International film sales company M-Appeal will launch Craig Boreham’s Lonesome at the European Film Market next month after acquiring world sales rights for the independent feature.
Filmed in Sydney last year, Lonesome follows closeted country lad Casey (Josh Lavery), who finds himself down and out in the big smoke when he meets Tib (Daniel Gabriel), a young gay man with whom he is able to connect, albeit with some challenges. The cast also includes Ian Roberts.
Boreham directed and produced the film alongside producers Ben Ferris and Ulysses Oliver of Breathless Films, and Dean Francis of JJ Splice Films, who was also the film’s director of photography. Paul Struthers served as executive producer while David Libter was associate producer.
In a statement, M-Appeal said it was “very happy” with the deal.
“[Lonesome] takes audiences on a thrilling, hedonistic, erotic journey, depicting two characters, who not only seek sexual fulfillment but also acceptance and a meaningful bond,” it said.
It’s is the second feature from Boreham, whose debut Teenage Kicks premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2016 to critical acclaim.
Ferris described the follow-up as “a poignant and timely” queer love story that “emerges unexpectedly amid the transactional world of casual hook-up culture”.
“Craig’s talent as a director allows him a lightness of touch to find the comic in the tragic while losing none of the authenticity and tenderness at the film’s heart,” he said.
“Dean Francis’ photography lends a cinematic grace to the basements and rooftops of a Sydney less frequently depicted on screen.”
This year’s European Film Market will take place online from February 10-17.