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Acolytes enter Toronto’s Midnight Madness

Jul 14, 2008

Palace Films is pleased to announce that the gripping Australian thriller Acolytes has been selected for inclusion in the ‘Midnight Madness’ section at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Directed by Jon Hewitt (Redball, Bloodlust) and starring Joel Edgerton (Star Wars, The Square) and Michael Dorman (Daybreakers, Suburban Mayhem), Acolytes is the story of three teens who blackmail a serial killer and are consequently lured into his violent world.

To secure a spot in the unique ‘Midnight Madness’ program, for which only ten films are selected, Acolytes competed amongst films encompassing various genres not usually seen in a festival context. Now in its 21st year, the popular midnight program focuses on the weird and the wonderful including thrillers, chillers, outlandish comedies and rockumentaries, and in previous years has included entries such as Hostel, The Host, Saw, Black Sheep, The Machinist, Ong-Bak and Sacha Baron-Cohen’s box office success Borat.

Acolytes will have its World Premiere at the 57th Melbourne International Film Festival on August 1st at the Forum Theatre; followed by a second screening at Greater Union Russell Street on August 2nd. The film will also feature in the final weekend of the Brisbane International Film Festival on Friday August 8th at The Regent.

Other Palace Films titles that have been selected for competition at Toronto include the recently acquired Tulpan, which will compete in the ‘Discovery’ section of the festival showcasing new and emerging filmmakers. Sergey Dvortsevoy’s highly acclaimed film was awarded the Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes International Film Festival in May, and is slated for release in Australia early next year.

A range of Palace Films titles have enjoyed great success at Toronto in the past, including the selection of Australian romantic drama Unfinished Sky as part of the Festival’s ‘Contemporary World Cinema’ program last year.

Directed by Peter Duncan and starring William McInnes, Unfinished Sky has seen great success at the Australian box office since its national release on June 19. It ranked number 10 in its first week and is continuing to perform strongly.

The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 4-13.

[Release by Palace Films]