, which has been in conflict with the white establishment for such a long time,. says Sen.

.He.s very divisive, no matter where he goes. He.s loaded with all kinds of political, social connotations. The situations you could put him in and have something quite deep and meaningful come out [of] his experiences are endless..

Goldstone revisits Swan after the loss of his daughter, whose death occurred at...

Blue Water Empire.

Filming will start this month on the ABC's.Blue Water Empire, a dramatised documentary series about the traditional culture and history of the Torres Strait Islands.

The three-part series will combine dramatic action with archival footage, digital effects and interviews to explore how Torres Strait Islanders have sustained their cultural heritage through the impact of 200 years of European settlement.

Producers Greer Simpkin and David Jowsey, the creative team behind Goldstone and Mystery Road, have teamed up with local producer and writer Aaron Fa.Aoso (The Straits, Black Comedy) to make the show. It will be filmed on location in the Torres Strait Islands with mostly local cast and crew.

Blue Water Empire will begin in traditional times and take viewers through to the arrival of the missionaries and the massive changes brought to the Islands by the pearling industry and WWII.

The series will also explore the...

The Indigenous writer-director talks about the ‘spiritual sequel’ to Mystery Road, being a one-man band and why action can have as much weight as dialogue

In a medium dominated by same-old same-old stories – a talking animal here, a spandex-clad superhero there – cinema audiences are afforded precious few moments when they are presented with something strikingly new or different.

Recently we’ve had quite a few of them, thanks to a talented group of Indigenous Australian film-makers (including Wayne Blair, Stephen Page and Rachel Perkins) who have delivered a shot in the arm for local genre on screen. That is, genre as you’ve never seen it before.

Continue reading...

Ivan Sen.

Aftrs' Black Talk program will run two free talks at this year's Sydney Film Festival.

On June 12 at Sydney Town Hall, Aftrs in conjunction with Vivid Ideas is presenting A Double Bill: Indigeneity and Australian Screen Storytelling.

In the first session, producers David Jowsey (Satellite Boy, Mystery Road, Goldstone) and Ned Lander (Dangerous Remedy, The Wrong Side of the Road, Blood Brothers) will be joined by Screen Australia Development Executive Louise Gough..

Kyas Sherriff, the head of Aftrs' Indigenous Unit, will moderate.

On the second panel, Margaret Pomeranz will appear in conversation with Goldstone's Ivan Sen, Alice Springs short filmmaker Dylan River and Native American filmmaker Sterlin Harjo (Four Sheets to the Wind, Barking Water, Mekko).

River's documentary Buckskin won the 2013 Dendy Foxtel Award and his short Nulla Nulla premiered at last year's Berlinale..

.This compelling double bill will further the conversation on Australian practice around collaboration...

Whilst the world's cinephiles eyes are all turned to the mother of all film festivals, Cannes, down under the Sydney Film Festival have just announced their cracking line up. While it's not one of the most prestigious festivals, it's carved a perfect spot for itself on the cinematic calendar in June each year. It's one of the first festivals to be able to screen films only previously shown at Sundance and Berlinale in the first half of the year, and the then just concluded Cannes film festival. Sydney Film Festival of course has its own world premieres of Australian films, and while this year doesn’t have as many as previous years, there’s some exciting works all the same. Here is just a sample of what’s in store for Sydney siders.

Australian World Premieres

Opening the Festival and also running in competition will be Ivan Sen’s Goldstone,...

Goldstone is Ivan Sen's sequel to his acclaimed 2013 thriller Mystery Road, which introduced the world to a character called Jay Swan, an aboriginal detective who worked cases in the outback.

I haven't seen Mystery Road yet, which stars Ryan Kwanten, Hugo Weaving and Aaron Pedersen, but I'm am hellbent on tracking it down now after watching this gorgeous and emotional trailer.

Goldstone was recently Selected as the opening film of the Sydney Film Festival .

About the film:

Director Ivan Sen’s new feature Goldstone sees the excellent Aaron Pedersen (Myster [Continued ...]...

Australia's Ivan Sen made quite a splash around the world with his 2013 crime thriller Mystery Road - an artfully executed tale of aboriginal detective Jay Swan working on the fringes of 'civilized' society - and he reunites that team to bring another story revolving his compelling lead character with Goldstone. Director Ivan Sen’s new feature Goldstone sees the excellent Aaron Pedersen (Mystery Road, 2013) reprise his role as troubled Indigenous detective Jay Swan. On the trail of a missing person, Jay finds himself in the small mining town of Goldstone, where he is immediately arrested for drink driving by young local cop Josh (Alex Russell). When Jay’s motel room is blasted with gunfire, it becomes clear that something larger is at play in the...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Alex Russell and Aaron Pedersen in Ivan Sen's Goldstone.

When If speaks to Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley, he's at the tail-end of a whirlwind day in which Ivan Sen's.Goldstone was unveiled as the festival's opening night film, to screen at Sydney's State Theatre on June 8..

So what's the reaction been like?

"So far it's been very positive," Moodley said..

"People are very eager to see Ivan Sen's new film. He's such a special filmmaker, and such a multi-talented one. He writes, directs, edits, composes the score, and has such an incredible body of work."

Moodley saw the film almost seven weeks ago, in early March, just after Sen had finished it.

"There was an opportunity to see an early cut, but we had enough time to see it when it was finished, so we waited."

"The film looks incredible, and he shot it himself...

Aaron Pedersen and Jacki Weaver in Goldstone.

Ivan Sen's Goldstone will have its world premiere as the opening night film of the 63rd Sydney Film Festival.

Described as "a stylish and intelligent outback noir", the film will screen at the State Theatre on June 8.

Goldstone is the fourth feature by Ivan Sen and stars Aaron Pedersen, reprising his role of the troubled Indigenous detective Jay Swan, first seen in Sen.s Mystery Road, which opened Sff in 2013..

The film.s cast includes Jacki Weaver, David Wenham, David Gulpilil, Cheng Pei-pei, Michelle Lim Davidson and Tom E. Lewis, and was shot on location in the remote settlement of Middleton (population 3) in outback western Queensland. .

On the trail of a missing person, Pedersen's Jay finds himself in the small mining town of Goldstone, where he is immediately arrested for drunk driving by young local cop Josh (Alex Russell). When Jay.s...

Sometimes they come back, better than ever. The 1980s Gore Shriek comic could be revived this May. Details on the Kickstarter are available below. Also in this round-up: a look at TeeFury's The X-Files apparel and casting details for Grey Fear.

Gore Shriek: From the Kickstarter page: "Gore Shriek returns for its 30th Anniversary with Two big brand new issues!

This campaign is for Volume 1 which will be released this May. (Volume 2 with an anticipated released on Halloween will have its own Kickstarter campaign later this year).

We have tried to make the rewards for your pledges to be as exciting as possible!! We are offering signed editions, ultra limited Prestige Squarebound Editions, original art, spectacular Gore Shriek™ Zombie busts that are handcrafted and serial-numbered (see below), and even your very own Gore Shriek cover!!

These new editions of Gore Shriek™ come to you from Rough House Publishing in conjunction with FantaCo Publications.

The upcoming Jasper Jones, the long-awaited Arrowhead, a star-studded Lion and a Mystery Road follow-up: there is lots for local film lovers to look forward to

• The 10 best Australian films of 2015

Australian cinema delivered a bounty of strange sights in 2015, from leather-clad road warriors to competitive paper plane-throwing and a penguin-rescuing sheepdog.

The 2016 line-up looks similarly eclectic, promising such treats as man-eating spiders and a person who experiences time backwards.

Continue reading...

So entertaining, so unexpected, so wonderfully oddball, so damn good. Witty genre-busting simmering with pathos, humor, and calamity. I’m “biast” (pro): love Kate Winslet; desperate for stories about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Like a gunslinger riding into town. Determined and dangerous. This is how director Jocelyn Moorhouse depicts the return of Tilly Dunnage to her backwater Australian town of Dungatar. The locale may be vaguely western-ish — remote and dusty — but the year is 1951 and Tilly comes armed only with a Singer sewing machine, her Parisian-inspired haute-couture style, and a superpowered ache for revenge.

