Black Water travels world to screen in Sydney

By Simon de Bruyn

After playing across New South Wales and three other states and territories – and screening in the UK, Poland, Mexico and Malaysia – croc thriller Black Water will finally make its debut in the filmmakers’ home city of Sydney in a special screening presented by the Australian Writers’ Guild.

Black Water premiered eight weeks ago on just three screens in Darwin, and since then has scored theatrical releases in South Australia and northern Queensland, as well as screening in NSW towns such as Tamworth, Orange and Griffith.

It had its NSW premiere at the Dungog Film Festival earlier this month, and was heralded as one of the surprise hits of the festival. Dendy Brisbane has also recently picked up the film and it’s slated for a July release there.

Written and directed by Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich, and produced by Michael Robertson, Black Water is a tension-filled horror film based on real events.

This is the second low-budget success story to be denied a Sydney release by exhibitors in as many months, despite marked success elsewhere. In May, Inside Film reported that the producers of All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane had been forced to self-book several screenings of their film in Sydney, despite the film’s seven week theatrical run in its home city of Brisbane.

The AWG will present Black Water on 1 July at 6.30pm at the Chauvel in Paddington, and will follow the screening with an exclusive audience Q&A with co-writers and directors Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich.