[Press Release by Park Films]
AFI award winning short film “Jerrycan” has been selected in competition for the Sundance Film Festival 09. This announcement makes a rare double achievement for a film to be selected for both the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. Sundance will run from the 15th to 25th January 2009.
Since winning the Jury Prize at the 61st Cannes Film Festival in May 2008, “Jerrycan” has screened at an impressive range of film festivals around the world, including the Melbourne International Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, London Film Festival, Stockholm Film Festival, Hamptons Film Festival, Uppsala Short Film Festival, the AFI (American Film Institute) Fest in Los Angeles and the Gijon Film Festival in Spain. The film recently won Best Short Fiction Film at the Australian Film Institute Awards.
Writer and Director Julius Avery said of the young cast, all of whom were first time actors – “The kids are the ones that made this film and without them it would be nothing. They’re so willing to give you everything and that’s why I like working with them, they’re so open to new ideas. They are the heroes.” Producer Stuart Parkyn said “Making “Jerrycan” was a fantastic experience and its success has a great deal to do with the involvement of talented people like Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, Editor Jack Hutchings, Sound Designer Emma Bortignon, Casting Director Fiona Dann and Production Designer Joseph Keily.”
Co-Producer Matt Downey said “The success of “Jerrycan” is testament to the international appeal of Australian produced content and also to the skill of our local filmmakers.”
“Jerrycan” was filmed in Clunes, regional Victoria in May and December 2007. The film is about Nathan, a kid who risks everything after he is bullied into making a life and death decision. Avery won the award for Best Direction in a Short Film for “Jerrycan” at the 2008 Australian Directors Guild awards, and previously won Best Direction in a Student Film for "End of Town" in 2007. Parkyn was a nominee at the 79th Academy Awards for the short film “The Saviour”. "Jerrycan" was supported by the Australian Film Commission, now Screen Australia.