Fresh from shooting indie mystery The Girl in the Shadows in regional NSW, director Darren K Hawkins is preparing a new feature set to offer a different take on outlaw Ned Kelly.
Written by Hawkins and Lauren Hamilton Neill, Kennedy focuses on the true story of Michael and Bridget Kennedy, Irish immigrants trying to make a new life in a new land.
After Michael, a police sergeant, is slain by the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878, his wife embarks quest for personal justice.
Neill, who starred in The Girl in the Shadows, will take on the role of Bridget Kennedy, with Tony Bonner to feature as Michael’s mentor “Sadlier” and Matt Oxley slated to play Thomas McIntrye, the only survivor of the Kelly Gang’s attack on the police camp at Stringybark Creek.
Hawkins will produce via Lonely Hill Films, working with a team that includes DOP Casimir Dickson and Villain Sound’s Nathaniel Watkins and Lara Cross. Kieren Devisser is executive producing the film, which is supported by Jungle Power, an Australian-based company specialising in energy storage solutions. Michael Kennedy’s great-grandson, Leo Kennedy, is a consultant on the film.
The director is in discussions to make the project a co-production between Australia and Ireland that will shoot across both countries and feature an Irish actor in the role of Michael Kennedy.
He said the independently financed film, which has budget of under $5 million, was designed to capture not only the “deep truths of the narrative” but also the love story between the Kennedys, which he described as the core of the film.
“The Kelly story is something I have known about, like many Australians, for most of my life,” he said.
“Over the past few years of research, not only has my worldview changed with regards to this story, but in having the chance to get to know the descendants, I feel such a tremendous weight to not only honour their lives but to play some part in healing the generational trauma across multiple families and generations.
“I know Kennedy will leave an indelible mark on Australian culture and make its presence felt on a world stage. I don’t intend to shy away from so many heart-wrenching, gut-punching aspects that are a part of this story.”