I had no idea what I was in for with The Dressmaker, and even that opening — with its witty genre-busting that culminates in Tilly’s snarl to herself of “I’m back, you bastards” — couldn’t possibly have clued me in.

Toni Collette has joined Levi Miller, Aaron McGrath and Angourie Rice on the cast of Rachel Perkins' Australian feature film Jasper Jones..

Jasper Jones is the film adaptation of the award winning coming of age mystery novel by Craig Silvey.

Collette will play the role of Ruth Bucktin, mother to Charlie Bucktin (Miller)..

The film is set over one eventful summer in 1965 when Charlie, lured by adventure and mystery, experiences the trials of teenage love and discovers what it means to be truly courageous..

Aaaron McGrath has been cast as the titular character Jasper Jones and Rice as the intelligent and mysterious Eliza Wishart, who is also the object of Charlie.s affections.

Producer, Vincent Sheehan said Toni Collette was, quite simply, one of the greatest actors of her generation.

"The depth and insight she will bring to the unique role of Ruth Bucktin and having her work alongside...

New feature film Hounds of Love is set to start shooting in Western Australia early next year.

The project, from writer/director Ben Young and producer Melissa Kelly, has been supported by Screen Australia and ScreenWest.

Hounds of Love is the debut feature film for Young and is a thriller drawn from a number of infamous local and international crimes. ..

Producer Melissa Kelly said Hounds of Love explored some of the same territory as the gripping Australian crime thrillers Animal Kingdom, Suburban Mayhem and Mystery Road.

The project participated in the ScreenWest script and talent development initiatives Feature Navigator and eQuinoxe in 2014 and attracted international recognition when it was pitched at European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin earlier this year. ..

In 2014 the project was awarded production funding through ScreenWest.s West Coast Visions initiative, which aims to uncover, inspire and develop local filmmakers..

Screen Australia chief executive, Graeme Mason said...

Porchlight Films and Bunya Productions have revealed the cast for feature film Jasper Jones, which is set to start filming in Western Australia on October 26.

The cast will include Levi Miller (Terra Nova, upcoming Pan, Blue Dog), Angourie Rice (These Final Hours, upcoming The Nice Guys) and Aaron McGrath (Glitch)..

The film is an adaption of the award winning coming of age mystery novel by Craig Silvey..

Principal photography is set to commence in October in the south west of Western Australia.

Jasper Jones will be directed by Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae, Radiance, One Night the Moon).

Miller will play bookish 14-year-old, Charlie Bucktin, who over one eventful summer in 1965 navigates small-town racism, hypocrisy and the trials of teenage love.

McGrath has been cast as the titular character, Jasper Jones, while will play the intelligent and mysterious Eliza Wishart, who is also the object of Charlie.s affections.

.Perkins...

Porchlight Films and Bunya Productions have revealed the cast for feature film Jasper Jones, which is set to start filming in Western Australia on October 26.

The cast will include Levi Miller (Terra Nova, upcoming Pan, Blue Dog), Angourie Rice (These Final Hours, upcoming The Nice Guys) and Aaron McGrath (Glitch)..

The film is an adaption of the award winning coming of age mystery novel by Craig Silvey..

Principal photography is set to commence in October in the south west of Western Australia.

Jasper Jones will be directed by Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae, Radiance, One Night the Moon).

Miller will play bookish 14-year-old, Charlie Bucktin, who over one eventful summer in 1965 navigates small-town racism, hypocrisy and the trials of teenage love.

McGrath has been cast as the titular character, Jasper Jones, while will play the intelligent and mysterious Eliza Wishart, who is also the object of Charlie.s affections.

.Perkins...

