News

Warning: Spoilers for The Boys season 4, episode 7!

The Boys season 4, episode 7 is titled "The Insider", which can refer to several characters and incidents. Director Catriona McKenzie balances character beats with action sequences in The Boys, and is sure to do the same when she returns for Gen V season 2, episode 6. McKenzie gives her nuanced interpretation of important scenes in the episode for Annie, Butcher, The Deep, A-Train, and Ashley.

The Boys season 4, episode 7 is titled "The Insider" a word that works on multiple levels throughout the episode. A-Train has been acting as a spy on behalf of Hughie and Mother's Milk throughout the season, finally revealing his cards when he stops The Deep and Noir from killing Butcher and Annie. Meanwhile, Annie herself has been replaced by an "insider" in the form of a shapeshifter hired by Sage. But perhaps most frightening of all is Kessler's voice inside Butcher's head,...

Nakkiah Lui..

Shooting has kicked off in Sydney on Porchlight Films' comedy series.Kiki & Kitty.

The absurdist series is the brainchild of writer-actor Nakkiah Lui (Black Comedy), who is working with producers Liz Watts and Sylvia Warmer. .

Produced for ABC iview, the 6 x 10 minute series will be directed by Catriona McKenzie (Shadow Hunters, Satellite Boy, Redfern Now).

The series follows .the trials and tribulations of Kiki, the good black girl in a bad white world, who stumbles across her vagina in the personification of Kitty and realises there is a lot more to life than she thought..

Elaine Crombie (Black Comedy, Redfern Now) stars as Kitty, and comes to the series.from Lui.s recent Malthouse Theatre Company show Blaque Showgirls. Kiki & Kitty also stars Christine Anu, Tessa Rose, Lisa Flanagan, Ryan Johnson and Rob Carlton..

Kiki & Kitty has been commissioned by ABC Indigenous and financed through Screen Australia.s Multiplatform Fund.

Catriona McKenzie (Photo: James Croucher)..

Nsw Minister for the Arts Troy Grant has appointed Indigenous writer-director Catriona McKenzie to the Nsw Film and Television Industry Advisory Committee for a three-year term.

The committee acts as an independent body. Its role is to advise the Minister on the operation of the film and television industry and provide advice to the department through Screen Nsw.

McKenzie will replace Sue Murray, who has served on the committee since July 2014 and was formerly a member of the board of the Nsw Film and Television Office (2011 — 2014).

McKenzie.s credits include the feature Satellite Boy, which she both wrote and directed. She has also directed episodes of Dance Academy, My Place and Satisfaction, and was the set-up director on The Circuit, Ran: Remote Area Nurse, Camp, Redfern Now and The Gods of Wheat Street.

McKenzie completed a director.s attachment on Alien: Covenant with Ridley Scott...

Karen Radzyner.

Screen Nsw development and production executive Karen Radzyner is spearheading Screen Nsw.s new script development program, Amplifier. If gets the lowdown on how it differs from its predecessor.

Why the change from Aurora to Amplifier?

Amplifier will build on Aurora.s successes, this time with an individual focus on each project. We wanted to signal the change in the program to the industry. Giving it a new name and shape we hope will magnify Amplifier.s fresh approach.

What are the key differences?

The main difference is the bespoke nature of the program. Its defining factor is that it is customised to the individual projects. We will make the key decisions about how Amplifier: Adaptation can best nurture each project, only when we know those projects have been selected. In this way, we can work with the creative teams to make Screen Nsw's funding and relationships...

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...

Brooke Goldfinch and Catriona McKenzie have been chosen as the director.s attachments on Sir Ridley Scott.s Alien: Covenant..

They will work on the project for five weeks while the production films in Australia.

The Director.s Attachment Scheme is an incentive program funded by Screen Australia and managed by the Adg for emerging directors to develop their craft.

Both Goldfinch and McKenzie are accomplished directors..

In 2016 Goldfinch was nominated for Best Direction in a Short Film at the Adg Awards..

She is a graduate of the Tisch School for the Arts in New York and was selected to direct a segment of the compendium feature film The Colour of Time, starring James Franco and Jessica Chastain.

McKenzie is Aftrs alumni whose debut feature film, Satellite Boy (2012), won the Crystal Bear Special Mention Award for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival. Catriona.s other credits include Redfern Now and Dance Academy.

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...

Writer-director Craig Monahan will get the chance to screen his film Healing to key industry figures in Los Angeles and New York after winning the Australian Directors Guild.s Finders Award.

In partnership with the Directors Guild of America Finders series, the Adg selects one Australian feature film which is yet to secure Us distribution and is entered into the Adg Awards.

Monahan will accompany the film when it.s screened later in the year for distributors, managers and agents in La and NY.

Adg CEO Kingston Anderson said, .The Adg selects a film that is submitted to the Awards that does not have Us distribution and would provide the director with an opportunity to showcase their work. Healing and its director Craig Monahan fit perfectly for the Finders Award."

Produced by Tait Brady and Monahan.s Pointblank Pictures and co-scripted by the director and Alison Nisselle, the drama starring Don Hany,...

The 2015 Adg Awards will be presented in Melbourne on Friday May 8, the first time the awards have been held outside Sydney.

In other innovations, there will be a special dedication to a group of directors who have been pioneers in Australian TV drama. Also, the Michael Carson Award for TV drama will be reinstated,. recognizing a director working in TV drama who has an outstanding body of work. The winner will be. selected by the Adg board.

Adg executive director Kingston Anderson tells If. the organisation has been keen to stage the awards in Melbourne, where many of its members reside, made possible this year with financial assistance from Film Victoria.

Hosting the event down south also will tie in with a planned celebration of the 30th year of Neighbours, saluting all the directors who have worked on the serial..

Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi said hosting the Adg awards...

Australian films have raked in $13.7 million at the national box-office this year, a brighter start than the first four months of 2013.

Jonathan Teplitzky.s The Railway Man still ranks as the top title, making $5.5 million this calendar year and $7.3 million since its Boxing Day launch.

Greg Mclean.s Wolf Creek 2 wound up with $4.7 million, a solid number but below the original.s $6.1 million in 2005.

John Curran.s Tracks has taken $2.36 million, a modest result given the mostly positive reviews, Transmission's extensive publicity campaign and Mia Wasikowska.s performance as Robyn Davidson.

The one costly misfire is Stuart Beattie.s $65 million I, Frankenstein, whose fate was probably sealed after the action-horror film bombed in the Us in January.

It.s too early to judge the potential of Sophie Hyde.s 52 Tuesdays, which opened on May 1.

Hidden Universe 3D, Backyard Ashes, Lygon Street: Si Parla Italiano and Uncharted Waters:...

Kim Mordaunt, Rowan Woods and Rachel Perkins were among the winners in the Australian Directors Guild awards presented in Sydney at the Powerhouse Museum on Friday night.

Mordaunt took the Adg award for best direction in a feature film for his debut film The Rocket. The best direction in a telemovie gong went to Woods for The Broken Shore.. Perkins won the prize for best direction in a TV drama series for Redfern Now series 2, episode 2, Starting Over.

The Adg Awards celebrate the outstanding work of Australian screen directors in the past year in 16 categories including film, television, multiplatform, music and advertising. .The winners include some of the industry.s most experienced directors such as Ray Lawrence, Rowan Woods, Geoffrey Nottage and Rachel Perkins, but also reflect the incredible new talent rising through the ranks who are working across the various screen platforms,. said Adg executive director Kingston Anderson. The...

Ivan Sen.s Mystery Road and Kim Mordaunt.s The Rocket shared the best film honours at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards presented last night.

The Great Gatsby collected four awards followed by The Rocket with 3 and Mystery Road and The Turning with 2 awards each.

Naomi Watts was named best actress for her role in the little-seen Adoration and Aaron Pedersen was best actor for Mystery Road. Sen was best director.

There was another tie for the supporting actor prize: The Great Gatsby.s Joel Edgerton and Mystery Road.s Hugo Weaving. The Turning.s Rose Byrne was best supporting actress. The Rocket.s Sitthiphon Disamoe was on hand to receive the gong for best young performer.

Best script award went to The Railway Man.s Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson. Haydn Keenan's Persons of Interest was named best documentary.

An Acknowledgment Award was presented to...

Ivan Sen.s Mystery Road. won six of the eight awards for Australian films at the Australian Film Critics Association 2014 film and writing awards.

The murder mystery produced by David Jowsey was feted as best film and for Sen.s direction, screenplay and cinematography, lead actor Aaron Pedersen and supporting actor Hugo Weaving.

Nicole Kidman was named best actress for The Railway Man and Rose Byrne took the supporting actress prize for Tim Winton's The Turning.

Tarantino's Django Unchanged was judged best international film and Michael Haneke.s Amour best foreign-language international film. Best documentary went to Sarah Polley.s Stories We Tell.

The Afca has about 75 members. .All our members voted on the Awards and the majority clearly felt Ivan Sen's gripping outback noir was the best Australian film from the last 12 months,. said Afca chair Richard Haridy, whose outlets are ABC Radio Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast,...

If the 3rd annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards could be categorised as a David vs Goliath battle between The Rocket and The Great Gatsby, Goliath is the hands-down winner.

Baz Luhrmann.s opulent romantic drama won six awards tonight, for best film, director, adapted screenplay, lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, supporting actor Joel Edgerton and supporting actress Elizabeth Debicki.

That.s in addition to the six awards in craft categories plus the Aacta award for outstanding achievement in visual effects bestowed on Luhrmann.s film on Tuesday.

Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket, which had 12 nominations versus 14 for Gatsby, had to be content with just one trophy, for Mordaunt.s original screenplay.

The outcome is likely to reignite the debate about the near-impossibility of comparing a lavishly-mounted 3D film financed by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures, which cost $160 million, with an independently-funded Lao-set film from a first-time director budgeted at about $2 million.

The Great Gatsby dominated. Aacta.s technical and short films awards today, collecting gongs in all six craft categories for which it was nominated, plus the Aacta award for outstanding achievement in visual effects.

The co-production Top of the Lake bagged two TV trophies while Matchbox Pictures. Nowhere Boys, created by Tony Ayres, was named best children.s TV series.

The TV documentary prize went to Redesign My Brain, which explores the revolutionary new science of brain plasticity, written and directed by Paul Scott and produced by Isabel Perez and Scott for ABC TV.

Writer-director Nick Verso's The Last Time I Saw Richard, produced by John Molloy, was honoured as best short fiction film. Developed and funded through Screen Australia.s Springboard program, the short is a prequel to the upcoming feature film Boys In The Trees, tracing the friendship between two teenagers in a mental health clinic in...

Actor and comedian Shane Bourne will host this year.s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTAs), broadcast in a 90-minute presentation on Thursday, January 30, at 8.30pm on Network Ten.

Bourne will lead the night of peer-voted awards, live performances and special appearances from personalities across the Australian television and film industry.

AFI | Aacta CEO, Damian Trewhella, said .We are delighted Shane will host the 3rd Aacta Awards Ceremony. Shane is an AFI Award winner and audience favourite, and a well loved and respected member of the screen industry.. Bourne said, .I am really looking forward to being involved in the 3rd Aacta Awards and providing the social lubricant to help ensure a great night for all as we celebrate the year.s achievements in television and film. And if the official after party is just a fraction as good as the scenes from The Great Gatsby then...

An analysis of the Australian films released in cinemas in 2013 makes for grim reading, with a handful of critical and/or commercial successes outnumbered by misfires and under-achievers.

On the positive side, the debut films from directors Kim Mordaunt (The Rocket), Catriona McKenzie (Satellite Boy) and Mark Grentell (Backyard Ashes) unearthed talent with plenty of potential.

The year ended on a strong note with the Boxing Day launch of Jonathan Teplitzy.s The Railway Man, which ranks as the second-highest local grosser behind Baz Luhrmann.s The Great Gatsby, which amassed $27.4 million to become the fifth-biggest Australian title of all time.

Tellingly, the drama starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman raked in more money in its first week than the lifetime earnings of every other title. According to If.s estimate, the combined B.O. tally of the 26 local films and documentaries is $38.88 million, well short of 2012.s $47.9 million.

Only...

Glenn, Team Film Experience's resident Australian, here. In all the hubbub surrounding the big wins for American Hustle and Her, it went unnoticed (not surprisingly, but also not without reason) that the nominees for this year's Aacta Awards were announced. Australia's own "Academy" (renamed from the Australian Film Institute several years back) went big for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, which is hoping for a tech resurgence later in the guild-stretch of the Oscar season, and Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket, which is still holding on hope for an Academy foreign language short-listing. Other famous names like Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving, Mia Wasikowska, and Naomi Watts also appear across the 14 categories recognising Australian films.

Catherine Martin and her team of production/set/costume designers are - let's face it - the only likely Oscar cross-over here for their work on The Great Gatsby so it's hard to picture her losing.

Other best film nominations include Dead Europe, Mystery Road, Satellite Boy and The Turning.Scroll down for full list

Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby and Kim Mordaunt’s The Rocket lead the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television (Aacta) Award nominations: 14 and 12 respectively, it was announced today.

Luhrmann’s adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald 1925 novel was made on a Hollywood-sized budget by a very experienced director while festival hit The Rocket, which tells the story of a boy trying to prove he isn’t cursed, was filmed in Laos by a writer/director who had not previously made a dramatic feature.

The Rocket and The Great Gatsby are pitted against each other for the prestigious best film award, for best director and in three of the four acting categories.

The best actor award, for example, could go to Leonardo DiCaprio for his performance in The Great Gatsby or to Sitthiphon Disamoe, a one-time...

The Great Gatsby has been nominated in 14 categories and The Rocket is in contention for 12 at the third annual Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts Awards.

In TV, Top of the Lake top scored with 10 nominations ahead of eight apiece for Mrs Biggs, Power Games: The Packer- Murdoch Story and Redfern Now series 2.

Gatsby and The Rocket are vying for best film with Dead Europe, Mystery Road, Satellite Boy and Tim Winton.s The Turning.

A total of 50 productions has been nominated across 39 awards categories. The Nsw Government announced today it would renew its partnership agreement for a further three years, from 2015-2017.

Aacta has signed a three-year deal with Foxtel which entails pay-tv rights and further collaborations. Aacta/AFI CEO Damian Trewhella tells If that in future years this may take the form of deeper coverage on Foxtel before or after the awards, spotlighting creative talent.

The Gatsby remake...

The combined B.O. tally of the Australian films and documentaries released theatrically this year will fall far short of 2012.s $47.9 million.

Through last Sunday, the 24 local titles had raked in about $37.5 million, according to If.s estimates. Only four titles earned more than $1 million and of those, Goddess. result was generally regarded as soft. Excluding Baz Luhrmann.s The Great Gatsby, which amassed $28.2 million to rank as the fifth-highest Australian grosser of all time, and Tim Winton.s The Turning, the per-picture grosses vary from modest to skimpy.

To be fair, the eight lowest-ranked titles had limited playing time and three, Uncharted Waters, Circle of Lies and Lasseter.s Bones, had Q&A screenings.

Australian B.O. takings should not be seen as the sole barometer of each film's success, given many have multiple viewings on VOD, pay-tv and free-to-air TV. Festival exposure and critical acclaim are also important,...

Some 17 Australian films including two documentaries have been released in Australian cinemas this year.

By If.s reckoning, the cumulative gross is $35.2 million. That may sound respectable but the average gross per title plummets if you exclude Baz Luhrmann.s The Great Gatsby, which raked in $28.2 million to rank as the fifth highest Australian grosser of all time.

At this rate, the Australian films have no hope of reaching last year.s tally of $47.9 million, a box office share of 4.3%, given Anne Fontaine.s Adoration (formerly Two Mothers) is getting a limited release next month via eOne Hopscotch after performing poorly in the Us and Jonathan Teplitzky.s critically-admired The Railway Man opens on Boxing Day.

In 2012 The Sapphires was No 1 with $14.5 million followed by Happy Feet Two ($8.2 million out of its lifetime gross of $10.7 million), Kath & Kimderella ($6.1 million), A Few Best Men ($5.3 million) and Mental ($4.1 million).

Apart from Gatsby...

Catriona McKenzie.s Satellite Boy has won the best feature drama prize at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto.

Write-director Tracey Rigney.s short film Abalone was named the best short film at the festival, which celebrates the latest works by Indigenous people in film, video, radio and new media.

Produced by Rhea Stephenson through Screen Australia Indigenous department.s black short film initiative, Abalone looks at the complexities of life in the streets for Ted, a beggar who exchanges jokes for spare change

Ivan Sen.s Mystery Road opened the festival, which also showcased three other Australian shorts, Margaret Harvey.s The Hunter, Romaine Moreton.s The Oysterman and Jon Bell.s The Chuck In. .

The Aacta Awards Screenings will be held in Sydney at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction and in Melbourne at The Backlot Studios Southbank from October 9-30.

In contention are 14 feature films, four animated shorts and four fiction shorts. Nominees for the feature film, television and documentary categories will be announced later this year. The 3rd Aacta Awards will be staged in Sydney in January.

The 14 features are 100 Bloody Acres, Adoration, Blinder, Dead Europe, Drift, Goddess, The Great Gatsby, Mystery Road, Patrick, Return to Nim's Island, The Rocket, Satellite Boy, Save Your Legs! and Tim Winton.s The Turning.

The nominees for animated short are A Cautionary Tail (Pauline Piper, Simon Rippingale), Butterflies (Warwick Burton, Isabel Peppard), The Dukes of Bröxstônia- Mojo (Stu Connolly) and Woody (Stuart Bowen, Jodi Matterson).

Nominees for best fiction short are The Last Time I Saw Richard ( John Molloy, Nicholas Verso), Perception (Lyn Norfor, Miranda Nation), Record (David Lyons,...

