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Four SAFC funded feature films have been selected for Sundance Film Festival 2019
29 November 2018
In a unique and unprecedented achievement for South Australian screen sector, four SAFC funded feature films have been selected for Sundance Film Festival 2019, which will run from 24 January to 3 February 2019 in Utah, United States.
I Am Mother, Top End Wedding, and Animals will have their World Premieres at Sundance, one of the most highly regarded independent film festivals in the world. The Nightingale will enjoy its North American Premiere at the Festival.
Chief Executive of the SAFC Courtney Gibson said, “It’s thrilling that these four standout SAFC funded films will be showcased at Sundance in 2019. Sundance is the first film festival out of the starting gate each year and the one that always breaks new ground and sets the pace in featuring visionary and radical screen storytelling.”
- Top End Wedding, directed by Wayne Blair, showcases the previously unseen side of Adelaide’s suburbia as well as landscapes of the remote far north of Australia. Successful Sydney lawyer Lauren (Miranda Tapsell) and her fiancée Ned (Gwilym Lee) have just ten days to find Lauren’s mother who has gone AWOL, reunite her parents and pull off their dream wedding.
- Animals, directed by Sophie Hyde, follows Laura (Holliday Grainger) and Tyler (Alia Shawkat), best friends and drinking buddies whose hedonistic existence is challenged when Laura gets engaged to Jim (Fra Free), who decides to go teetotal. Sophie Hyde of Closer Productions won Best Director in the World Cinema Dramatic category at the 2014 Sundance for 52 Tuesdays.
- I Am Mother, directed by Grant Sputore, is the story of a teenage girl (Clara Rugaard) raised by a robot designed to repopulate the earth. Their unique bond is threatened when a stranger (Hilary Swank) arrives. I Am Mother was shot at the world class Adelaide Studios.
- Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale will receive its North American Premiere at Sundance off the back of its award-winning run at Venice Film Festival earlier this year. Set in 1820s Tasmania, The Nightingale follows a young female convict (Aisling Franciosi) as she chases a British officer (Sam Claflin) through the Tasmanian wilderness.
The South Australian Film Corporation is immensely proud to have these films showcased at this prestigious and distinctive Festival and congratulates all crew and cast on this outstanding achievement.
Top End Wedding
Goalpost Pictures Australia
Director: Wayne Blair
Writers: Joshua Tyler, Miranda Tapsell
Producers: Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne, Kate Croser
Executive Producers: Ben Grant, Glen Condie
Australian Distributor: eOne Films
International Sales: Films Boutique
Production Credit: Top End Wedding is a Goalpost Pictures Australia production in association with Tapsell, Tyler & Condie and Kojo Entertainment. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with Tourism NT. Financed with support from South Australian Film Corporation with Adelaide Film Festival. Supported by Tourism NT.
Animals
Closer Productions Pty Ltd
Director: Sophie Hyde
Writer: Emma Jane Unsworth
Producers: Sarah Brocklehurst, Rebecca Summerton, Cormac Fox, Sophie Hyde
Australian Distributor: Bonsai Films
International Sales: Cornerstone Films
Production Credit: Animals is an Official Australian/Irish Co-production by Closer Productions. Principal production investment from Screen Australia and the Irish Film Board. Financed with support from Adelaide Film Festival and South Australian Film Corporation
I Am Mother
Director: Grant Sputore
Producers: Tim White & Kelvin Munro
Screenplay: Michael Lloyd Green
Executive Producers: Terry Dougas, Paris Kasidokostas Latsis, Jean-Luc de Fanti, Grant Sputore, Bryce Menzies, Phil Wade, John Wade
Co-producers: Anna Vincent, Michael Lloyd Green
Australian Distributor: Studio Canal
International Sales: Mister Smith Entertainment and Endeavor Content (US)
Production Credit: I Am Mother is an Australian production financed by Hercules Film Investments with major investment from Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation in association with Adelaide Film Festival, Screenwest, Lotterywest, Fin VFX, Blockhead and KOJO.
Mister Smith Entertainment is handling international sales, with Endeavor Content overseeing U.S. sales. StudioCanal is distributing in Australia and New Zealand
The Nightingale
Causeway Films HQ Pty Ltd and Made Up Stories Pty Ltd
Writer/Director: Jennifer Kent
Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Jennifer Kent
Australian Distributor: Transmission
US Sales: Endeavor Content
International Sales: FilmNation
Production Credit: The Nightingale is a Causeway Films and Made Up Stories production. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with Bron Creative. Financed with support from Screen Tasmania South Australian Film Corporation and the Adelaide Film Festival.
Featured image: Animals (2019)