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Cedar Boys gears up in Combination’s wake

By Simon de Bruyn

Forthcoming Lebanese drama Cedar Boys is gearing up for a release in either June or July, with its marketing campaign expected to begin next week with the launch of the film’s trailer, according to director Serhat Caradee.

Starring Les Chantery and Rachel Taylor, Cedar Boys was shot in Sydney for $1.3 million last year, and tells the story of three Lebanese friends who struggle against stereotypes and make a series of bad decisions in an effort to change their lives.

Caradee said he was heartened by the public’s response to fellow Lebanese film The Combination, but stressed that his film dealt with different themes and was less concerned with gangs and race than friendship and culture.

“We are really happy for them as now the distributors and exhibitors know there will be an audience for these kinds of films. The better that film does the better it will be for us, and we’re confident we’ll find an audience too,” he said.

After six weeks in cinemas The Combination has just passed $700,000 on 20 screens nationwide. Made without government support for $1.32 million, the film is being distributed by Australian Film Syndicate.

Cedar Boys was produced by Jeff Purser, Ranko Markovic and Matthew Dabner. The film was co-financed by the Australian Film Commission’s IndiVision feature program and the New South Wales Film and Television Office.

Mushroom Pictures is distributing but have been unavailable for comment.