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) today announced the nominees for Best Short Animation and Best Short Fiction Film at the 3rd Aacta Awards.

The Academy also revealed 15 feature films that are eligible for the awards, which will be presented in Sydney next January.

The nominees for Best Short Animation are:

Cautionary Tail. Pauline Piper, Simon Rippingale Butterflies. Warwick Burton, Isabel Peppard The Dukes of Bröxstônia . Mojo. Stu Connolly Woody. Stuart Bowen, Jodi Matterson

In contention for Best Short Fiction Film are:

The Last Time I Saw Richard. John Molloy, Nicholas Verso Perception. Lyn Norfor, Miranda Nation Record. David Lyons, Dave Szamet Tau Seru (Small Yellow Field). Rodd Rathjen Juries of industry professionals will decide the nominees in these categories. Members of the AFI and Aacta will vote to decide the winners after the Aacta Awards Screenings. The 15 feature films are:

100 Bloody Acres Adoration Around The Block...

Baz Luhrmann now occupies three of the top six slots in the list of Australia.s top-grossing films on home turf.

The director.s The Great Gatsby ranks as the sixth-highest grossing local film of all time, behind Peter Faiman's Crocodile Dundee ($47.7 million), his Australia ($37.5 million),. Chris Noonan's Babe ($36.7 million) George Miller.s Happy Feet ($31.7 million) and Baz's Moulin Rouge!

With earnings of $27.5 million, Gatsby is about $190,000 below Moulin Rouge!.s $27.7 million and won't catch it, having earned just $20,000 last week.

Here.s the updated scorecard of the Australian films released this year..

.

.

Australian Films Scorecard 2013

.

.

.

Title

.

Release Date

.

Total

1

The Great Gatsby

.May 30

$27,547,129

.

2

Goddess

March 14

1,636,018

.

3

Return to Nim.s Island

April 4

1,211,399

.

4

Drift

May 2

903,103

.

5

Save Your Legs!

Feb 28

380,488

.

6

Satellite Boy

June 20

310,433

.

7

.

Red Obsession

August 15

250,764

8

Blinder

March 7

.

101,027

9

The 25th Reich*

June 21

28,200

.

10

100 Bloody Acres

August 1

18,354

.

................... Source:. Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia

.

................. *Producer.s figure...

Australian horror/comedy 100 Bloody Acres tanked at six Australian cinemas last weekend. Producer Julie Ryan has some compelling theories on why that happened.

Ryan sees an urgent need to re-think the traditional film distribution model and for a campaign to convince Australian cinemagoers of the entertainment value of Australian films.

The producer identifies a number of factors which she believes militated against her film, including the release date, competition from The World.s End, a UK film in the same genre, piracy and file sharing, and lack of marketing support.

The feature writing and directing debut of the brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, 100 Bloody Acres stars Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson as brothers who run a blood-and-bone fertiliser business using human carcasses and decide to prey on three young people whose car breaks down in the bush.

The film premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival a year ago, garnering...

To anyone well aged and jaded, or fresh out of a Sundance screening, the term ‘coming-of-age’ drama is likely to engender a nervy shudder. There’s only so many varying ways to present a child’s realisation of who he/she is, or what he/she wants to be – at least, this belief has been instilled in us by many films within the genre; Jordan Vogt-Robert’s recent Kings of Summer is a prime example of a film that’s content to play things by the book, relying on a youthful humour to distract us from its thin, cautionary tale of humility. Other films, like the Palme D’or winner Blue is the Warmest Colour, apparently adopt a bolder approach in confronting true desires at the heart of a flowering emergence into adulthood (not that I’ve seen it yet, mind you).

Australian director Catriona McKenzie’s Satellite Boy is...

Zombies stalked Australian cinemas last weekend as World War Z topped the chart, raking in a juicy $6 million plus about $80,000 in previews.

The zombie thriller had a high profile thanks to the premiere attended by Brad Pitt and director Marc Forster, which followed months of media coverage as Paramount decided to spend an extra $20 million on reshoots.

The studio.s investment in a film budgeted at $US190 million (in real terms $150 million after location rebates) now looks pretty shrewd in light of the $US66 million Us debut and $46 million opening haul in a bunch of other territories including Oz and the UK.

Here, the top 20.s box-office takings surged by 40% to $22 million in the lead up to school holidays. Universal/Illumination Entertainment.s Despicable Me 2 launched with a hearty $5 million, elevating its total to $7.2 million including previews.

Pixar.s Monster.s University, the sequel to Monsters, Inc., drew plenty of children,...

uConnect, the international sales division of uMedia, has taken on worldwide sales for Christopher Menaul’s Summer In February.

Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens and Emily Browning lead the cast in the true story of the tragic love triangle between painter Aj Munnings (Cooper), budding artist Florence Carter-Wood (Browning) and the local land agent Gilbert Evans (Stevens).

Producers are Janette Day and Pippa Cross for CrossDay Productions, Apart Films’ Jeremy Cowdrey and Dan Stevens. Jonathan Smith wrote the screenplay based on his eponymous novel.

Metrodome released the film theatrically in the UK on June 14.

The film had previously been represented by Speranza13.

uConnect’s slate also includes The Best Offer, Shield Of Straw, Nothing Bad Can Happen, Frances Ha, Satellite Boy and Closed Curtain.

The Western Australian Liberal government has pledged to commit an extra $2 million over four years to attract more film production to the state.

The extra funding rests on whether the Colin Barnett-led party is re-elected at the upcoming state election on March 9. The premier said the funding would allow ScreenWest to establish a Production Attraction Program.

.Recent national and international successes such as Red Dog, Mad Bastards, Satellite Boy . and the upcoming Drift with Sam Worthington and Son of a Gun starring Ewan McGregor . are illustrations of how the Liberal-led Government.s support has helped the Wa film industry grow and develop.

.This crucial investment has created business growth, helped to develop the skills of Western Australian practitioners, and also supported the tourism industry by bringing Wa.s unique landscapes and locations to new audiences..

