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Real-life account of miners recruited in the first world war to burrow beneath German lines is fascinating does well on a limited budget

‘Gentlemen, tonight we may not make history, but we’ll certainly change the bloody geography.” British army colonel Hellfire Jack (Tom Goodman-Hill) gives sterling quotation (though it was apparently said in real life by a different officer) in this spirited film about the tunnelling and sabotage efforts at the battle of Messines in 1917. Despite his doubts, the operation finished in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever, killing 10,000 Germans. A fairly new angle for cinema on the first world war (though also the subject of 2010’s Beneath Hill 60), Jp Watts’s subterranean drama has an innately fascinating story, even if the underpinning is of unsound construction in places.

To his shame, pit-village miner William Hawkins (Sam Hazeldine) is turned away for conscription because of a “crackle” in his lungs.

‘Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.’

Quentin Tarantino’s ninth movie Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood posted the biggest debut of his career in Australia last weekend, emulating its Us success.

The 1969-set drama/thriller starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie and Damon Herriman opened 68 per cent bigger than his previous best effort Django Unchained in 2012.

The downside: The Sony Pictures release sucked a lot of air from the second weekends of Universal’s Palm Beach and Transmission Films’ Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan.

The top 20 titles raked in $14.4 million, 3 per cent up on the previous frame, according to Numero. Mind Blowing Films’ Bollywood film Mission Mangal and Magnum Films’ Hong Kong thriller Line Walker 2 had buoyant launches while Universal’s A Dog’s Journey opened with neither bark nor bite, mirroring its Us fate.

The lurid tale of a TV actor (DiCaprio) who wants...

Bella Heathcote is engaged, the actress’ rep confirms to People.

The 29-year-old Australian actress is planning to wed her boyfriend of seven years, screenwriter Andrew Dominik, 49.

On Sunday, the Fifty Shades Darker star posted a photo on Instagram showing her wearing a diamond sparkler on her ring finger. In the photo, she can be seen making silly faces with friends and fellow actresses Phoebe Tonkin and Lily Collins. Heathcote was also spotted wearing the same ring earlier this month at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival launch.

In 2010, after being honored with the Heath Ledger Scholarship Award for her performance...

Last Cab to Darwin.s Mark Coles Smith and Looking for Grace.s Odessa Young have won the inaugural Sirius Award presented by the Casting Guild of Australia.

The annual award was created to recognise Australia.s top 10 emerging actors, modelled on the Berlin Film Festival.s Shooting Stars initiative.

.The list of the next big things, actors whose careers will pop overseas in the very near future, was chosen by full-time casting directors, not a celebrity list of actors," Cga president Greg Apps tells If. "We wanted to claim ownership of our rising stars before the Us does."

Dr George Miller presented the Sirius award at the ceremony in Sydney on Monday night hosted by Sarah Snook and Ewen Leslie.

Apps said Coles Smith and Young were the two stand outs, particularly considering how far their careers had advanced over the past 12 months.

Coles Smith.s credits include Pawno,...

Bryan Brown, John Jarratt, Levi Miller and Jason Isaacs head the cast of Blue Dog, the prequel to Red Dog which is now shooting in the Pilbara. Directed by Kriv Stenders and produced by Nelson Woss, the 1960s- set film scripted by Daniel Taplitz follows events leading up to the discovery of Red Dog on the road to Dampier.

The Wa government is investing $1.25 million in the project through its Royalties for Regions program and Screen Australia and ScreenWest are co-funding. Miller plays Mick, a bright, curious, resourceful kid. When his emotionally disturbed mother can no longer take care of him he is sent against his wishes to live with his grandfather (Brown) on a cattle station in the Pilbara.

The boy is lonely and isolated until he rescues a dog and the two become best friends.

Miller, who made his screen debut in the sci-fi TV series Terra Nova...

John Jarratt is convinced global piracy has severely impacted the B.O. potential of Wolf Creek 2.

The veteran actor reckons he can count the personal cost when he compares his share of the spoils from the original movie with the zero returns he.d had thus far from the sequel.

Six months after Wolf Creek opened in 2005, he got a cheque for $50,000. Eight months after the follow-up opened in Australia he tells If, .I haven.t made a goddamn cent out of it,. despite having a bigger share of the back-end.

Wolf Creek 2 producer Helen Leake tells If that investors are getting a return and it.s still early in the film.s earning cycle, with some major territories just opening.

"John is not an investor, we first repay all our investors and marketing costs which is what is happening,. she said.

The actor took to the stage...

Actor Paul Ireland is set to make his feature directing debut on Pawno, a dramedy set in a seedy pawn shop in Melbourne's western suburbs.

Scripted by actor-turned-writer Damian Hill, the film will follow one day in the lives of 14 characters as they attempt to survive, thrive or maintain their way of life in an often cruel world.

.It is a unique and unapologetic journey into the underbelly of our society,. said Hill, who is producing with Ireland through their company Toothless Pictures.