Anzac Girls. Sara West and Mystery Road.s Samara Weaving head the cast of Bad Girl, writer-director Fin Edquist.s psychological thriller which starts shooting in Perth on August 31.

West plays 16-year-old Amy, the title character who has to fight for her adoptive parents when her new best friend Chloe (Weaving) tries to supplant her.

Playing the parents are Felicity Price, who stars in Joel Edgerton.s Us thriller The Gift and her partner Kieran Darcy-Smith.s upcoming Western By Way of Helena, and Benjamin Winspear (House of Hancock, Rake, The Babadook).

The film marks a departure in tone for Edquist, who scripted the animated family pics Maya the Bee and Blinky Bill: The Movie, which opens in cinemas on September 10.

The producers are Steve Kearney (Oddball, My Mistress), Bruno Charlesworth (Good Vibrations, The Extra) and Tenille Kennedy. This is the feature producing debut for Kennedy, who co-produced three...

A host of Australian talent has descended on Winton, Queensland, as production for the contemporary Western thriller Goldstone commences.

Starring Aaron Pedersen (The Fear of Darkness, Mystery Road), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook, Animal Kingdom), Alex Russell (Unbroken, Carrie), David Gulpilil (Charlies Country, The Proposition), David Wenham (Paper Planes, Oranges and Sunshine) and Tom E. Lewis (The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Red Hill), Goldstone is the latest film from acclaimed writer/director Ivan Sen (Mystery Road, Beneath Clouds) and long-term producing partner David Jowsey (Mystery Road, Satellite Boy).

.We are proud to be supporting and investing in Queensland.s award-winning writer and director Ivan Sen and his producing partner David Jowsey of Bunya Productions,. said Screen Queensland CEO Tracey Vieira, in a statement issued to the media.

Queensland Premier and Arts Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said Screen Queensland was investing $530,000 in Goldstone, which is expected to reap direct returns of $2.15 million...

Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver and David Wenham will join Aaron Pedersen, David Gulpilil and Tom E. Lewis in the upcoming Australian 'outback noir' thriller "Goldstone".

A spin-off of the 2013 film "Mystery Road" which starred Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten, "Goldstone" sees Pedersen reprising the role of Detective Jay Swan.

Filming began today on the project with writer/director Ivan Sen returning in the same capacity. Story details are unknown at this point.

Source: Facebook, Blake H.

Game of Thrones. Iain Glen, Frances O.Connor, Deborah Mailman, Hunter Page-Lochard, Rob Collins and Ryan Corr are shooting Cleverman, an innovative six-part futuristic action drama for ABC-tv.

Based on an original concept by Ryan Griffen, the plot follows a group of non-humans who are battling for survival in a world where humans feel increasingly inferior and want to silence, exploit and kill them.

The protagonists are two estranged Indigenous brothers (Page-Lochard and Collins), who are forced together to fight for their own survival. Otherworldly dreaming creatures also emerge into this .real world. dystopian landscape.

Commissioned by ABC-tv's Indigenous department, the series is an Australian/New Zealand co-production between Goalpost Pictures and Pukeko Pictures.

The Sapphires. Wayne Blair is lead director with Leah Purcell also directing. Blair recently completed Us thriller Septembers of Shiraz, which tells the true story of a secular Jewish family caught in the Islamic revolution in Iran,...

Giving both the film and the filmmakers some extra breathing room, Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure Pan has been moved from its previous July 24th opening to fall and will begin its global launch with the new domestic release date of October 9, 2015.

The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President, International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

In making the announcement, Fellman said, “We wanted to give ‘Pan’ the space to extend its theatrical run, so taking it out of the cluttered summer season made the most sense. Moving the film to the heart of the fall will allow us more time to screen the picture, enabling us to capitalize on what we anticipate will be strong word of mouth.”

Kwan Vandenberg added, “Peter Pan is a beloved figure the world over, and the fall corridor is perfect for this epic adventure story that...

After tying for best film with The Water Diviner at the Aacta Awards, Jennifer Kent.s The Babadook has won the major prizes at the Australian Film Critics Association annual film and writing awards.

