Press release from Madman Cinema
Wake in Fright, the lost classic which was at the forefront of Australia’s cinematic renaissance in the early 1970s, is now fully restored and ready for rediscovery by audiences. Wake in Fright made its first appearance at Cannes Film Festival, in competition in 1971. This critically acclaimed landmark Australian film challenged the way Australians saw themselves and their environment.
Based on the novel by Kenneth Cook and directed by Ted Kotcheff (Rambo, First Blood), Wake in Fright starred the late Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond and Chips Rafferty (in his last feature film role) and marked the first feature film appearance of a young Jack Thompson. Wake in Fright follows a young outback schoolteacher whose eagerly anticipated summer holiday becomes an alcoholâ€fuelled descent into violence and despair.
The film of Wake in Fright was longâ€believed lost until Anthony Buckley traced the original negatives to a vault in America marked for destruction.
The film elements, later determined to be in poor state, were safely recovered and shipped back to Australia by the NFSA with the assistance of Ausfilm. With careful archival matching of the negative components, Wake in Fright has since been digitally restored to pristine condition by Atlab/Deluxe and the NFSA.
Continuing its commitment to bring new and classic Australian films to contemporary audiences, Madman Entertainment are delighted to be distributing Wake in Fright nationally and in New Zealand mid 2009 and provide a new audience with this definitive Australian film.
Dr Darryl McIntyre, Chief Executive Officer of the NFSA said “Wake in Fright is one of Australia’s most significant yet rarely seen films and I am so proud of the excellent restoration work carried out by the NFSA and our partners Atlab/Deluxe and the support of the ‘Wake in Fright Trust’ and in particular the dedication of Anthony Buckley. After so many years to find and then preserve Wake in Fright, we are delighted that the newly restored film is at last available for audiences to enjoy the original cinematic experience.”
Anthos Simon, General Manager of Atlab/Deluxe said "Atlab/Deluxe was honoured to be chosen to partner with the NFSA in order to complete the digital restoration of Wake in Fright. Initially we preserved the original camera negatives to film and used these new components to create a digital intermediate. This allowed us to use advanced techniques to digitally restore the image to its original form. We then transferred back to film to produce new 35mm prints with reâ€mastered Dolby Digital sound. I am immensely proud of the superb digital restoration that has been accomplished by our team of passionate and dedicated film/digital artists. We want to thank Anthony Buckley for his passion to save the original film negatives and the NFSA who always work hard to preserve Australia’s film heritage."
Anthony Buckley AM, editor of Wake In Fright and Trust President, said “ ‘The Wake in Fright Trust’ is pleased to be working with the NFSA and Madman Entertainment, and we are especially grateful for the time and effort Anthos Simon and his colleagues at Atlab/Deluxe have devoted to this superb restoration and also to Raena Lea Shannon and her colleagues at Frankel Lawyers who worked pro bono tirelessly over many years to clarify the legal issues and the subsequent ownership of Wake in Fright to enable it to be re-released to an eager new audience.”
James Hewison, Theatrical Distribution Manager of Madman Entertainment said “Anthony Buckley’s dogged determination and Atlab/Deluxe’s extraordinary collaboration with the NFSA in putting this national treasure back into public view is truly a collective act of great cultural significance and heritage. Madman is privileged to be presenting Wake in Fright and, make no mistake, audiences everywhere will be astonished by this masterwork.”
The newly restored Wake in Fright will have its Australian premiere at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday 13 June.
Wake in Fright opens nationally mid 2009.