Due to start shooting in Footscray on November 23, the film.s ensemble cast includes John Brumpton, Hill, Maeve Dermody, Malcolm Kennard, Mark Coles Smith and Tony Rickards.

Hill and Ireland, who formed Toothless Pictures last year, raised $12,500 via crowd-funding site Pozible and the balance of the budget from philanthropic investors after two years of toil.

.Our focus is to tell a compelling, poignant and layered story that will move and entertain,...

Bella Heathcote, Downton Abbey.s Lily James and Maleficent.s Sam Riley head the cast of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the big-screen adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith.s novel.

James will play Elizabeth Bennett with Riley as Mr Darcy and Heathcote as Elizabeth.s sister in the movie which sees Jane Austen.s 19th century lovers confronted by an army of the .sorry stricken,. aka zombies.

Shooting is due to start in the Us next month, directed by Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down, Charlie St Cloud). Steers co-wrote the screenplay with David O. Russell.

Cross Creek Pictures has acquired Us rights and Sierra/Affinity is handling foreign sales. At various times Russell, Mike White and Craig Gillespie were attached to direct, and Emma Stone, Lily Collins, Natalie Portman and Blake Lively were in talks to play the lead.

Heathcote cut her teeth on Neighbours and was among the ensemble cast of Beneath Hill 60.

UK-based Australian actress Emma Hamilton and The Gods of Wheat Street.s Mark Coles Smith have joined the cast of Last Cab to Darwin, Jeremy Sims. road movie drama about a man who is told he doesn.t have long to live and embarks on an epic drive from Broken Hill to Darwin to die on his own terms. On his journey he discovers that before you can end your life you have to live it and to live it, you have to share it.

Shooting is due to start in Broken Hill in early May, with Greg Duffy and Lisa Duff producing and Michael Caton in the lead. Reg Cribb (Bran Nue Dae, Last Train to Freo) and Jeremy Sims wrote the screenplay, which was inspired by the cases of Max Bell and Bob Dent. Bell was a terminally ill cab driver who drove 3,000 km from his home in...

Morrissey Molloy Entertainment, Garry Charny.s Spotted Turquoise Films and Michael Gudinski.s Mushroom Pictures have unveiled a joint venture which aims to produce at least six films.

The first two projects are Boys in the Trees, a drama starring Harrison Gilbertson and Alice Englert, and Wake Up Dead, which has Alex Russell and Luke Ford attached.

.We each bring different skills and strong national and international contacts to the joint venture,. Charny tells If. The .matchmaker. was Maura Fay casting agent Marianne Jade, who is casting both films.

"She suggested we get together for a cup of coffee and we realised we were each producing a film we liked and respected,. said Molloy, who is developing Boys in the Trees for the co-venture between Mushroom and Morrissey Molloy.

Wake Up Dead is the first Australian film from Spotted Turquoise. Charny produced Ray Lawrence.s Jindabyne in his former role as head of April Films.

After playing a member of the dysfunctional Moody family and a young Rupert Murdoch, Guy Edmonds is set to play a guy who.s forced to impregnate seven women in seven days.

That.s the punishment meted out to his character Scott by a domineering angel in Wingman, a made-for-the web series from writer-director Steve Anthopoulos and producer Yingna Lu.

The screenplay by Anthopoulos and co-writer Luke Davidson follows Scott as he buys the morning after-pill for his girlfriend Becky. This prompts a visit from an extroverted angel named Wingman, who tells him they've committed a grave sin by ending a potential life. To save his girlfriend from eternal damnation, he must impregnate seven women in seven days.

.It.s a funny, sexy show with an underlying message: Everyone has the right to choose,. Edmonds tells If. The producers aim to raise a modest $8,500 via crowd funding site Pozible towards the cost of renting locations,...

Producer Bill Leimbach has hired Morgan O.Neill to direct Banjo & Matilda, an action romance revolving around Banjo Paterson and his iconic bush ballad Waltzing Matilda.

O.Neill, who co-directed the surfing-set drama Drift with Ben Nott, takes over from Bruce Beresford.

.We split up amiably,. Beresford told If. .Couldn't agree on the script and they wanted a younger,. more hip director, I think..

Beresford is in the Us working on the post production of Bonnie & Clyde, a four-hour miniseries that stars Holliday Grainger and Emile Hirsch as the infamous bank-robbing couple Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The mini co-stars Holly Hunter and William Hurt and will air in the Us on A+E Networks History and Lifestyle.

Beresford had not formally committed to the Paterson project, telling this writer last year that he was awaiting a rewrite of the script.

Leimbach said O.Neill is finalising the screenplay with writer David Roach,...

Ian and Luke Sparke (photo by Focus Magazine).