The horror movie took the awards for best film, director, lead actress Essie Davis and supporting actor Noah Wiseman.

Emulating his Aacta Award, David Gulpilil was named best actor for Charlie.s Country. Sarah Snook (who was recognised as best actress for Predestination at the AACTAs) was the surprise winner for best supporting actress for These Final Hours.

Gulpilil and Rolf de Heer collected the original screenplay award and Charlie.s Country.s Ian Jones was feted as best DoP. Gulpilil received his best actor statue on Friday evening from Aaron Pedersen (last year's Afca best actor winner for Mystery Road) during the BlakNite event at Treasury Gardens. He dedicated the award to .the spirit of the country and his family.

The ABC has today announced that Deputy Head of Fiction, Greer Simpkin, will step down from her role on February 27.

Simpkin, who has held the role for just under five years, will move into the independent production sector and has been appointed as Head of Television for Bunya Productions, the film production company co-owned by producer David Jowsey and writer/director Ivan Sen (Mystery Road). The new position is supported by a Screen Queensland Enterprise grant and is based out of Queensland.

During her time at the ABC, Simpkin has been responsible for a number of award-winning and critically acclaimed shows, such as The Slap, Rake, Jack Irish, Mabo, Janet King, Upper Middle Bogan, Miss Fisher.s Murder Mysteries, Please Like Me, Carlotta, Paper Giants and Devil.s Dust.

She was also an Executive Producer for The Code, Parer.s War, Hiding, The Secret River and co-production Serangoon Road.

In...

“All children, except one, grow up.” – Peter Pan

Warner Bros. Pictures has released the epic first trailer for director Joe Wright’s Pan. The movie stars Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, and newcomer Levi Miller as Peter.

Offering a new take on the origin of the classic characters created by J.M. Barrie, the action adventure follows the story of an orphan who is spirited away to the magical Neverland. (“Second to the right, and straight on till morning.”)

There, he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny – to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.

Rounding out the cast are Adeel Akhtar (“The Dictator”) as Smee; Taejoo Na (“The Kick”) as Kwahu; Nonso Anozie (“Son of God,” “Atonement”) as Bishop; Kathy Burke (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) as Mother Barnabas; Kurt Egyiawan (“Skyfall”) as Murray; Lewis MacDougall (UK TV’s “In the Name...

From Warner Bros. Pictures comes the first character posters for Pan, a live-action Peter Pan feature directed by Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Pride & Prejudice”).

The brand new trailer will debut on Tuesday, Nov. 25th at at 9am Pt/12pm Et.

Offering a new take on the origin of the classic characters created by J.M. Barrie, the action adventure follows the story of an orphan who is spirited away to the magical Neverland. There, he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny—to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.

The film stars Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”) as Blackbeard; Garrett Hedlund (“Inside Llewyn Davis”) as Hook; Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) as Tiger Lily; Adeel Akhtar (“The Dictator”) as Smee; and newcomer Levi Miller as Peter.

Rounding out the cast are Taejoo Na (“The Kick”) as Kwahu; Nonso Anozie (“Son of God,...

★★★☆☆The wilds of Australia play home to Ivan Sen's latest in both a physical and metaphorical sense. The oppression of indigenous peoples was a topic explored in his previous film, Toomelah (2009), and it glints as a rich vein of this new genre nugget, Mystery Road (2013). Determined to steer clear of anticipated escalations in narrative thrust, it prefers to grip your attention by allowing a constant simmer beneath the surface of the barren outback. Jay Swan (played by Aaron Pedersen) occupies the role of local lawman. An entire police department is at the disposal of this small town, but the Aboriginal detective seems to stand alone after returning to his hometown from a spell in the "Big Smoke".

Welcome back to This Week In Discs! If you see something you like, click on the title to buy it from Amazon. Don’t Blink A group of friends head to a remote cabin for a vacation, but before they can even get settled inside they begin to notice things are not as they seem. The surrounding woods are devoid of birds and wildlife, the lake has frozen over catching a fishing boat in its center and all of the nearby cabins are empty of people as well. Food is on tables, cars are still running and they even find a bottle of warm baby milk. The situation intensifies as they start disappearing too, one by one, whenever one of them is out of sight of the rest. You’d be forgiven for thinking this direct to DVD thriller was a slight affair not worth your time — after all, the names above the title are Brian Austin Green and...

Film Movement has bought North American rights to My Mistress, Stephen Lance.s erotic drama about the affair between a vulnerable teenager. (Harrison Gilbertson) and a French S&M mistress (Emmanuelle Béart).

By If.s reckoning at least 27 Australian titles have secured Us distribution deals this year. Most are getting limited theatrical releases as a platform for home entertainment exposure.

Film Movement will release the film on DVD and VOD, including via its subscription streaming service dubbed Film-of-the-Month Club.

The deal was negotiated by international sales agent LevelK, which had already sold the film to Japan (New Select), the UK ( Film House), Russia (Russian Report) and Hong Kong (Sundream Motion Pictures).

LevelK.s Tine Klint is screening the film this week at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea and hopes to close more deals. Produced by Leanne Tonkes and Steve Kearney, the film opens in Australia on November 6 via Transmission.

A simple listing, duplicated from the homepage, of new theatrical releases and other films currently available, for the benefit of those playing along by RSS or keeping up via the Daily Digest emails.

new Us/Can Oct 03 wide Annabelle Gone Girl Left Behind limited Drive Hard new UK Oct 01-03 wide Dracula Untold Gone Girl Dolphin Tale 2 Draft Day Life After Beth

also playing Us/Can Begin Again Boyhood The Congress Dawn of the Planet of the Apes The Fault in Our Stars Frank How to Train Your Dragon 2 If I Stay Life Itself Lilting The Lunchbox A Most Wanted Man Only Lovers Left Alive Pride The Purge: Anarchy Rich Hill Snowpiercer Swim Little Fish Swim Tracks 20,000 Days on Earth 22 Jump Street X-Men: Days of Future Past Advanced Style Believe Me Earth to Echo Guardians of the Galaxy Hercules Honeymoon The Hundred-Foot Journey Life of Crime Magic in the Moonlight...

Australian films seem to be inhabiting parallel universes. At home only three films have grossed more than $1 million this year while a broad slate of Oz titles has been sold to distributors around the world.

The dichotomy between local audiences. evident lack of interest in Australian cinema and the healthy appetites of foreign buyers may never have been so pronounced.

.The perception of Aussie films overseas in the industry is really good and strong,. Odin.s Eye Entertainment.s Michael Favelle told If. Favelle cites three factors to try to explain the local/international paradox:

-Because not every Australian film ends up in cinemas or being rammed down people.s throats. -The cream always rises to the top. -Compared to other countries we hit way above our weight both commercially and creatively.

Asked why the perception is far is worse in Australia, he said: .Due to the nature of the...

Ivan Sen.s Mystery Road has been warmly received by the UK critics as the Outback thriller began its cinema roll-out, and the Us release is set for October.

The detective story starring Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Ryan Kwanten, Jack Thompson, Tony Barry, Robert Mammone and Tasma Walton opened on seven screens in London, Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Sheffield last Friday, making a respectable £8,400 ($15,000).

Producer David Jowsey told If the UK distributor Axiom Films plans to expand the release to 28 cities through the end of October.

Typifying the warm critical reception, the Observer.s Mark Kermode declared, .This atmospheric Australian thriller is closer in tone to the measured, brooding unease of Ray Lawrence's Jindabyne than to the visceral thrills and spills of Greg Mclean's Wolf Creek.

.More interested in unpicking the broiling tensions of outback Queensland than in tying up the loose ends of his straggle-threaded whodunnit plot,...

