PRESS RELEASE from Screen Australia
Four Australian features and one short have been selected to screen at the 18th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.
Following its Toronto screening, writer/director Ivan Sen's Mystery Road has been selected for Busan's World Cinema program. It is produced by David Jowsey and stars Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten. The film tells the story of a police detective who undertakes an investigation into the brutal murder of a teenage girl, bringing the town's long-simmering tensions to the surface.
Writer/Director Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket and writer/director Aaron Wilson's Canopy will screen in the Flash Forward section. With recent successful international festival screenings at Berlin and Tribeca, The Rocket is the story of a Lao boy who leads his family, along with a couple of ragged misfits, across war-torn Laos to the dangerous Rocket Festival competition, where he builds a giant rocket to prove he’s not cursed. The film is produced by Sylvia Wilczynski and is currently screening in cinemas nationally.
Marking the feature debut of Aaron Wilson, Canopy is a suspenseful WWII drama set during the fall of Singapore. The film, produced by Katrina Fleming and starring Khan Chittenden and Mo Tzu-Yi, will have its world premiere in Toronto this month.
Also selected for Busan is feature documentary Red Obsession, from directors David Roach and Warwick Ross, which looks at the new relationship between the famous châteaux from the Bordeaux vineyards, and the rising affluent wine collectors in China. Red Obsession is produced by Warwick Ross and will screen in the Wide Angle section.
Also screening as part of Wide Angle is The Fence, a short film by writer/director Lucy Gaffy. The film tells the story of an asylum seeker dealing with the introduction of detention centres in Australia in 1992. Produced by Lyn Norfor and Kiki Dillon, the short was made as Lucy Gaffy's Master of Screen Arts graduating project at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and will have its world premiere at Busan.
Busan International Film Festival, Asia's largest film festival, takes place 3–12 October and also features the Asian Film Market.
http://www.biff.kr/structure/eng/default.asp
CANOPY
http://canopythefilm.com/
Production Company Finer Films
Producer Katrina Fleming
Co-producers Mabelyn Ow, Aaron Wilson
Writer/Director Aaron Wilson
International Sales Odin's Eye Entertainment
Cast Khan Chittenden, Mo Tzu-Yi
Synopsis Wartime, 1942. Singapore. An Australian fighter pilot shot down in combat awakens suspended in the treetops. As night devours day, he must navigate through dangerous jungle in search of sanctuary. Transcending language and culture, Canopy is a cinematic tour de force exploring the collision of war and nature and its impact on humanity. Aaron Wilson's film marks the debut of an exciting new voice in Australian cinema.
MYSTERY ROAD
http://www.mysteryroadmovie.com
Production Company Mystery Road Films
Producer David Jowsey
Writer/Director Ivan Sen
International Sales Arclight Films
Australian Distributor Dark Matters
Cast Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Ryan Kwanten, Jack Thompson, Tony Barry, Bruce Spence
Synopsis Returning to his small outback hometown, a police detective undertakes an investigation into the brutal murder of a teenage Aboriginal girl that brings the town's long-simmering tensions to the surface. Aaron Pedersen, Jack Thompson and Hugo Weaving star in this new film from internationally lauded Australian director Ivan Sen.
RED OBSESSION
http://www.red-obsession.com/
Producer Warwick Ross
Directors David Roach, Warwick Ross
International Sales Celluloid Dreams/uConnect
Synopsis With the GFC decimating its traditional Western markets, Bordeaux may have found its saviour and biggest customer ever – China. But as Bordeaux struggles to accommodate China's voracious appetite for its rare and expensive wines, will the China market be the bubble that never bursts or the biggest threat yet to Bordeaux's almost mythical status in the world of fine wine?
THE ROCKET
http://www.therocket-movie.com
Production Company Red Lamp Films Pty Ltd
Producer Sylvia Wilczynski
Exec Producers Bridget Ikin, Triphet Rookachat, Michael Wrenn
Associate Producer Pauline Phayvanh Phoumindr
Writer/Director Kim Mordaunt
Cast Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Thep Phongam
International Sales LevelK ApS
Australian Distributor Curious Film
Synopsis A boy who is believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by war, to prove he's not cursed he builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival.
THE FENCE
http://www.thefenceshortfilm.com.au (online as of 2 August 2013)
Production Company AFTRS
Producers Kiki Dillon, Lyn Norfor
Writer/Director Lucy Gaffy
Sales Ruth Saunders – Ruth.Saunders@aftrs.edu.au
Cast Ken Moraleda, Felino Dolloso
Synopsis It's 1992 and Virak is new to Australia. Having fled his native Cambodia by boat the year before, he resides at the Villawood Refugee Hostel waiting for his application for asylum to be processed. Little does he know that his life is about to change with the building of a simple fence.