This article first appeared in If Magazine Issue #150

Ian Sparke Since very young, I have been interested in military history, Australian history and uniforms. This may sound strange, but the whole militaria collection started when I was about six years-old. My first item can be traced back till then. Now we have around 80,000 items. Our production becomes more sophisticated and we continuously research and collect more. The first professional job we got was in the 1993 ceremony for the coming back of the unknown soldier of the Australian Army. They brought one of our soldiers back from France and reburied him here after a memorial. It was my task to ensure all the war uniforms were correctly worn. I designed, manufactured and made them. After that, we started to get more and more professional jobs. At the same time I kept researching and working on history,...

Talk about a really long road. News has arrived hot off the wire that Wolf Creek 2 has begun shooting and all the necessary pieces are in place to recapture the bloody magic of the sensational original film! Finally!

From the Press Release

John Jarratt once again steps out as the hauntingly sadistic Mick Taylor in Wolf Creek 2, which began principal photography last week. Shooting in South Australia, the film also stars Ryan Corr (Packed to the Rafters), Shannon Ashlyn (Puberty Blues, Devil's Dust), and Philipe Klaus (Devil's Dust, Rake).

Directed by Greg Mclean, written by Mclean and Aaron Sterns, and produced by Helen Leake (Swerve, Black and White, Heavens Burning), Greg Mclean, and Steve Topic (Crawlspace), the sequel starts production seven years after the original Wolf Creek hit screens internationally.

“It’s really exciting to work with John Jarratt once more to delve deeper into the fascinating character of Mick Taylor.

The sequel to Australia’s highest grossing R-rated film ever has started production in South Australia after long delays.

Wolf Creek 2 has begun principal photography, again helmed by writer-director-producer Greg Mclean.

It will be a welcome relief to Mclean after the film struggled to get off the ground due to financing issues. In 2011 private investor Geoffrey Edelsten agreed to $5m investment but was later accused of failing to honour his commitment.

In a counter-suit, Edelsten claimed he was misled into being the major private investor.

The film was back on track by September but Edelsten has not returned as an investor in the project.

However the film does see the return of notorious pig hunter Mick Taylor played by John Jarrett, currently seen in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

Mclean said: “It’s really exciting to work with John Jarratt once more to delve deeper into the fascinating character of Mick Taylor.

Sydney -- French actress Emmanuelle Béart (A Heart in Winter, Nathalie) will play a French S&M mistress opposite young Australian actor Harrison Gilbertson (Haunt, Beneath Hill 60 and Conspiracy 365) and Rachael Blake in Stephen Lance’s debut feature, My Mistress. The story, developed by Lance and written by Gerard Lee – Jane Campion’s co-writer on her upcoming TV series Top Of The Lake -- follows a beautiful and strangely innocent affair between a vulnerable teenage romantic and a French S&M mistress, which ultimately turns dangerous. Leanne Tonkes of Mini Studios and Steve Kearney will produce the contemporary drama. Robyn Kershaw (Bran

read more...

French actress Emmanuelle Béart has been added to the cast of Australian film My Mistress alongside Harrison Gilbertson and Rachael Blake ahead of shooting later this month on the Gold Coast.

The film received Screen Australia funding in November. It’s directed by Stephen Lance and written by Top of the Lake’s Gerard Lee with production by Bran Nue Dae’s Robyn Kershaw and distributed by Transmission Films.

The announcement:

Internationally acclaimed French actress Emmanuelle Béart (A Heart in Winter, Nathalie, Manon of the Spring, Mission: Impossible) will join one of Australia’s rising international stars, AFI Award‐winning Harrison Gilbertson (U.S. independent film Haunt – in the title role opposite Jacki Weaver, Accidents Happen, Blessed, Beneath Hill 60, Conspiracy 365) and AFI Award‐winning actress Rachael Blake (Sleeping Beauty, Lantana, Hawke) in the seductive and touching new film My Mistress.

What starts as a beautiful and strangely innocent...

Indigenous drama series The Gods of Wheat Street has begun shooting in northern New South Wales.

The ABC1 series stars Kelton Pell (The Circuit), Lisa Flanagan (Redfern Now), Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires), Mark Coles-Smith (Beneath Hill 60), Rarriwuy Hick, Miah Maddeen (The Sapphires), Ursula Yovich (Australia) and David Field (Wild Boys).

Pell plays Odin Freeburn, head of the sprawling Freeburn clan - a legendary modern local Aboriginal family. The six-part, one-hour series was written by Jon Bell, a Wiradjuri and Bundjalung man, and is set in his home of Coraki, Casino and Lismore.

.The series is an intimate journey into the lives and hearts of a modern Aboriginal family," Bell said in a statement. "Each episode spans a few hectic days with a touch of magic and lots of deadpan humour that help our characters rise above obstacles - like death, financial difficulties and injustice - that would bring mere...

Peter Tseng Billionaire wine collector

A new Australian documentary about the international wine industry will see a theatrical release from major distributor, Roadshow Films.

Red Obsession is produced by Lion Rock Films with David Roach writing and co-directing and Warwick Ross producing and co-directing.

The film, made for just over $1m is currently in post-production.

