AFI-nominated director Nash Edgerton will join a fellow Blue-Tongue Films’ co-founder, Kieran Darcy-Smith, at next year’s Sundance Film Festival after his latest short film made the cut.
Bear, his follow-up to 2007 multi-award winning short film Spider, was co-written by Animal Kingdom’s David Michôd and will have its North American premiere at the US’ largest independent film festival. It marks Edgerton’s fifth short to be selected for the renowned festival.
Bear, which was nominated earlier this year for the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the Cannes International Film Festival, was produced by Lauren Edwards and John Polson and stars Edgerton (brother of Joel) alongside Teresa Palmer and director Warwick Thornton. It was shot by IF Award-nominated cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (Snowtown) for his work on Animal Kingdom.
Edgerton (The Square) will join Darcy-Smith at the festival, whose directorial debut – Wish You Were Here – was chosen to open the World Cinema Dramatic competition. That will mark the film’s world premiere before opening on April 19, 2012, in Australia.
Edgerton, who is currently doing stunt work on Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, said in a statement that it was a huge honour and especially meaningful to be at Sundance with Darcy-Smith.
Not much is known of the plot for his 11-minute film. The short revolves around character Jack, who means well, but sometimes good intentions have horrible consequences. It's produced by Blue-Tongue Films (which also consists of Luke Doolan and Spencer Susser) in association with Peachy Pictures, Tropfest and effects/post training house fxphd. Extra finance was provided by Billabong and Movie Network Channels.
In other Blue-Tongue Films news, Michôd’s Animal Kingdom – which was recently nominated for Best Foreign Independent Film at the British Independent Film Awards – will be released next month in Japan. In Australia, it grossed more than $5 million, when it was released by Madman in June last year.
The Sundance Film Festival will be held between January 19 and 29, 2012.