‘Dirt Music’ (Photo courtesy of TIFF)
Gregor Jordan’s Dirt Music will have its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival.
The festival said the “stunning landscape of Western Australia is the backdrop for an impassioned tale of love and grief in Gregor Jordan’s adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Tim Winton, starring Kelly Macdonald, Garrett Hedlund, and David Wenham.”
Produced by Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey of the UK’s Wildgaze Films and Aquarius Films’ Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford, the film will join Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, Unjoo Moon’s I Am Woman, Daniel Gordon’s The Australian Dream and Ben Lawrence’s Hearts and Bones in the Toronto line-up.
In addition, Eva Orner’s Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, a Netflix Original production which charts the spectacular rise and scandalous fall of hot-yoga evangelist Bikram Choudhury, will be among 25 titles in the TIFF Docs section.
The Other Lamb, the first English-language feature by Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska, scripted by Australian Catherine Smyth-McMullen, will also screen in Special Presentations.
In Dirt Music Macdonald plays Georgie, a sometime sailor, diver and nurse who is stranded in a remote fishing town with Jim (Wenham), a man she doesn’t love, and his young sons whose dead mother she can never replace.
A reckless moment leads Georgie to an intense, sexually charged affair with Lu Fox (Hedlund), an enigmatic loner, musician and poacher who is traumatised by a tragic accident from his past.
When Lu retreats into the wilderness, Georgie embarks on a journey to bring him back with the unlikely help of Jim, who is determined to right wrongs from his own past.
In her film debut Julia Stone, one half of the sibling duo Angus & Julia Stone, plays Sal, with George Mason as Darkie, both members of the Fox family. Chris Haywood is Georgie’s father Warwick with Dan Wyllie as Rusty and Aaron Pedersen as Beaver, who both live in the town.
Universal will release Dirt Music next year on behalf of Focus Features. TIFF runs from September 5-15.