With a letter of intent from Roadshow, the film is expected in cinemas in early 2013.

Only nine documentaries were released to theatres in 2011, none by any of the major distributors.

Red Obsession’s story of the international wine trade is the backbone to discuss the impact China’s growing influence is having in various industries.

Roach told Encore: “It’s a documentary about wine, but its also about the shift of economic power from West to East. In Australia we look to China to buy our raw material – How much should we buy into their...

Applications are now open for the 10th annual film market SPAAmart, put on by the Screen Producers Association of Australia.

The announcement:

The Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) today announced that applications are now open for the 10th annual feature film market, SPAAmart 2012, which will take place during the annual Spaa Conference in November.

SPAAmart is calling for distinct feature film projects at an advanced stage of development with significant attachments, and ready to present to the market for financing, sales and distribution.

SPAAmart was launched in 2003 with the aim of bringing the best Australasian feature projects to the attention of local and international financiers. Films that have previously participated in SPAAmart as a launching pad include Clubland, West, Noise, The Home Song Stories, Lucky Miles, Romulus My Father, The Last Ride, Beautiful Kate, The Cedar Boys and most recently Beneath Hill 60 and Mei Mei.

As with previous years,...

DVD Release Date: Aug. 21, 2012

Price: DVD $24.98

Studio: Entertainment One

Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris are involved in a secret long-term romance in Virginia.

Jennifer Connelly (Creation) and Ed Harris (Man on a Ledge) star in the 2010 small-town drama-romance film Virginia, written and directed by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk).

Connelly is Virginia, a charming but mentally ill mother whose greatest love is her protector and illegitimate son, Emmett (Harrison Gilbertson, Beneath Hill 60). Virginia has been involved in a two-decade long affair with Richard Tipton (Harris), the local married Mormon sheriff-turned-hopeful political candidate who might very well be Emmett’s father. When Sheriff Tipton learns that his daughter (Emma Roberts, It’s Kind of a Funny Story) and Emmett have begun a romantic relationship, his Senate campaign, as well as Virginia’s once simple life, are turned upside down. As the relationship threatens the Southern town’s peculiar secrets,...

The father and son creative duo at the helm are co-writers Ian and Luke Sparkes (pictured), with the latter set to direct. Ian (who was nominated for an AFI Award for Costume Design on Beneath Hill 60) explained that their aim was to address the idea that all was quiet on the Western front for diggers.   "This has been my entire life actually," Ian says, "dedicated to researching and developing stories about the ANZACs.

A film institute and a mining association have teamed to help young indigenous film-makers turn their stories into documentaries.

The Nsw Mining Young Indigneous Documentary Fellowship is a partnership between Nsw Mining and the Cockatoo Institute, which is the team behind both the Cockatoo Film Festival and the Dungog Film Festival.

The fellowship is worth $20,000 and is now calling for entries.

Nsw Mining was the presenting sponsor of the Dungog Film Festival and is a strategic partner of Cockatoo Island Film Festival.

The fellowship aims to support the development or production of a documentary project by a film-maker 35 years or under that aims to capture their point of view as an Indigenous Australian.

The recipient of the fellowship will be awarded at the inaugural Cockatoo Island Film Festival from 24-28 October, with the film shown at the 2013 event.

The successful applicant will be selected by three leading Indigenous film-makers, Darren Dale,...

Beneath Hill 60's director Jeremy Sims (pictured) and producer Bill Leimbach are attempting to secure funding for a 13 part mini-series to be adapted from Joy Chambers' best-selling World War One-set novel, Vale Valhalla, with the series to be rebranded Caroline's War.   Beginning in Colonial Queensland at the end of the 19th century and playing out its shocking and emotional conclusion on the battlefields of France during the Great War of 1914-18, Jeremy Sims says the epic drama, which will be told through the lives of three families, will tap into the fascination that audiences have for the Great War.

Film distributor Transmission Films today launched its home entertainment and consumer product arm.

Transmission Home Entertainment brings production, marketing and publicity for the company’s range of bluray, DVD and digital products in house. Distribution and sales will remain under the management of parent company Paramount Home Entertainment Australia.

Over the past four years Transmission Films has theatrically released films such as The King’s Speech, Beneath Hill 60 and An Education, with Paramount looking after the home entertainment releases.

The new arm will allow the Transmission brand to extend its distribution of art house, independent, Australian and cult films.

Sheree Gray, senior brand manager acquisitions at Paramount Home Entertainment Australia will take the newly created role of general manager home entertainment and digital in March. Gray has worked at Transmission since 2008.

Richard Payten, joint Managing Director of Transmission Films, said: “As Transmission enters its next stage of growth, Sheree...

UK distributor Momentum Pictures, which recently released controversial film Shame, has acquired the rights to independent World War I film Forbidden Ground.

The sale . for all media . was negotiated by the Australian film.s international sales agent Odin.s Eye Entertainment at the European Film Market in Berlin. It also sold to Dutch Film Works for Benelux and Star Alliance for China.