ScreenWest approved grants and investment funds totalling over $9.6 million in 2011-12. More than half was allocated to production,...

The 63rd Berlinale is coming to a close, and the awards have been announced!

In Competition

Golden Bear - Child's Pose, directed by Călin Peter Netzer

Jury Grand Prix - An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, directed by Danis Tanović

Silver Bear for Best Director - Prince Avalanche, directed by David Gordon Green

Best Actor - Nazif Mujić, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker

Best Actress - Paulina Garcia, Gloria

Best Screenplay - Closed Curtain, written by Jafar Panahi

Alfred Bauer Prize - Vic+Flo Saw a Bear, directed by Denis Côté

Outstanding Artistic Contribution - Cinematographer Aziz Zhambakiyev, for Harmony Lessons

Special Mentions - Promised Land, directed by Gus Van Sant & Layla Fourie, directed by Pia Marais

Best First Feature Award

Best First Feature - The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt

Special Mention - The Battle of Tabatô, directed by João Viana

Teddy...

Australian film The Rocket has won the Best First Feature Award and Best Feature in the children's-focused Generation Kplus program at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The film, about a boy in Laos who builds a giant rocket to enter the Rocket Festival,.was up against entrants from several sections including Competition, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino. Director Kim Mordaunt and producer Sylvia Wilczynski shared the €50,000 prize ($64,851).

The film was also awarded the Crystal Bear for the Best Film in the Generation Kplus section (which is devoted to young people) and the Amnesty International Film Prize. (View The Rocket trailer here.)

Short film The Amber Amulet also picked up a Crystal Bear award in the Generation Kplus section for the Best Short Film while indigenous feature Satellite Boy received a Special Mention from both the Generation Kplus children.s and international juries.

"An exciting film, shot in magnificent...

The release of Australian action-thriller I, Frankenstein has been set for September 26, almost two weeks after the Us release.

The $50 million film was shot in Melbourne and stars Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy and Yvonne Strahovski. In late-2012, Us distributor Lionsgate pushed back I, Frankenstein's release by almost seven months (to September 13) to make way for.the release of another film..

The majority of I, Frankenstein's visual effects work is being performed by respected California-based VFX house Luma Pictures (The Avengers, Oz: The Great and Powerful), which recently established an Australian shop in Melbourne.

The film is one of the first to be co-produced by Hopscotch Features, the production arm set up by distributor Troy Lum, screenwriter John Collee (Master and Commander) and producer Andrew Mason (Tomorrow: When The War Began).

Hopscotch Features' second high-profile film, sensual drama Mothers, stars Naomi Watts and Robin Wright, and is also expected to be released later this year.

ScreenWest and the ABC have funded a new series of mini-documentaries produced by Joined Up Films. The West Australian screen agency has invested $250,000 into five five to eight minute indigenous contemporary documentaries to screen on ABC1.

The announcement:

Culture and the Arts Minister John Day has announced Joined Up Films had been selected to series produce the new ABC and ScreenWest indigenous mini-documentary, Seasons.

“Experienced producers Jacqueline Willinge, Anthony Willinge and Daniel Brown from Joined Up Films will work closely with ScreenWest, the ABC and the indigenous filmmakers to manage the production of the documentary series in the first half of the year,” Mr Day said.

Through this initiative, up to five, five to eight minute indigenous contemporary documentaries will be developed and produced for broadcast on ABC1.

The Minister said the State Government, through ScreenWest, had invested $250,000 into the Indigenous Short Documentary Development and Production Initiative to provide ongoing...

Western Australia-based Joined Up Films will produce new indigenous mini-documentary Seasons.

The project will deliver up to five, five-to-eight minute indigenous contemporary documentaries, which will be broadcast on ABC1. It has been supported via ScreenWest’s $250,000 Indigenous Short Documentary Development and Production Initiative.

Joined Up Films has previously produced two one-hour Sbs documentaries: My Mum Talks To Aliens and Extreme Cleaners; a half-hour ABC documentary: Homeward Bound; and two eight-part ABC1 series Who’s Been Sleeping in My House? The company was funded last year via Screen Australia’s Enterprise Program.

In a statement, Wa culture and the arts minister John Day said: “The Wa indigenous film sector has grown considerably in recent years with projects including Bran Nue Dae, Jandamarra’s War, Yagan and Satellite Boy and this is a great opportunity to develop the skills of the state’s new and emerging indigenous writers and directors."

Seasons is...

Four Australian short films have been selected to the Berlin International Film Festival.

The films are: You Like it, I Love It by writer director James Vaughan, The Amber Amulet written by Matthew Moore and Genevieve Hegney, directed by Moore; Summer Suit by director/producer Rebecca Peniston-Bird and writer Francesca Sciacca and Yardbird directed by Michael Spiccia and written by Julius Avery. Yardbird was accepted into Cannes last year.

The announcement:

Australian short films will have a strong presence at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, with four films selected to screen in the Generation program, a section devoted to children and young people.

The films selected will include the world premiere of The Amber Amulet in Generation Kplus, the story of a superhero, a beagle, an amulet made of amber, and the potential that is locked inside all of us. The film is directed by Matthew Moore and co-written...

Satellite Boy accepted to Berlin film fest

Two Australian films – The Rocket and Satellite Boy – have been selected to the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival.

Having its world premiere and nominated for the festival’s Best First Feature Award, The Rocket is written and directed by Kim Mordaunt.

It follows the story of a Lao boy thought to bring bad luck, who must lead his family through his war-torn country to the dangerous Rocket Festival.

The film is produced by Sylvia Wilczynski for Red Lamp Films. It is distributed locally by Curious Film with international sales by LevelK ApS.

Joining it will be Catriona McKenzie’s first feature Satellite Boy, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival.

The film stars indigenous veteran actor David Gulpilil as the grandfather of a young boy trying to save his home.

The film is produced by Red Dog and Ten Canoes’ Julie Ryan and David Jowsey,...

Australian feature films The Rocket and Satellite Boy have been selected to screen at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013.

