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'Indigo Lake' is an Aussie neo-noir written and directed by Martin Simpson, produced by Brian Cobb and starring Andrew Cutcliffe, Miranda O.Hare, Marin Mimica and Pamela Shaw. Cutcliffe ('Home and Away', 'Wonderland') plays Jack, a painter who falls in love with his subject (Miranda O.Hare), to the chagrin of her gangster husband (Marin Mimica)..

Simpson wrote the script in 2011 and brought it to Cobb, who put the budget together via private investors and the Offset. Beyond.s Martin Fabinyi, with whom Cobb worked under a Screen Australia Enterprise attachment, is executive producing. The indie feature made its world premiere in Canberra, the producer.s hometown, on April 23, followed by a screening at Sydney.s Dendy Newtown on April 26, where the stars, director and producer participated in a Q&A session..

International rights are being handled by Ksm, and the filmmakers will head...

'Lion' director Garth Davis has won the Adg Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film..

Director Garth Davis has taken out the top gong at the Adg Awards for his work helming Lion..

Davis was presented the prize for Best Direction in a Feature Film by Peter Weir at an award ceremony in Melbourne on Friday..

Lion, which received six Oscar nods and has gone on to be the fifth highest-grossing Australian film of all time at the local box office, is Davis. debut feature. .

Davis was up against Simon Stone (The Daughter), Ben Young (Hounds of Love), Craig Boreham (Teenage Kicks) and Jonathan Leahy (Skin Deep) — each of which was also a first feature..

The award for Best Direction in a Documentary Feature Film was presented to Dan Jackson for In The Shadow of the Hill, while Hotel Coolgardie director Pete Gleeson received High Commendation. The...

Peter Weir on the set of his last feature 'The Way Back'.

Adg CEO Kingston Anderson told If earlier this year that he was angling for a high-profile director to present the Feature award at this year's Adg awards.

Now we know who it is: Peter Weir will present the Best Direction in a Feature Film award at the awards in Melbourne.

Weir will bestow the award on one of the five nominees; Garth Davis (Lion), Simon Stone (The Daughter), Ben Young (Hounds of Love), Craig Boreham (Teenage Kicks) and Jonnie Leahy (Skin Deep).

.It is a great privilege to have one of Australia.s pre-eminent directors, Peter Weir, presenting the award for Best Direction in a Feature Film," said Adg CEO Kingston Anderson..

"We have a tradition at the awards to have our best feature directors presenting this award. Directors who have presented the award in the past include Fred Schepisi,...

(l-r) Deepti Naval and Garth Davis on set (photo credit: Mark Rogers).

The nominees for best feature direction at this year.s Adg Awards are Garth Davis (Lion), Simon Stone (The Daughter), Ben Young (Hounds of Love), Craig Boreham (Teenage Kicks) and Jonathan Leahy (Skin Deep). All are celebrated for their feature debuts..

Adg CEO Kingston Anderson says the Adg is angling for a high-profile director to present the feature film award. .I can.t say who it is but if we get him it.d be great," he tells If. "It.s a timing issue as usual...

Emma Freeman is nominated in the TV direction category for her work on Secret City alongside Leah Purcell for Cleverman, Rowan Woods for Rake and Tony Krawitz for The Kettering Incident.

.As always TV drama continues to be a strong and important and powerful category, and that reflects what.s going on in our industry,...

Skin Deep.

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Jonnie Leahy's Australian feature Skin Deep is set for theatrical release on January 26 through distributor ScreenLaunch.

Leahy's directorial debut will screen in a selectoin of Australian cinemas with a special event Q and A series in Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. .

The film, set in Newtown, Sydney, follows troubled gay university student Caitlin Davis (Monica Zanetti) who meets Leah (Zara Zoe), a straight and straight-laced young woman from the other side of town..

Although the unlikely pair are reluctantly thrown together by circumstance they discover a surprising natural bond..

When Leah reveals she's actually dying of cancer, Caitlin sets them out on a bucket list style journey through Newtown, determined to help Leah come to terms with her illness and possibly find some meaning for herself.

Skin Deep was recently recognised as Best Indie Film by After Ellen and was singled out for honorable mention in the Narrative...

Nine features have been nominated for this year's Awgie Awards for performance writing.

Eight telemovies and miniseries are in contention. The Australian Writers. Guild says nominations in the 25 categories for the 48th Annual Awgie Awards reflect the abundance of outstanding work currently being produced in Australia. Nominees for best original telemovie are Steven McGregor for Redfern Now: Promise Me and Katherine Thomson for House of Hancock, while Christopher Lee.s Gallipoli and Jan Sardi and Mac Gudgeon.s The Secret River contend for best adaptation in a television miniseries. There are four nominees for original television mini-series: The Principal by Alice Addison and Kristen Dunphy; The Kettering Incident by Vicki Madden, Andrew Knight, Cate Shortland and Louise Fox; Deadline Gallipoli by Jacquelin Perske, Stuart Beattie, Shaun Grant and Cate Shortland; and Love Child: Series 2 from Tim Pye, Cathryn Strickland, Chris McCourt, Jane Allen and Tamara Asmar. In the categories...

Centered around two great performances and taking place over the course of one night, Skin Deep captures how alcohol and friendship provide these two women with much needed emotional releases. Free of inhibitions, Leah and Caitlin run around Sydney under the magical glow of the streetlights. The manic mood swings of the night alternate the tone from childish whimsy to serious melancholy.

Nick Matthews. psychological thriller One Eyed Girl has won the jury prize in the .Dark Matters. category at the Austin Film Festival in Texas.

Produce by David Ngo and written by Matthews and Craig Behenna, the South Australian-shot film tells of a psychiatrist, haunted by the death of a former patient, who stumbles upon a Doomsday cult and battles to save a teenage girl from its clutches

Starring Tilda Cobham-Hervey (The Kettering Incident, 52 Tuesdays), Mark Leonard Winter (Healing, Van Diemen.s Land) and Steve Le Marquand (Rake, Vertical Limit), One Eyed Girl will be released in Australian cinemas on April 2, distributed by The Backlot Studios.

The Dark Matters award was introduced last year and was won by Madellaine Paxson.s Blood Punch.

Austin Film Festival screenplay and teleplay competition director, Matt Dy said, "Screenwriters Craig Behenna and Nick Matthews have written a script that, on the page, would very likely...

Producer Steve Jaggi is convinced audiences are hankering for films with positive, joyful themes, an antidote to the dark subjects often favoured by filmmakers.

Putting his money where his mouth is, Jaggi launched The Incubator last year through his Indefatigable Pictures banner to develop and produce life-affirming films.

The first three projects to benefit from that initiative are either completed or in post. All are from first-time filmmakers, part of Jaggi.s plan to help foster the international careers of Australian creatives.

Based on a true story, Skin Deep is the saga of a young woman who is diagnosed with terminal melanoma and meets a stranger who gives her the courage to embrace life. The screenplay is by Monica Zanetti, who had melanoma. Rosie Lourde is the producer and the director is Jonnie Leahy. Zara Zoe plays the protagonist and Zanetti portrays the stranger.

Ambrosia is from 24-year-old writer/ director...