It will be the second recent Australian war film that Momentum has acquired after picking up Beneath Hill 60 back in 2010. Forbidden Ground, which finished shooting in Nsw late last year, is set in France in 1916 during World War I.

Momentum will make a decision about a potential theatrical release after Forbidden Ground is finished, which is expected in late-May/early-April.

The film.s lead, Sergeant Wilkins (Johan Earl), wakes up in a bomb crater in the middle of No Man's Land after his entire division is annihilated by German machine guns.

UK distributor Momentum Pictures, which recently released controversial film Shame, has acquired the rights to independent World War I film Forbidden Ground. The sale . for all media . was negotiated by the Australian film.s international sales agent Odin.s Eye Entertainment at the European Film Market in Berlin. It also sold to Dutch Film Works for Benelux and Star Alliance for China. It will be the second recent Australian war film that Momentum has acquired after picking up Beneath Hill 60 back in 2010. Forbidden Ground, which finished shooting in Nsw late last year, is set in France in 1916 during World War I. Momentum will make a decision about a potential theatrical release after Forbidden Ground is finished, which is expected in late-May/early-April. The...

Eleven Australian producer teams from across the Australia met with American producers and studio executives at the Ausfilm Week in last week.

Ausfilm’s Deb Richards told Encore the sessions were, “like speed dating without the alcohol, with seven meetings one after another.”

The one-to-one sessions were project-specific, the filmmakers pitching a feature script they looked to receive funding and create co-productions on.

Australian producers included Bill Leimback (Beneath Hill 60), Jamie Hilton (Sleeping Beauty, The Waiting City), Stephen Amis (The 25th Reich), Robert Galinsky & Elizabeth Howatt-Jackman (Prey), Pam Collis (Singularity), Craig Lahiff & Helen Leake (Swerve), Sonya Armstrong (Seduction in the City), Lessa Khan and Marissa Goodhill, Jodea Bloomfield and Pippa Hinchley (The Live Sex Girls), Anthony Maras (The Palace) and Michelle McDonald of Screen Australia.

The selection of Us production companies included; The Weinstein Company, Arclight Films, Smoke House Pictures, Artists International, Michael de Luca productions, Fox Searchlight and more.

Brendan Cowell (Love My Way, Beneath Hill 60), Ella Scott Lynch (Crownies) and Toby Schmitz (Griff the Invisible, Lbf) will headline a cast for Cockatoo Island’s In The Raw screenplay presentation of psychological thriller Metamorphosis.

The In The Raw presentations help give filmmakers a better understanding on how the film will read while an industry panel give feedback.

Allanah Zitserman, creative director of Cockatoo Island Film Festival, said “Metamorphosis is a new psychological thriller and that the script reading will present a unique opportunity for audiences and the industry panel (including established film directors Samantha Lang and Elissa Down) to provide valuable feedback regarding its development.”

The film is written by Kris Wyld (East West 101, White Collar Blue, Wildside) and will be produced by David Elfick (Rabbit Proof Fence, Newsfront).

The event is Monday 26 September at 6pm at Aftrs Theatre, 130 Bent St, The Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park.

Admission...

With the inaugural Australian Production Design Guild Awards this month, Joanne Whitehead speaks with a selection of Australia’s leading production designers about the state of their sector in the industry.

While we so often hear the tired ‘it’s an honour just to be nominated’, during the awards season, for Australian production designers, the ceremony itself will feel like a reward, as their achievements are finally recognised on September 21, when the Australian Production Design Guild (Apdg) will hold their inaugural awards.

Though associations like Apdg existed in other countries before, the Australian guild is relatively new, created in 2009 by founding members Michael Scott Mitchell, Steven Jones Evans, George Liddle, Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Colin Gibson and Owen Paterson. With the awards approaching, it felt appropriate to delve a little further into the often misunderstood role of a production designer.

There are many departments who create the overall feel of...

The Australian Production Design Guild has announced the shortlist for its inaugural awards.

Across 13 categories, the awards recognise outstanding design talent in the screen and theatre industry.

The Apdg Awards will be held at Nida on the 21st September.

Apdg Awards Shortlist

The Docklands Studios Melbourne Apdg award for design on a feature film

The Tree - Steve Jones-Evans; production designer Daybreakers – George Liddle; production designer Beneath Hill 60 – Clayton Jauncey; production designer

The Encore Apdg award for design on a short film

The Cartographer – Jane Shadbolt; designer/director The Missing Key - Jonathan Nix; designer/director, Shane Ingram; 3D designer The Telegram Man – David McKay; production designer

The Matchbox Pictures Apdg award for design on a television drama

Hawke - Carrie Kennedy; production designer, Ben Morieson; production designer Cloudstreet - Herbert Pinter; production designer Paper Giants – Jon Rohde; production designer, Scott Bird; art director

The Next Printing Apdg award...