Both films will screen in the children's Generation program (via the Generation Kplus competition specifically geared towards young people aged from four to thirteen). The screening will also mark the world premiere for The Rocket, which has been nominated for the Best First Feature award at the festival. The film follows a Lao boy, who is thought to bring bad luck, who leads his family across war-torn Laos to the dangerous Rocket Festival.

Indigenous feature Satellite Boy.will also screen in Berlin after initially premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012. The film is about a young boy trying to save his outback home from developers.

.It.s tremendous to see these cross-cultural stories of children from up-and-coming Australian talent, reaching out to international audiences,. Screen Australia...

ABC’s new drama Redfern Now premiered last night on ABC1 as the second most watched show in its timeslot behind Seven’s Beauty and the Geek.

Billed as the first TV series completely written, directed and produced by Indigenous Australians, the six-part series follows six different stories of life in Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Redfern.

Last night’s episode, directed by Satellite Boy’s Catriona McKenzie and starring Leah Purcell, debuted with 721,000 total viewers, across the five city metro markets, according to preliminary ratings from OzTAM.

The drama, which was 12th for the night, beat Nine’s Australian Federal Police which rated 702,000 and Ten’s Law and Order: Svu on 681,000.

Cameras began rolling in May on the series which is produced by Darren Dale and Miranda Dear with Cracker’s Jimmy McGovern as story producer. The Sapphires’ Deborah Mailman and Sheri Sebbens as well as director Wayne Blair...

The Sapphires director Wayne Blair will be one of a trio of directors working on a new Indigenous drama The Gods of Wheat Street to screen on ABC1.

Today marks the first day of production on Northern Nsw set for the six by one hour series.

Produced by Every Cloud Productions, and written by Jon Bell, joining Blair in directing is Satellite Boy’s Catriona McKenzie and Boxing for Palm Island’s Adrian Wills.

The Gods of Wheat Street tells the story of Odin Freeburn, the head of a Freeburn clan, struggling to keep the family together.

The cast includes Kelton Pell in the lead role as well as Lisa Flanagan, The Sapphires’ Shari Sebbens, Ursula Yovich of Redfern Now and David Field of Wild Boys.

The series is produced by Bell and Lois Randall.

Bell, who is from the Northern Nsw regions of Wiradjuri and Bundjalung, said: “The series...

This year’s Toronto was competing in my psyche with the recent loss of my mother. My focus was less on finding the greatest of films this year. I hear from others that the festival offered a good mix, if not the most outstanding, selection of films. Personally, I am discovering that a new community has opened its arms to me and the films that are standing out most for me are by women and about women. My community, those women who have lost their mothers, is sharing a unique and profound rite of passage whose meaning continuously unfolds.

In Toronto I was hyper aware of the women and their position in this corner of the world I inhabit. Canadian women, Helga Stephenson, Director Emerita of the Toronto Film Festival, predecessor to Piers Handling; Michele Maheux, Executive Director and COO of Tiff ever since I've known her which has been a long time; Linda Beath who headed United Artists when I was beginning my career and who has since moved to Europe where she teaches at Eave (European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs), Kay Armitrage, programmer of the festival for 24 years and professor at University of Toronto, are all women to helped me envisage myself as a professional in the film business, and they are still as vibrant and active as when we met more than 25 years ago. Carolle Brabant, Telefilm Canada’s Executive Director continues Canada’s female lineage as does Karen Thorne-Stone, the President and CEO of Ontario Media Development Corporation.

18 films currently are in a large part attributable to Omdc; they include Nisha Pahuja’s doc The World Before Her (contact Cinetic) (Best Doc Feature of 2012 Tribeca Ff), Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz (Isa: TF1), Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children (Isa: FilmNation), Anita Doron’s The Lesser Blessed, (Isa: EOne) Ruba Nadda’s Inescapable (Isa: Myriad), Alison Rose’s doc, Following the Wise Men.

Tiff’s new program for year-round support of mid-level Canadian filmmakers, Studio, under the directorship of Hayet Benkara is bringing industry mentorship to 16 filmmakers with experience, shorts in the festival circuit, features in development. Exactly half of these filmmakers are women. This was a conscious move on Hayet’s part. She said there is always such a predominance of males without thinking about it that she decided to bring balance.

Then a look at some more of the Canadian talent here brings me to the Birks Diamonds celebration of seven Canadian women: Anais Barbeau-Lavalette, Manon Briand, Anita Doron, Deepa Mehta (Midnight’s Children), Kate Melville, and Ruba Nadda which honored each with a Birks diamond pendant in a reception hosted by Shangri-La Hotel and Telefilm Canada where 300 guests mingled and caught up with each other. The pre-eminence of women was again made so apparent to me.

Talking to publicist Jim Dobson at Indie PR at the reception of Jordanian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir whose film When I Saw You was so evocative of the 60s, a time of worldwide freedom and even optimism among the fedayeem in Jordan looking to resist the Expulsion of the Palestinians from Palestine; he said that all five of his clients here are women directors, “I had When I Saw You, (Isa: The Match Factory), Satellite Boy (Isa: Celluloid Dreams/ Nightmare), Hannah Arendt (The Match Factory), Inch'allah (Isa: eOne), English Vinglish (Isa: Eros Int')."

Of the 289 features here at Tiff, Melissa Silverstein at Women and Hollywood is trying to zero in on the women directors, so watch her blogs More Women-Directed Films Nab Deals out of Tiff, Tiff Preview: Women Directors to Watch and Tiff Preview: The Female Directing Masters Playing at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival.

Add to this the upcoming Sundance initiative on women directors that Keri Putnam is heading up (more on that later!) and I am feeling heartened by the consciousness of women, directors and otherwise, out there. That is saying a lot since last season in Cannes with the pathetic number of women directors showing up in the festival and sidebars this past spring.

Here is the Female Factor for Tiff 12 which scores an A in my book:

Gala Presentations - 6 out of 20 = c. 30% which is way above the usual 13% which has been the average up until Cannes upended that with its paltry 2%..2 of these were opening night films.

