Press release from Closer Productions
CLOSER PRODUCTIONS’ two debut feature documentaries are enjoying success on Australian and world stages.
With a total of 6 AACTA Awards between them, SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE and LIFE IN MOVEMENT will go head to head at the upcoming awards ceremony this Sunday.
Closer Productions’ Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure has just completed an amazing 25 State theatrical run in the USA, including a screening at the IFC in NYC hosted by legendary comedian Patton Oswalt. After being picked up by US distributor Tribeca Film, ‘Little Man’ was released first on VOD and then via a number of event screenings across the country.
Press has been strong and controversial including major pieces in the New York Times and Variety. The film, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, has gone on to screen at many prestigious festivals including selection at Edinburgh, True/False, Sheffield DocFest, MIFF and the 40th New Directors / New Films Festival at New York’s MOMA Museum. Written and directed by Matthew Bate, ‘Little Man’ tells the story of an illicit tape recording made by two punks in the late 80’s, featuring their outrageously loud and drunken neighbors. The tapes accidentally leaked into the world where they went viral in a pre-internet era.
The film explores ideas of privacy, the nature of art and viral culture. The film will be released on DVD in USA and Canada on January 24. Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure has been nominated for 4 AACTA (AFI) Awards, including noms for Best Feature Documentary and Best Director. In fact, Closer Productions have a total of 6 AACTA nominations between them. Bryan Mason and Sophie Hyde’s documentary Life In Movement has also taken two nominations in Best Feature Documentary and Best Director categories.
The films will go to head to head this Sunday the 15th January at the inaugural ACCTA ceremony in Sydney. 2011 proved to be an incredible year for the newly formed Closer Productions with the successes of these two debut feature docs. Life In Movement, which tells the story of the tragic death of wunderkind choreographer Tanja Liedtke, took out the Sydney Film Festival’s Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize last year, and recently won the Jury Award at CINEDANS, Europe’s top dance film awards.
Life in Movement is continuing to build momentum with recent sales (by Closer Productions new rights management arm, Closer Screens) to Qantas and ABC. Closer Screens have partnered with local distributor Antidote Films for a theatrical season being planned for 2012 across Australia. Bryan Mason and Sophie Hyde are currently 21 weeks into their feature drama film 52 Tuesdays, which takes an unusual approach to the filmmaking process, filming chronologically every Tuesday for 52 weeks. Like Shut Up Little Man! this ultra-low budget production is part of the SAFC's FilmLab program.
The film follows the relationship of a mother and daughter who agree to only spend Tuesday afternoons together for one year while the mother transitions to becoming a man. The actor playing the mother will be making a transition in real life as well as in their ‘film life’. Matthew Bate will be marking his follow up to Shut Up Little Man! with a film entitled Sam Klemke’s Time Machine, which follows a man who has obsessively documented his entire life on film. Produced by Rebecca Summerton, the documentary seeks to be the weirdest and most epic home movie ever made.
The film is funded through Screen Australia’s Signature Documentary fund and the SAFC’s Documentary Innovation Fund.