Red Dog captures the wild, blokey days of the 1970s Dampier. Shot on location in isolated Wa’s Pilbara Region, the producers employed a low-budget mentality and called in favours to make finances go the distance. Joanne Whitehead reports.

Set in Western Australia in the remote town of Dampier, Red Dog is based upon a legend about a local stray dog, that residents claim was responsible for creating a sense of community in the 1970s, when the coastal town was barely established. A sentimental comedy that finds laughs from not just the dog but the inner workings of the male dominated mining community, it’s adapted from Louis de Bernieres’ (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin) novelisation of the story.

While wholly aimed at families and dog lovers, it might come as a surprise that Red Dog was directed by Kriv Stenders, who did the dark colonial tale Lucky Country (2009) and the...

The 9th annual feature film market SPAAmart 2011 is taking place during the Spaa conference in November.

Spaa has put out a call for applications of projects at an advanced stage of development and ready to present to the market for financing, sales and distribution.

Aimed at bringing Australasia’s best feature projects to the attention of local and international financiers, SPAAmart has found successes in Beneath Hill 60, Romulus, My Father, Beautiful Kate, West, Noise and Clubland, among others.

In a statement, SPAAmart Director, Julie Marlow said, “The Producer Offset has now bedded in, and producers are aware that they have considerable equity to bring to the negotiating table, giving them a competitive advantage when married with great projects. This year, we are attracting high profile and entrepreneurial international executives to SPAAmart to have in-depth meetings, where we will present them with the best of market-ready films.”

Film entries for...

Screen Australia today announced a round of development funding for eight feature films.

Included in the funding is Bruce Beresford’s Banjo & Matilda, as well as films by directors Adam Elliot, Nadia Tess, Eddie Martin and Richard Lowenstein, and investment in writers Alice Addison, Mark Herman and Glenda Hambly.

Banjo & Matilda is the dramatisation of Banjo Paterson’s Waltzing Matilda. Set in 1895, a young city poet and journalist travels to a remote sheep station to track down a political agitator. When the clashes between union shearers and landowners turn to violence, a man is found dead in a billabong. Was it suicide or murder? The film will be produced by Bill Leimbach (Beneath Hill 60, Bait 3D) and written by David Roach.

Adam Elliot (Mary & Max) will write and direct Ernee, an animated adventure romance, produced by Peter Kaufmann and executive produced by Brian Rosen and Bryce Menzies.

Two musical biopics were also funded.

Every now and then there comes a war film I wish had been a novel assigned in high school, and in the case of Beneath Hill 60 it’s not entirely out of the scope of possibility as it’s based on the memoire writings of Captain Oliver Woodward. Beneath Hill 60 tells the true story of the army regiment in World War I at the Battle of Messines that created a labyrinthine tunnel system beneath the German front and loaded it with one million pounds of explosives to produce the largest man-made explosion ever (at the time), and killing about 10,000 German soldiers. For perspective, it stands as the most lethal non-nuclear explosion ever. To the film’s credit, it more than does the event justice with some stellar sets, great acting, and expert direction, with only the rushed love story interrupting the pacing as a possible detractor.

Read more.

DVD Playhouse—July 2011

By Allen Gardner

The Music Room (Criterion) Satyajit Ray’s 1958 masterpiece looks at the life of a fallen aristocrat as a metaphor for an India that is not only becoming Westernized, but modernized technologically and culturally beyond recognition. When the beloved music room, where he has hosted lavish concerts in the past, starts falling into disrepair as attendance drops steadily, the man realizes his way of life is vanishing. Stunningly shot in black & white, one of Ray’s finest works. Bonuses: Documentary on Ray from 1984 by Shyam Benegal; Interviews with Ray biographer Andrew Robinson and filmmaker Mira Nair; Excerpt from 1981 roundtable discussion between Ray, critic Michael Ciment, director Claude Sautet. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.

Beauty And The Beast (Criterion) Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of the classic fairy tale become a beloved classic upon its 1946 release, and hasn’t faded since.

The Australian share of the box office has fallen to approximately 1.3 per cent over the first five months of the year, despite a sharp drop in total box office returns. That proportion is less than one-third of the 4.5 per cent Australian box office share over the first five months of 2010 when five films had already grossed more than $2 million each (Bran Nue Dae, The Kings of Mykonos: Wog Boy 2, Beneath Hill 60, Daybreakers and Bright Star) to push the total to $21.32 million. This year opened strongly for Australian films with the James Cameron-backed Sanctum grossing almost $3.84 million. However, films such as A Heartbeat Away and Wasted on the Young underperformed, pushing the total to just $5.63 million. Over the first five months of 2010, the total box office reached...

For the second consecutive year, Encore has chosen a select group of screen professionals who have achieved new heights in 2010/2011, whose decisions influence and shape Australia’s audiovisual industry, and whose work has stood out from the crowd. These are our Power 50.