Mira Nair The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Also showed in Venice. Isa: K5. Picked up for U.S. and Canada by IFC. Shola Lynch Free Angela & All Political Prisoners. Isa: Elle Driver Deepa Mehta Midnight’s Children. Isa: FilmNation already sold to Roadshow for Australia/ N.Z., Unikorea for So. Korea, DeaPlaneta for Spain. Ruba Nadda Inescapable. Isa: Myriad. Canada: Alliance. Liz Garbus Love, Marilyn. Isa: StudioCanal. HBO picked up No. American TV rights. Madman has Australia. Gauri Shinde English Vinglish. Isa: Eros International.

Masters – 0 – Could we say that women directors have not been around that long or shown such longevity as the men? Lina Wertmiller was a long time ago. I don’t even know if she is still alive. Ida Lupino was an anomaly. Who else was there in those early days? Alice Guy-Blaché ?

Special Presentations - 13 out of 70 = 19%

Everybody Has A Plan - Argentina/ Germany/ Spain - Ana Piterbarg - Isa: Twentieth Century Fox International - U.S.: Ld Entertainment, U.K.: Metrodome Lines Of Wellington - Also in Venice, San Sebastian Ff - Portugal - Valeria Sarmiento - Isa: Alfama Films. Germany: Ksm Cloud Atlas--Germany - Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski - Isa: Focus Int'l. - U.S. and Canada: Warner Bros. , Brazil - Imagem, Finland - Future Film, Eastern Europe - Eeap, Germany X Verleih, Greece - Odeon, Iceland - Sensa, India - PVR, So. Korea - Bloomage, Benelux - Benelux Film Distributors, Inspire, Slovenia - Cenemania, Sweden - Noble, Switzerland - Ascot Elite, Taiwan - Long Shong, Turkey - Chantier Inch'allah – Canada - Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette - Isa and Canada: Entertainment One Films Hannah Arendt – Germany – Margarethe von Trotta – Isa: The Match Factory Imogine – U.S. – Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini - Isa: Voltage. U.S.: Lionsgate/ Roadside Attractions acquired from UTA, Netherlands: Independent Ginger and Rosa – U.K. – Sally Potter – Isa: The Match Factory. U.S. contact Cinetic Love is All You Need – Also played in Venice) Denmark – Susanne Bier – Isa: TrustNordisk - U.S. : Sony Pictures Classics, Canada: Mongrel, Australia - Madman, Brazil - Art Films, Bulgaria - Pro Films, Colombia - Babilla Cine, Czech Republic - Aerofilms, Finland - Matila Rohr Nordisk, Germany - Prokino, Hungary - Cirko, Italy - Teodora, Japan - Longride, Poland - Gutek, Portugal - Pepperview Lore – Australia/ Germany/ U.K. – Cate Shortland – Isa: Memento. U.S.: Music Box, France: Memento, Germany - Piffl, Hong Hong - Encore Inlight, So. Korea - Line Tree, Benelux - ABC/ Cinemien, U.K., Artificial Eye Dreams for Sale – Japan – Miwa Nishkawa – Isa: Asmik Ace Stories We Tell – Canada – Sarah Polley - Isa: Nfb. U.K.: Artificial Eye Liverpool – Canada – Marion Briand - Isa: Max Films. Canada: Remstar Venus and Serena – U.S./ U.K. – Michelle Major, Maikin Baird. Producer's Rep: Cinetic

Mavericks - 3 out of 7 “Conversations With” were with women (43%)

Discovery 11 out of 27 = 40% which includes The-Hottest-Public Ticket for the Israeli Film directly below (a Major Buzz Film Among its Public)

Fill the Void by Rama Burshtein, a first-time-ever Hasidic woman director Kate Melville’s Picture Day Alice Winocour Augustine - Isa: Kinology 7 Cajas by Tana Schembori from Paraguay - Isa: Shoreline Gabriela Pichler’s Eat Sleep Die from Sweden, Serbia and Croatia - Isa: Yellow Affair Oy Rola Nashef’s Detroit Unleaded France’s Sylive Michel’s Our Little Differences Contact producer Pallas Film Russian censored film Clip from Serbia by Maja Milos - Isa: Wide sold to Kmbo for France, Maywin for Sweden, Artspoitation for U.S. Satellite Boy by Australian Catriona McKenzie - Isa: Celluloid Dreams/ Nightmares Ramaa Mosley’s The Brass Teapot - Isa: TF1 sold to Magnolia for U.S., Intercontinental for Hong Kong, Cien for Mexico, Vendetta for New Zealand Veteran Korean-American Grace Lee’s Janeane from Des Moines.

Tiff Docs 7 out of 29 = 24% - Women traditionally have directed a greater portion of docs

Christine Cynn (codirector ) The Act of Killing - Isa: Cinephil Janet Tobias No Place on Earth - Isa: Global Screen Sarah Burns (codirector) The Central Park Five Isa: PBS sold to Sundance Select for U.S. Treva Wurmfeld Shepard & Dark - Contact Tangerine Entertainment Nina Davenport First Comes Love - Contact producer Marina Zenovich Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out - Isa: Films Distribution Halla Alabdalla As If We Were Catching a Cobra (Comme si nous attraptions un cobra) about the art of caricature in Egypt and Syria! Halla is Syrian herself, studied science and sociology in Syria and Paris - Isa: Wide

Contemporary World Cinema 11 out of 61 = 18%

Children of Sarajevo by Aida Begic, Sarajevo - Isa: Pyramide Baby Blues by Katarzyna Rostaniec, Poland. Contact producer The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky by Yuki Tanada, Japan - Isa: Toei Comrade Kim Goes Flying by Anja Daelemans (co-director), Belgium/ No. Korea. The first western financed film out of No. Korea Three Worlds by Catherine Corsini, France - Isa: Pyramide sold to Lumiere for Benelux, Pathe for Switzerland Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay, U.S. - Contact Paradigm Talent Agency The Lesser Blessed by Anita Doron, Canada - Isa: eOne Watchtower by Pelin Esmer, Turkey/ France/ Germany- Isa: Visit Films Jackie by Antoinette Beumer, Netherlands - Isa: Media Luna When I Saw You by Annemarie Jacir, Palestine,/ Jordan/ Greece All that Matters is Past by Sara Johnsen, Norway- Isa: TrustNordisk

Tiff Kids 0 out of 5. Any meaning to this???

City To City – Mumbai 0 Out Of 10 Any meaning to this???

Vanguard 2 out of 15 = 13% (the average for most festivals)

90 Minutes– Norway – Eva Sorhaug - Isa: Level K Peaches Does Herself – Germany - Peaches. Contact producer. See Indiewire review.

Midnight Madness 0 out of 9 which is fine with me, thank you. This is a boy's genre or a date-night genre for girls and boys with a plan for the night.

For a country that has so many disputes about land embedded into its culture, it should be no surprise there is an entire subgenre of Australian movies that deals with underdog characters faced with the threat of big business developers coming and possessing their land. Werner Herzog travelled to Australia in 1984 to tackle this for his first film in English, Where the Green Ants Dream, and more recently it's become a popular topic for family comedies, such as The Castle, Subdivision, and Crackerjack. Clearly the genre is now swinging back to the more serious themes explored by Herzog. Already this year we've had Mabo, the biopic of Aboriginal land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo, and now comes Catriona McKenzie's Satellite Boy, screening in this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Pete is 10...

Film, says Australian director Catriona McKenzie, is a metaphor for life: "It's not chance that stories have a similar structure. There is a common experience buried somewhere, to be enjoyed, questioned, rejected." "Satellite Boy," McKenzie's first feature, tells the story of Pete, a rebellious young Aboriginal boy living with his grandfather in the Australian outback. When developers threaten the abandoned outdoor cinema where they live, Pete sets off across the desert in search of rescue for his home. Lost in the bush along the way, Pete must use the skills his grandfather taught him -- and which Pete did his best to reject -- to save himself. The experience, McKenzie says, forces the youngster to "reassess what matters." What did you aim to accomplish with this film? To explore the nature of true love between the generations. [The film is] about love, the connections it forges, about homeland, ancestral country and how your spirit guides.

Toronto -- Cue the loud applause and cries of "Bravo!" The most unlikely candidates for dream debuts at the Toronto International Film Festival this week are unknown and inexperienced child actors from the other side of the globe. Take first-time actor Cameron Wallaby, the 11-year-old the lead in Australian director Catriona McKenzie’s Satellite Boy, which had its world premiere Saturday at Tiff. McKenzie knew she wouldn't find aboriginal boys for lead roles in her Australian outback drama through a casting agency -- she would have look far and wide to spot and sign them. Video: Inside THR's Tiff Video

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Though she has more than a decade of experience directing short films (including The Third Note and Road) and episodic television (Redfern Now, My Place), Australian writer/director Catriona McKenzie is only now ushering her first feature in the world. A long-gestating project she has been working on since the mid 2000s, Satellite Boy is an evocative coming-of-age tale about a 12-year-old Aboriginal boy, Pete (Cameron Wallaby), who lives with his grandfather (David Gulpilil) in a crumbling outdoor cinema in the untouched beauty of Western Australia’s Kimberley country. When his home comes under threat from a mining company, Pete and his best friend Kalmain (Joseph Pedley) set out for the city to try and save the only world he knows. Filmmaker spoke to McKenzie about Satellite Boy (which plays at Toronto on Monday September 10 and Saturday September 15), its protracted progress toward production and the particular challenges she faced while filming it.

Above: Ernie Gehr's Auto-Collider Xv.

The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.

Galas

A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)

Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)

The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)

Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)

Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)

English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)

Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)

Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)

Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)

Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)

Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)

Looper (Rian Johnson,...

Indigenous drama Satellite Boy will have its world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.next month.

Satellite Boy, written and directed by Catriona McKenzie, will be screened in the festival's Discovery program, which presents the works of up-and-coming directors. The film follows 10-year-old Pete, who lives in the outback with his grandfather in an old abandoned outdoor cinema. When his grandfather.s home is threatened with demolition, Pete sets off for the city with his best friend to try and save his home.

.After a long period of script development, it was truly inspiring to be on location in the epic Kimberley landscape and shooting the film," producer David Jowsey said in a statement. "It was a great joy working with Catriona McKenzie and I.m really proud of what she has achieved with Satellite Boy."

The film stars Cameron Wallaby as Pete, Joseph Pedley as his best friend Kalmain,...

Feature film Satellite Boy will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Selected to the festival’s Discovery program, the film is the sixth Australian feature bound for the Toronto International Film Festival.

The feature directorial debut of Catriona McKenzie, the film is produced by Toomelah and Mystery Road’s David Jowsey and Red Dog and Ten Canoe’s Julie Ryan.

Jowsey said: “After a long period of script development, it was truly inspiring to be on location in the epic Kimberley landscape and shooting the film. It was a great joy working with Catriona McKenzie and I’m really proud of what she has achieved with Satellite Boy.”

The family drama, also written McKenzie, is about young boy Pete who lives with his grandfather in an abandoned outdoor cinema in the Australian Kimberley region. When the cinema is threatened for demolition, Pete travels with his friend...

After a string of announcements, it looks like the Toronto International Film Festival have locked down their line-up and it’s looking like a fantastic slate. Much of the additions today come in the form of previous Cannes premieres, including Michael Haneke‘s Amour (review), Cristian Mungiu‘s Beyond the Hills (review), Abbas Kiarostami‘s Like Someone in Love (review), Bernardo Bertolucci‘s Me and You (review), Hong Sang-soo‘s In Another Country and the Venice premiere Olivier Assayas‘ Something in the Air. Most notably missing is Leos Carax‘s Holy Motors, but we do get a new Michael Winterbottom film titled Everyday. Out of the Discovery section, the biggest film seems to be The Brass Teapot, and indie drama starring Juno Temple and Michael Angarano and one can check out all the additions below.

Masters

Amour Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany North American Premiere Screen legends Jean-Louis Trintignant and...