Aaron Pedersen excels as an indigenous Australian cop caught between two worlds in Ivan Sen's evocative outback thriller

Despite playing out in locations with such evocative names as Massacre Creek, Slaughter Hill and the titular Mystery Road, this atmospheric Australian thriller is closer in tone to the measured, brooding unease of Ray Lawrence's Jindabyne than to the visceral thrills and spills of Greg McLean's Wolf Creek. More interested in unpicking the broiling tensions of outback Queensland than in tying up the loose ends of his straggle-threaded whodunnit plot, writer-director Ivan Sen (who also shoots, scores and edits) goes walkabout through the minefield of contemporary Australian culture, offering an evocative snapshot of an unravelling crime scene – social, racial and economic.

Charismatic Aaron Pedersen stars as detective Jay Swan, returning to his small-town roots after a stint in "the big smoke", which has merely widened the chasm between him and his former peers.

For director Ivan Sen, his latest piece, the brooding and harrowing drama Mystery Road, explores themes very close to home, as he studies indigenous culture in the unforgiving landscape of the Australian Outback. When we had the pleasure of speaking to the talented filmmaker, he discusses the issues that come with tackling such territory and then selling it to an Australian crowd. Sen also talks about his own, truly personal attachment to the project, and the current state of the Australian film industry.

So where did the idea for Mystery Road first come on? What inspired this screenplay?

I guess the idea come from an event that happened in my distant family. A relative of mine was an aboriginal girl living out in the rural area of New South Wales, near an indigenous community. Her body was found under a roadway about eight years ago. I guess the police follow...

The working relationship between David Jowsey and Ivan Sen goes way before they formed boutique feature film company Bunya in 2009. Outback noir film, Mystery Road, marks the latest stepping stone in the pair.s shared career path. The director and producer duo talk to Emily Blatchford about their partnership..

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David Jowsey Ivan and I have a long history of working together at the ABC. Ivan made programs and documentaries for the ABC which I commissioned. For maybe four or five years we made a documentary every year.

Eventually there came a time where I said, .look, I want to get back into making drama.. Ivan had this plan to shoot a very low-budget, sci-fi film in Nevada called Dreamland so I ended up getting involved with discussions about that. One thing led to another and I said, .Right. I.ll leave and we.ll do this together and we.ll...

Chicago – Exclusive! Free festival 6-packs! In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of festival 6-packs up for grabs to the second-annual Chicago Critics Film Festival (Ccff) at the Music Box Theatre from the Chicago Film Critics Association!

The festival runs from Friday, May 9 to Thursday, May 15, 2014 at the historic Music Box Theatre. More than 30 feature films and shorts will make their Chicago premieres including favorites from Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Slamdance, Toronto International Film Festival and Cannes.

The festival lineup includes the latest films starring Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Brit Marling, Hugo Weaving, Rupert Friend, Brendan Gleeson, Robin Wright, Jenny Slate and many more. In this exclusive Hookup, each HollywoodChicago.com winner will win a festival 6-pack of Guaranteed tickets to experience these Chicago premieres at these times and dates:

”Calvary” (Saturday, May 10, 7:45 p.m.) ”The Overnighters” (Sunday, May 11, 5 p.m.) Shorts Program #2 (Monday,...

Australia... it's a vast, beautiful, welcoming country. It's also full to bursting with things that can kill you, if the big screen is to be believed. Inspired by Mia Wasikowska's plucky 1,700-mile trek across the Outback in Tracks, we flag up the traps and tropes she should watch out for.

(Un)Natural Phenomena

Exotic wildlife proliferates Down Under, most of it deceptively lethal. Witness the baby stolen by a dingo in horrifying Meryl Streep-starrer A Cry In The Dark (1988). The same – real – tragedy loosely inspired Razorback, a mullet-tastic 1984 horror about a giant marauding pig, directed by Highlander's Russell Mulcahy (mooted tagline: 'There Can Only Be Oink'). The less said about the ballet-dancing were-roos of The Marsupials: The Howling III (1987), the better.

Much more convincing is the giant CG crocodile munching Radha Mitchell's boat tour group (ex-Neighbours actors constitute an Outback peril all of their own) in 2007's Rogue,...