The once booming Australian film industry has been in a recession for the last decade. It’s been many years since we’ve had a big cinematic success and many more years since we ranked within our own top 5 of Australian Box Office takings. Many would argue that the entire film industry has been in a slump since the surge of the internet and technological advances of HD television. However, if Hollywood blockbusters are struggling to redeem their costs, let alone actually make money, what chance is there for an Australian film?
This is where independent films and creative filmmakers & producers begin to shine.
Sundance International Film Festival has long been a stepping stone to success for many Australian films. Gaining recognition from Sundance, often generates a lot of interest (which equates to money) within the Australian public and in many cases will gain distribution for the film which otherwise would have been ignored.
This year two new Australian features, Sophie Hyde’s 52 Tuesdays and Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook, have been selected for the world’s best known indie film festival.
52 Tuesdays – Produced, written and directed by Sophie Hyde.
Del Herbert-Jane and Tilda Cobham-Hervey in a scene from 52 Tuesdays
The film was shot over the course of a year, “once a week, every week, only on Tuesdays” and tells the story of 16 year old Billie (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) whose transformation into adulthood is fast-tracked when her Mother’s (Del Herbert-Jane) gender transition interrupts their lives and narrows their time together to one day per week – Tuesday. 52 Tuesdays will screen as a part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance.
The film’s companion project My 52 Tuesdays has also been selected to showcase at Sundance’s New Frontiers program; which makes a double bill for this little Aussie movie.
More Info here: www.my52tuesdays.com
Here’s the promo for the companion project My 52 Tuesdays:
The Babadook – Written and directed by Jennifer Kent.
Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman in a scene from The Babadook
The Babadook is a psychological thriller which tells the tale of a traumatised single Mother (played by Essie Davis) whose husbands violent death still plagues her and whose son is struggling to overcome his own fear of monsters; until a mysterious children’s storybook appears. Shot in the tradition of a Roman Polanski’s domestic horror (Rosemary’s Baby, Repulsion) the film was successfully crowd-funded via a Kickstarter campaign last year and managed to raise over $30,000 in pledges.
The Babadook will premiere at Sundance’s late night genre competition Park City at Midnight.
More info here: Facebook/The Babadook
Watch Jennifer Kent’s crowd-funding pitch video:
