By Zona Marie Tan
The controversial documentary about the notorious cult Kenja, Beyond Our Ken, has been offered a short season at Melbourne’s Cinema Nova commencing 18 September.
Directed by Luke Walker and Melissa Maclean, the documentary was nearly set to travel the path many Australian films do by going straight to DVD. However, the film’s luck changed after it received rave reviews and strong interest in Jim Schembri’s The Age blog and other media.
“What’s most exciting about this is that it was the audience and critic’s response to our film that brought it about,” says an elated Walker. “I’m so proud of the film we made and delighted to have the chance to reach more audiences in the cinema.”
Walker continues to express that it is obviously a filmmaker’s dream to get their first feature a theatrical run, but more unusually to have a simultaneous DVD and theatrical release.
“It’s unusual timing with the DVD coming out at the same time, but nothing about this film’s making was usual,” says Walker “So I guess it’s no surprise the release turned out to be unusual too.”
Beyond Our Ken was set for DVD release by Hopscotch on September 18. After being granted a one-week theatrical run at Cinema Nova beginning on the same date, Hopscotch decided that the DVD release date it won’t be changed.
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Beyond Our Ken will screen for one week only at Cinema Nova, 18–23 September.
Read IF’s News Feature: Beyond Walker’s Ken for more about the documentary.