Odin’s Eye Entertainment is hosting event screenings of Australian WW1 drama Forbidden Ground in Sydney and Los Angeles this week in advance of the film’s release on home entertainment platforms in both countries.
Co-directed by Johan Earl and Adrian Powers and shot in Dubbo and Sydney, the film focusses on three British soldiers who are stranded in No Man's Land after a failed charge on the German trenches in France 1916.
The leads are played by Earl, who wrote the screenplay, Tim Pocock and Martin Copping. The supporting cast includes Denai Gracie (who also produces with Earl), Sarah Mawbey and Barry Quin.
The film screens at 8.30 tonight, Monday, at the Chauvel Cinema Sydney and on Thursday at the Chaplin Theatre, Raleigh Studios, Los Angeles, with Q&A sessions attended by Earl, Powers and Gracie.
Odin’s Eye Entertainment’s Michael Favelle told IF he will organise event screenings in other capital cities before the film is released on December 4 on DVD, Blu-ray and Video-on-Demand platforms.
Explaining the decision to forego a conventional cinema release, he said, “There have been a string of Australian films that have not performed well at the box-office so it begs the question: Is a traditional cinema release worth it, unless you have a film that is going out on 100 screens supported by a multiple thousands of dollars prints and advertising spend? Just to release a film on 100 screens, without the advertising, costs $75,000 in virtual print fees.”
Favelle hopes the event screenings, staged jointly with the production company Scarlet Fire Films, will create a profile for the film which will pay off when it launches on home entertainment formats.
In the US, where it will be retitled Battle Ground, the action-drama launches on November 27 on VoD platforms via US distributor Grindstone Entertainment’s deal with Lionsgate Home Entertainment.