1. Emile Sherman – Producer

Last February, Sherman became the first Australian producer to receive an Academy Award for Best Picture, alongside his See-Saw Films partner Iain Canning, and Bedlam Productions’ Gareth Unwin. It also won at the BAFTAs and the Producers Guild of America, in addition to the many other honours for its cast and crew.

While technically a UK production, the Australianness of the film is undeniable – and so is its success; with a modest U$15m budget, The King’s Speech has grossed more than $405m worldwide – one of the most successful independent films of all time. Read Emile Sherman interview

2. Baz Luhrmann – Director, writer, producer

There...

Australian producers Bill Leimbach and Mandaley Perkins will attend ScreenSingapore this week in support of their new $28million project Singapore Sunset in 3D.

About the Japanese bombing of Singapore and its lead up between December 1941 and February 1942, including the bombing of Britain’s battleship Hms Prince of Wales and battle cruiser Hms Repulse, the film will bring together a multinational cast with production in both Singapore and Australia.

Of their attendance at ScreenSingapore, Leimbach, producer of Beneath Hill 60, said, “We hope to put the spotlight on the project for the first time – a sort of ‘coming out. It’s a project that many have heard we are putting together, in the financial sector and the film sector and now we have all our tools ready: promo video, website, script, budget and the casting and director’s search is well underway. It’s a project ready to start, and this...

With a slicked-back 'do, sculpted goatee and sizable gun, Brad Pitt inhabits his latest character Jackie Cogan, from the forthcoming mobster click Cogan's Trade, based on George V. Higgins' 1974 novel about a professional enforcer who makes sure the mob's rules don't get broken and if they do - someone pays. The New Orleans-lensed flick, directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) just wrapped principle photography and is aiming for a 2012 release.

The movie also boasts a talented ensemble cast including Ray Liotta, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Scoot McNairy (Monsters), Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom) and Bella Heathcote (Beneath Hill 60).

Take a look at the full image of Brad Pitt after the jump!

Here are the new MPAA ratings from Bulletin No: 2166.

Beneath Hill 60 Rated R For some war violence and language. Camp Hell Rated R For some teen sexuality and disturbing violent images. Casa De Mi Padre Rated R For bloody violence, language, some sexual content and drug use. Cave Of Forgotten Dreams Rated G Release Date: April 29, 2011 The Entitled Rated R For language, some violence and brief drug use. Extremely Used Cars: There Is No Hope Rated R For pervasive language and some sexual content. The Family Tree Rated R For sexual content, pervasive language, drug use and some violence. Fast Five Rated PG-13 For intense sequences of violence and action, sexual content and language. Release Date: April 29, 2011 Hard Breakers Rated R For sexual content and drug use. Hellraiser: Revelations Rated R For bloody horror violence, grisly images, sexual content and language. Legend Of The Fist: The Return Of Chen...

Entertainment One will release the 2010 Australian war movie Beneath Hill 60 on DVD on June 28.

A platoon of Australian soldiers fight in the Great War in Beneath Hill 60.

Directed by Jeremy Sims, Beneath Hill 60 is set during World War I and tells the story of the 1st Australian Tunneling Company’s effort to make their way behind enemy lines, tunnel German bunker on the Western front and detonate an explosive there to aid the advancing British troops. The screenplay by David Roach is based on an account of the operation written by Captain Oliver Woodward, who is portrayed by Brendan Cowell (I Love You Too) in the film.

Beneath Hill 60 was well-received in its native country where it was nominated for 12 Australian Film Institute Awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor (Cowell). In the U.S., it picked up awards at the Savannah Film Festival and the Hamptons Film Festival,...

Animal Kingdom, Beneath Hill 60, and the other winners of the 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards have been announced. The Film Critics Circle of Australia (Fcaa) “is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.” The awards were handed out on March 13, 2011 at the “North Sydney Leagues Club at Cammeray in Sydney. ABC Local Radio’s Rod Quinn hosted the event.” The full listing of the 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards winners is below.

Best Film

Animal Kingdom, Producer Liz Watts

Best Director

David Michôd, Animal Kingdom

Best Actor – Leading Role

Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom

Best Actress – Leading Role

Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom.

Lily Bell-Tindley, Lou – Special Mention

Best Actress – Supporting Role

Essie Davis, South Solitary

Morgana Davies, The Tree – Special Mention

Best Actor – Supporting Role

Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom

Best Screenplay – Original

David Michôd, Animal Kingdom

Best Screenplay – Adapted Screenplay

David Roach, Beneath Hill 60

Best Cinematography

Denson Baker,...

It came as little surprise to learn that David Michod's Animal Kingdom cleaned up at The Film Critics Circle of Australia (Fcca) Awards which were held in North Sydney on March 13.   Animal Kingdom was awarded the top prize over the other nominees which included the war drama Beneath Hill 60; last year's feel-good hit Bran Nue Dae; the teen blockbuster Tomorrow, When The War Began; and the deeply moving The Waiting City.   As well as Michod picking up the award for Best Director, Animal Kingdom also took home the major acting awards with Jacki Weaver - fresh from her Oscar nomination - winning the Best Actress category.

