The films that open the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals, Not Suitable for Children and The Sapphires, are among six Australian films that have been scheduled by distributors in the next four months.
Icon is ushering Peter Templeman’s Not Suitable for Children, starring Ryan Kwanten, Ryan Corr and Sarah Snook, into cinemas on July 12, five weeks after it opens the Sydney Film Festival tonight, while Hopscotch releases Wayne Blair’s The Sapphires on August 9, only a week after it opens the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).
The other local films approaching the starting gates are the documentary My America from Rialto (August 19), the highly anticipated Kath and Kinderella (September 6) from Roadshow, Bait 3D (September 20) from Paramount, and Mental (October 4) from Universal,
My America is a very personal exploration of the US by director Peter Hegedus. For many, he says, America remains a symbol of opportunity, for some it’s a beacon of hope, for a few it represents a living nightmare.
Hungry great white sharks way out of their comfort zone are central to the action in Kimble Rendall’s action horror thriller Bait 3D, about the impact of a tsunami on the occupants of a shopping centre.
Toni Collette plays a hitchhiker impulsively hired as the nanny of five teenage girls in P J Hogan’s Mental, nearly 20 years after they teamed up on Muriel’s Wedding. Liev Schreiber, Anthony LaPaglia and Rebecca Gibney are also on Collette’s side of the camera.
Very little needs to be said about Kath and Kinderella which, in itself, says much about its potential.
There is likely to be additional Australian films released during the next four months but they are not yet dated by their distributors. Included is The Wedding Party, which opened MIFF two years ago. It is being self-distributed and is going out sometime in August.
So far, seven films have gone into cinemas this year, including one documentary and two co-productions.
Roadshow has put its foot on two dates for Australian films next year: January 10 for The Great Gatsby and March 7 for Goddess.