Hugo Weaving and Ed Oxenbould are attached to star as father and son in a new film from Jonathan Ogilvie exploring New Zealand’s 1979 post-punk scene.
Set in Christchurch, Head South will be a semi-autobiographical story drawn from some of the director’s experiences as part of the long-running post-punk ensemble YFC, with whom he released a track as recently as last year.
Ogilvie collaborated with Weaving on the 2021 International Film Festival of Rotterdam selection Lone Wolf, which is set to have its Australian premiere at MIFF in August.
His upcoming Australian/New Zealand co-production is in the final stages of financing, with plans to shoot across the Tasman in spring.
The film is being produced by Mat Govoni and Antje Kulpe, both of whom worked on Lone Wolf, alongside Trevor Haysom.
The film will be distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Label and internationally by Arclight.
Ogilvie told IF the project would delve into the dichotomy between punk and post-punk bands at the end of the decade.
“Back then, if you said you played in a post-punk band, then it was a sign that you didn’t,” he said.
“There was a situation where a lot of the punk bands were these well-established musicians that were playing in pubs and then you had post-punk groups made up of kids starting from scratch.”
The production is likely to benefit from the two-way travel corridor between Australia and New Zealand that came into effect this week.
Ogilvie said easing of travel restrictions between the two countries was “exciting”.