Crime drama Animal Kingdom was the big winner at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, scooping six top prizes including the best actress trophy for Jacki Weaver.

Weaver won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as the matriarch of a notorious Melbourne crime family, but lost out to The Fighter star Melissa Leo.

She has now triumphed Down Under with a Best Actress prize at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, which were announced on Sunday.

Animal Kingdom was also named Best Film, Best Actor went to Ben Mendelsohn and Best Supporting Actor to Joel Edgerton.

The movie's director, David Michod, took the Best Director accolade and he also won Best Original Screenplay.

Awards also went to South Solitary and Beneath Hill 60, while The Social Network was named Best Foreign Film - English language.

The Film Critics Circle of Australia has named Animal Kingdom the Best Film of 2010, taking 5 awards including best director, actor, actress, supporting actor and original screenplay.

Beneath Hill 60 took two awards, and South Solitary and The Waiting City took won one each.

These are the winners:

Best Film: Animal Kingdom Best Director: David Michod, Animal Kingdom Best Actor: Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom Best Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom Best Supporting Actress: Essie Davies, South Solitary Best Supporting Actor: Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom Best Original Screenplay: David Michod, Animal Kingdom Best Adapted Screenplay: David Roach, Beneath Hill 60 Best Cinematography: Denson Baker, The Waiting City Best Editor: Dany Cooper, Beneath Hill 60 Best Music Score: Cezary Skubiszewski, Bran Nue Dae – also SpecialAcknowledgement Award for his continued contribution to Australian cinema. Best Foreign Film – English language: The Social Network Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon Special Mention: Lily Bell-Tindley (Lou...

Paramount Pictures and Transmission Films have renewed their distribution pact for Australia and New Zealand, following their Oscar success this week with The King’s Speech.

“It has been an incredibly rewarding three years working with Paramount and its talented team. We couldn’t be happier to be extending the relationship for another three years to realize another slate of extraordinary films from some of the world’s finest filmmakers,” said Tranmission founders Richard Payten and Andrew Mackie.

“The past three years have seen us handle a tremendous range of product from around the world culminating in the success of The King’s Speech. This relationship forms an essential part of our acquisition strategy and we look forward to an exciting time as we bring more great films to the Australian and New Zealand markets,” added Paramount managing director Mike Selwyn.

The King’s Speech, a Seesaw Films / Bedlam production,...

A couple of weeks ago, we told you that that Eva Green (Womb, Camelot) had scored the lead role of Angelique, in director Tim Burton‘s forthcoming film, Dark Shadows. Green will be portraying a witch who has a love-hate relationship with the vampire Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp).

Now, Deadline reports that Michelle Pfeiffer (New Year’s Eve, Welcome to People) is in negotiations to play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the owner of the Collinwood estate where the story takes place. Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) is likely to portray Dr. Julia Hoffman, who specializes in rare blood disorders and moves into the estate. Hoffman is originally perceived as a threat to the vampire Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), although she becomes his ally, as Barnabas believes she can cure his blood lust.

Previously…

Jackie Earle Haley (Human Target, Bolden!), and Bella Heathcote (Beneath Hill 60,...

The Film Critics Circle of Australia has announced the nominees for its 2010 Awards, and Animal Kingdom leads the pack with 10 nominations.

Beneath Hill 60 and The Waiting City follow behind with eight nominations each; Tomorrow, When the War Began has five, and Bran Nue Dae and South Solitary have four each.

It’s the first awards ceremony to recognise the previosly ignored Lou and The Waiting City as two of the best films of the year in the main categories; it’s also the first official recognition for South Solitary, which its producers did not even submit for consideration at last December’s AFI Awards.

The ceremony will be held on March 13 at the North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray.

The nominees are:

• Best Film

Animal Kingdom Producer: Liz Watts

Beneath Hill 60 Producer: Bill Leimbach

Bran Nue Dae Producers: Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac

Tomorrow When The War Began Producers: Andrew Mason,...

Just a few days ago, we told you that Jackie Earle Haley (Human Target, Bolden!), and Bella Heathcote (Beneath Hill 60, Now) were in talks to join the cast of director Tim Burton’s long-awaited, big-screen adaptation of Dark Shadows, alongside Johnny Depp.

Jackie Earle Haley would portray Willie Loomis, a small-time con artist who, upon discovering a portrait of Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) wearing several luxurious jewels, decides to break into his coffin and rob him. Instead, he wakes the vampire from his slumber and is enslaved and Bella Heathcoate would play Victoria Winters, the young governess of the Collins estate.

Now, Deadline reports that Eva Green (Womb, Camelot) has scored the lead role of Angelique, in director Tim Burton‘s forthcoming film. The character is a witch who has a love-hate relationship with the vampire Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp).

A release date for Dark Shadows has yet to be confirmed.