It follows the journey of three young Lebanese-Australian boys from the outer suburbs who can’t seem to get ahead. Tarek, the hard working panel beater has dreams and aspirations to escape the blandness of the suburbs and struggles with how the rest of Australian society typecast him as a troublemaker.
His mates Sam and Nabil face similar prejudices in their everyday lives. When all the three stumble across an opportunity to set themselves up and escape the chains of their poverty they go for it – completely unaware of how one rash decision is about to change their lives.
Written and directed by film school graduate and award winning short filmmaker Serhat Caradee this film is fuelled by hot cars, music, racial tension, and sex drive and is a poignant look at young men of Middle Eastern descent under pressure, seeking acceptance by a society they believe excludes them.
It’s this strong social commentary and the promise of a genuine Chopper style thriller that attracted the backing of Mushroom Pictures CEO Martin Fabinyi. “We’ve got a strong and long history of supporting stories that are cutting edge and we see the same potential in this film,” says Fabinyi.
Producer and head of Templar Films Jeff Purser believes Cedar Boys is a film that had to be made. “After Cronulla, Australia turned it back on what was going on it its suburbs. But when you ignore a situation, all you’re doing is letting the pressure build. Cedar Boys is a film that will show you what happens when that kind of pressure explodes”.
Cedar Boys is being produced by Jeff Purser, Ranko Markovic and Matthew Dabner. The film has been co-financed by the Australian Film Commission’s IndiVision feature program and the New South Wales Film and Television Office.
Filming commences on June 16th 2008.